The City & The City
China Miéville (2009)
Suggested by Eisenhorn and fishworld
Interestingly enough, it was the cry for inclusion of the fictional cities of Besźel and Ul Qoma that commanded most attention in the comments accompanying our 10 best city novels. Brought to life in China Miéville’s The City & The City, the novel seems to have struck a chord with readers, with Eisenhorn commenting, “I can only prostrate myself in wonder at the mere notion of the city of Besźel. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Hangover Square
Patrick Hamilton (1941)
Suggested by peninsularguy
Based in rather more familiar settings, another popular nomination was Patrick Hamilton’s Hangover Square. Set between Earls Court and Brighton, this novel benefits from the author’s intimate relationships with the two areas, and explores the mood of a life of intoxication in 1939. The hero’s foray to Brighton provides a brief interlude to the gritty realities of inter-war London.
Suttree
Cormac McCarthy (1979)
Suggested by robmcinroy
Described by robmcinroy as “bringing the city to life in a remarkable way”, Cormac McCarthy’s Suttree is set in Knoxville, Tennessee. It’s a semi-autobiographical novel that sees its protagonist living alone and in exile on the Tennessee River. Despite most of the novel’s action taking place on the river, McCarthy still leaves room to immortalise the characters found in 1950s Knoxville.
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Alfred Döblin (1929)
Suggested by spaknapak
Dubbed the “German Ulysses” by spaknapak, Döblin’s Berlin Alexanderplatz explores the criminal underbelly of Weimar-era Berlin. Following the exploits of Franz Biberkopf, a small-time criminal desperately trying (in vain) to go straight, Döblin depicts with his all-seeing authorial voice the life of late-1920s Berlin, with its tapestry of gangsters, thieves and rapidly approaching political and social upheaval.
Night-Train to Lisbon
Pascal Mercier (2004)
Suggested by franhunny
Despite not winning points with readers for the “whining of the midlife-crisis narrator”, Night Train to Lisbon has nonetheless captured attention for its “grasp of Lisbon’s atmosphere”. Adapted for cinema in 2013, the novel is a philosophical one, showcasing the city as the protagonist abandons his current life to explore the one he never lived, investigating an obscure Portuguese doctor in the process.
Lanark
Alasdair Gray (1981)
Suggested by urlaccount and gatz
Another popular suggestion is one that, again, combines reality with fictional settings. Lanark combines its author’s imagined city of Unthank with his real life experiences of Glasgow, and was hailed by the Guardian in 2008 as ‘one of the landmarks of 20th century fiction’. Divided into four books, this dystopian novel has been described by readers as ‘wonderful’.
Pedigree
Georges Simenon (1948)
Suggested by Yasuda
Published in 1948 and capturing the essence of Liege, Pedigree is ‘about the most you’ll ever need to know about a city in Belgium’, according to Yasuda. The novel, based almost entirely on the author’s childhood, chronicles the growth of both man and city from 1903 until Liege’s liberation from German occupation in 1918.
Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky
Patrick Hamilton (1935)
Suggested by RedComyn
Chronicling ‘a lost Fitzrovia’, Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky is another London-based favourite. Originally published as a trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels by Hamilton, the books centre on a pub, The Midnight Bell, and those who frequent it, immortalising a neighbourhood of London and its residents.
The White Guard
Mikhail Bulgakov (1925)
Suggested by TommyCockles1
Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita made it into the original list thanks to its depiction of Moscow. Less well known, his The White Guard captures the atmosphere in Ukraine as a civil war rages in Kiev. Bulgakov’s detailed knowledge of the city is obvious to any reader, and his “memorable” descriptions have ensured the lesser-known novel a place on this list.
Inspector Morse series
Colin Dexter
Suggested by FattMatt
The final reader suggestion comes courtesy of FattMatt, who credits the Inspector Morse series for its thorough coverage of Oxford. Spanning 13 books and immortalised by John Thaw in the ITV television series, these crime novels detail the city’s streets and attractions. The novels have led to several Inspector Morse-themed Oxford tours.
