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Povestea oraşului comoară
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 22, 2022
For those of you not "in the know", the treasure town was a nickname given to the Romanian town of Cluj-Napoca back in the middle ages. A nickname my Hungarian elementary teacher would still sigh nostalgically about. Alternately, it might just have been in the curriculum... but ethnical pride goes a long way. Especially when it's wounded.
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This book's biggest appeal, and consequently its biggest flaw, lies in the nostalgic feelings it evokes. If you've lived here, and spent a good while walking the cobbled little streets of the old town, carefully avoiding unlucky arches, stashing cigarette butts at the base of medieval city walls, or even just gleefully quizzing strangers about the intricacies of that one equestrian statue... then this book is for you. It may even help you discover some hidden medieval gems that you may have unwittingly passed by for several years.
Unfortunately, said nostalgia also comes with a heavy load of recriminations for the authorities of past and present, specifically their decisions to demolish various historical buildings and neighbourhoods, in order to make way for constructions the author deems unworthy. To be fair, I definitely felt very disappointed that none of the medieval city gates have lasted past the middle of the XIXth century.
One of the medieval city gates
... because I totally wanted the brag about them on Instagram (I'm no better than any of those vapid influencers, only much less popular). On the other hand, the amount of complaining about certain names falling into disuse brought back some rather unpleasant memories. To this day I will scoff at any person referring to a birth certificate as a "cross letter". It's not cute, or devout, just very, very patronising.
Score: 3.3/5 stars
This could've been a 4-star read if some of the info-dump hadn't been so tedious to get through, and the complaining had been toned down a bit. I much prefer a "be happy that it happened" approach, even if I personally don't necessarily practice what I preach.
Click for full view
This book's biggest appeal, and consequently its biggest flaw, lies in the nostalgic feelings it evokes. If you've lived here, and spent a good while walking the cobbled little streets of the old town, carefully avoiding unlucky arches, stashing cigarette butts at the base of medieval city walls, or even just gleefully quizzing strangers about the intricacies of that one equestrian statue... then this book is for you. It may even help you discover some hidden medieval gems that you may have unwittingly passed by for several years.
Unfortunately, said nostalgia also comes with a heavy load of recriminations for the authorities of past and present, specifically their decisions to demolish various historical buildings and neighbourhoods, in order to make way for constructions the author deems unworthy. To be fair, I definitely felt very disappointed that none of the medieval city gates have lasted past the middle of the XIXth century.
One of the medieval city gates
... because I totally wanted the brag about them on Instagram (I'm no better than any of those vapid influencers, only much less popular). On the other hand, the amount of complaining about certain names falling into disuse brought back some rather unpleasant memories. To this day I will scoff at any person referring to a birth certificate as a "cross letter". It's not cute, or devout, just very, very patronising.
Score: 3.3/5 stars
This could've been a 4-star read if some of the info-dump hadn't been so tedious to get through, and the complaining had been toned down a bit. I much prefer a "be happy that it happened" approach, even if I personally don't necessarily practice what I preach.
August 9, 2010
O carte de exceptie care aduna intr-un singur volum lucrurile esentiale pe care trebuie sa le stii despre orasul-comoara, CLUJ. Nu este un tratat de istorie ci o poveste frumos spusa pe care iti place sa o recitesti. Cladiri care ascund secrete sau secole de istorie si pe langa care treci zilnic fara sa le dai atentie, sunt prezentate aici. De la locul vechii cetati romane, pana la extinderea din prezent, autorul iti povesteste detalii interesante despre Cluj. Mi-au placut indeosebi informatiile despre numeroasele palate. In curand am sa pornesc la o redescoperire a orasului meu! :D
April 14, 2019
O carte excepțională prin stilul in care a fost scrisă. Înainte că "storytelling"-ul să fie un cuvânt pe toate gardurile, un istoric excepțional, se îndepărtează de la a face un tratat sec de istorie și povestește firesc despre "Orașul Comoară", cum era denumit Clujul in Evul Mediu. O recomand cu toată încrederea.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews