992. Dining on Stones

Dining on Stones
Iain Sinclair
2004

Around 465 pages

Once again, the only thing stopping me from being completely bored by an Iain Sinclair novel is my love of London, and the little thrill I get when he references a tube station or road that I am familiar with. Otherwise, it's kind of a snore.

I'm not entirely sure what this novel was about. The main character who was sort of Andrew Norton and sort of Iain Sinclair, once again walks around London, bitching about his ex wives, his literary reputation, and the book he may or may not write. Not exactly riveting stuff.

I think Iain Sinclair must have had a man on the inside. One novel, probably London Orbital, would have been enough to get the gist of this guy. If he weren't so obsessed with my favorite city, he would really irritate me. As is, he's just kind of boring. 

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

In addition to his writing, Iain Sinclair also produces and appears in many documentaries.

UP NEXT: The Lambs of London by Peter Ackroyd

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.

UP NEXT: Elizabeth Costello by J.M. Coetzee

830. Downriver

Downriver
Iain Sinclair
1991
Around 545 pages

At some point in my mind, I conflated Iain Sinclair and Iain Banks into one Mega Iain that I was a huge fan of. So I was surprised to find I didn't enjoy this, having loved the Culture series and Crow Road. I realized my mistake by about page 200, and swiftly exonerated Banks for Sinclair's crimes against reading.

Downriver is the story of London’s docklands during the rule of the Widow, an exaggerated version of Margaret Thatcher, because all our British novels will be dunking on her from now on. The novel takes place primarily in the East End. Our narrator is a local who works for a production company, sniffing out authentic docklands. It's a set of twelve stories taking place in the near future.

This is just one of those novels that is hard to click with unless you are overly familiar with London docklife in the 1990s. The humor didn't work for me, and 545 pages was way too much for me. I had bad Beckett flashbacks.

Sorry for lumping you with this guy, Banks. 

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Sinclair has a flat in Marine Court, the art-deco building modeled after an ocean liner in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex.

UP NEXT: Vertigo by W.G. Sebald