980. London Orbital

London Orbital
Iain Sinclair
2002
Around 580 pages

I had to venture to the second floor of the library to pick this one up, which isn't my usual stomping ground, because it's the non fiction section. And just to make it even less fun, it's always about twenty degrees hotter than the rest of the building. But I love London, so if we are going to have a travelogue, I'm glad it's about the greatest city in the world.

The M25 is the major road circling London. Sinclair explores the loop, which puts him in a unique position to look at the city through its fringes. Personally, I've never found books on walking tours particularly interesting. It's always the most boring part of a fantasy series, when the characters are just ambling around. And it's even less suspenseful in non fiction, where there's no chance of stumbling upon a race of elves in the woods.

But like I said, I like London, so I enjoyed all the references to the city and it was fun recognizing some of the train stations or roads. If you haven't been to London, I suspect it would be a very dull read, and I wouldn't recommend using this as your guidebook.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

William Gibson's favorite author.

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