The book titled “Here is New York” written by E. B. White gives an account of the differences between the New York that White visited when he was young and the New York of the year 1948 . In this book, White provides a great deal of information about the metropolis and explains that he possesses a clear place for the city and defends the same. White describes his reactions about New York, which has transformed to a great extent in the modern day. He also gives various reasons as to why he left his hometown Maine for New York to write for the magazine titled New York. In the beginning of the book, White explains to the readers that it is difficult for the book to explain the current situation of New York as it is an ever changing city. White also mentions about the population of the city, which is not only huge, but also constitutes various religious and ethnic groups (White 48). White refers to the city of New York as a miracle because he feels that the city holds much inside it.
White admires New York as one of the loftiest cities and believes that there is no other city that is similar to New York. While White gives an account of the positive aspects of New York, he simultaneously mentions about the negative aspects and indicates a great deal of problems faced by the city. Until the end of the story, the reader is unclear about the stance taken by the author with regards to the current situation of New York (Atkins 160). The author explains that the city has the potential of offering its citizens much more than any other major city of the world. White narrates that New York is capable of providing its citizens a sense of belongingness and the feeling that the entire world is inside the city (White 36). White also provides information about the dangerous dimensions of the city, but limits them to only a few lines of the book. One of the major differences the author identifies from the past New York is the inadequate facilities of the city due to huge population. He explains that the city has overcrowded playgrounds, schools and hospitals. He refers to his office building as a building of the dead as it is a silent place, which was once full of hustle. White describes that the slums that he had witnessed in the past have been giving way to various housing projects, which are not only low in rent, but have a higher purpose (White 25).
White refers to New York as a poem that compresses life into a little island. He also mentions about the flavor, odor and varying moods of the city, which is comprehensible to millions of residents. He also describes the creatures that reside in the city and determines that they lay bare the ugliness and beauty of New York. White gives an account of everything that he witnesses in New York on his return after a few years, which include low grade apartment groups crouching on crates during summer, silent men and women dealing with infinite papers behind the windows of their offices and the tensions and irritations of the existence of New York, tremble in the small volume of the place (White 11). White also dedicates a few pages of the book to explain the vulnerabilities of the city and describes about the growing number of tall apartments in the city, which have a cast of the shadow of the planes. He expresses disappointment for the city, which he visited as a young man turned out to be a place with neighborhoods that have tight and dense residences with minimal anonymity and privacy of the citizens.
Works Cited
Berger, Meyer. "Crystal-Clear New York." 18 12 1949. The New York Times. 11 07 2015 <https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/08/03/lifetimes/white-newyork.html>.
White, Elwyn Brooks. Here is New York. New York Review of Books, 2011.
Atkins, G. Douglas. E. B. White: The Essayist as First-Class Writer. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.
