London

London is both easy and difficult in connection with this topic - for the same reason: there are just such an incredible number of books set there.

Before my last trip there I read London by Edward Rutherfurd, which was a decent introduction to the city's long history. Before my next visit, I plan to delve into Mother London and King of the City by Michael Moorcock, and perhaps also read one of Iain Sinclair's books. London: the biography by Peter Ackroyd also seems an obvious choice - and then there is always Dickens, of course...

Any other suggestions? Not just books set in London - but books that makes you taste, see and feel the city!

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman is a fantasy set in London and in its underground. This was recommended to me on another group a while ago.

I did a tagmash in search (London, fiction) and this was the first book that came up that I recognized.

Another book of the same ilk is: Dark cities underground by Lisa Goldstein.

Thanks. I have read the comic book version of Neverwhere, and liked it. It don't really think it gives much a feel for aboveground London - but perhaps I should try to get Underground on my next visit...:-)

I went ahead and joined the group, partially to see if there were any joint ownership of books among the four of us at this point. Of course, my library is pretty big, at over 4,500 books, so usually I can find correspondences with most other libraries unless they are real small.

I don't think Lisa Goldstein's book is very good "upstairs" either, but I do like public transport.

I have just recently checked out two other books on London:

253 : the journey of 253 lifetimes by Geoff Ryman. This book is a series of vignettes on a London underground train until XXX happens. It's kind of an anti-novel.

Imagined London: a tour of the world's greatest fictional city by Anna Quindlen. These are well-written essays on various landmarks and haunts in London.

The Quindlen book sounds interesting.

I own or have read many books set in London, of course. One that I have read which is of quite some interest for the visitor is The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber, which has a lot of description of Victorian London, besides being an excellent read.

One excellent book set in London is, of course, Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's graphic novel From Hell, especially the chapter with Gull's Grand Tour of Occult London, which I want to try and follow some day if I have a lengthy stay in the city.

I just happened to come across this at Amazon: The London Scene: Six Essays on London Life by Virginia Woolf. I quote (from the book jacket?): "A walking tour of Woolf's beloved hometown, The London Scene begins at the London Docks and follows Woolf as she visits several iconic sites throughout the city, including the Oxford Street shopping strip, John Keats's house on Hampstead Heath, Thomas Carlyle's house in Chelsea, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and the Houses of Parliament."

>7 fictionmap:
Virginia Woolf should definitely be on any reading list for London! Mrs Dalloway makes the city into almost a character in the story; there's also that wonderfully atmospheric bit about the frozen Thames in Orlando...

#7
I checked out The London Scene from the library yesterday. Francine Prose writes an introduction. The endcover maps show Keat's house, Marble Arch, Hyde Park, Carlyle's house, Oxford Street, Virginia Woolf's house, Westminster Abbey, The House of Commons, St. Clement Danes, St. Paul's Cathedral, St. Mary-le-Bow, London Tower, Tower Bridge, and London Docks. I put in some touchstones, just to see what LT would come up with.

Oh, your Touchstone for Marble Arch brought up Connie Willis' short story The Winds of Marble Arch! It's one of my favorite short stories.

And, I can't believe I forgot to mention it... but definitely Sherlock Holmes comes to mind. In particular, I have a book entitled Sherlock Holmes in London which features passages of the stories matched to period photographs.

Parelle, I agree with Sherlock Holmes completely, and envy you the matching photographs!

Woolf's The London Scene is one I was very excited to see being released, and though a copy now resides in my library, I'm ashamed to say I haven't read it. It's a lovely volume, though, and obviously I did request it because she's so evocative and loved the city so much. Being given to solitary walks, and exploring odd haunts, cannot hurt when you write about a place. It's in the 'I want to finish this in the remainder of the year' pile.

Edward Rutherford's London was ok, but one I parted with blithely. London: the biography remains desired.

Clare Clark's The Great Stink paints a very vivid picture of London's filth circa 1854, and includes interesting historical detail about the rebuilding of the sewer system. IMO the book was occasionally tedious and bogged down in detail and the 'mystery' plot was never very mysterious, but a pretty good read nonetheless.

I highly recommend Jane Stevenson's London Bridges, which I really feel is a picture of _my_ London - both in the different bits of the city it is set in, and its affectionate portrayal of everything that is best about London's vibrancy and diversity. Funny, good-hearted, and beautifully written. And not well-known enough!

I've read further in Anna Quindlen's Imagined London and she give further suggestions on her own reading on London:

Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. I was supposed to read this in High School, and only skimmed it, but it does give a slice of an older London.

John Mortimer writes the Rumpole of the Bailey books and this is set right in the City.

I am just now reading the Wonder Worker : a novel by Susan Howatch, also set in the City and tells of a healing ministry in one of the guild churches. Very Church of England, but I'm enjoying the read.

Then there is the 1945 novel, Forever amber by Kathleen Winsor, described by Quindlen as a bodice ripper, laid in the days of Chrales II and afterwards. Winosr had never visted London, but people thought it was quite realistic in its descriptions of Lond on life.

And finally, she mentions the Forsyte Saga of John Galsworthy which had a PBS series made from it.

Thanks for the reminder for Imagined London - I saw it at a bookstore a year ago, knew I wanted to read it, but couldn't remember the title.

digifish_books mentioned this thread in a parallel thread over on Book talk.

I thought Suggestions for London Book? should be mentioned here.

Robert

>16 Mr.Durick: eeek! I've been sprung! ;)

There is a lot of London in Charles Palliser's magnificent The Quincunx - although early 19th century London, which is a completely different and more sinister city, although the map is quite similar.

vpfluke and parelle-
I just started reading Imagined London last night and I'm already hooked.

re: 19

mstrust, I ended up enjoying it rather much! It's like overhearing someone else's conversation about people you know in common :)

London

Home to Sherlock Holmes, obviously – but why not try the Factory novels by Derek Raymond (aka Robin Cook, born just around the corner from Baker Street)? Blistering British noir, beloved by the French. We're just catching up.

Read 'He Died With His Eyes Open' (Serpent's Tail)

Hi I'm new here. Anyone ever read Old London Bridge: The Story of the Longest Inhabited Bridge in Europe by Patricia Pierce. I liked the history, but what I found fascinating is that if I want to visit the original stone structure, I have to visit Arizona?!?

According to Wikipedia, the old London Bridge was torn down in 1968 and rebuilt and reopened 1971 in Lake Havasu City in northwestern Arizona (nowhere near Phoenix or Tucson, the state's two largest cities). Tourist attraction?

Definitely. Many of the businesses in town have a faux English look, like cottages.

I finished Her Fearful Symmetry which strongly features Highgate Cemetery and other neighbourhoods of London. A more intimate look at London, including Postman's Park.

Ok, this is a bit of a stretch, but check out The Ghost Map

>26 Sandydog1: I remember that book! In 7th Grade, our history teachers introduced us to the epidemic and had us find the solution and it was fascinating.