Walk The Lines: The London Underground, Overground (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
I was sent this book by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review, by the way.Mark Mason, lover of all things London, sets himself a mission. To walk the length of EVERY one of the capital’s eleven Underground lines – but to do so overground. Travelling 403 miles, learning more facts about London than you could ever imagine, and meeting a variety of people – including the Krays’ biographer – and find out that the legendary Circle Line pub crawl (drinks in 27 pubs, one for each station) may not be as much fun as it’s cracked up to be.This is one of those books that will, if you’re anything like me, take a ridiculous amount of time to read, because it conjures up so many visions of London with Mason’s vivid descriptions of the city that I spent half my time in pleasant daydreams of doing the same thing as the author. Sadly – or perhaps thankfully – I don’t have the time, or the energy, to walk over four hundred miles myself, but I certainly felt as though I was accompanying him on his journey as he made his way to hundreds of stations. It’s also a wonderful book to dip into and read a line at a time, prolonging the enjoyment.Mason’s style is an extremely easy one to read and he raises a smile not just with his descriptions of the areas he walks through and their history, but also with the people who accompany him on occasions – especially his friend Richard, far keener than the author to plan things out to the nth degree. A massive amount of footnotes adds to the information without breaking up the main narrative, providing plenty of extra facts – did you know how big the Square Mile is now? I’ll give you a clue, it’s not exactly a square mile anymore – but to find out the actual area, you’ll need to buy the book. Or I suppose you could look it up on the internet; but then you’d miss out on dozens, if not hundreds, of similar bits of trivia. (Seriously, you can’t tell me you don’t want to know why City police call the Met the Bantams, can you?)High recommendation, particularly to London lovers like myself. I was contacted by Random House with the offer to review this book. As I love going to London, i thought this book sounded really interesting so I accepted. I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.Mark Mason decides the best way to conquer London would to be to walk the entire Tube system overground. Dividing the lines up he walks from station to station. Picking up conversations, observations and facts about his surroundings. Each Line is a new chapter and has a map of that line at the start of the chapter, so you can follow his progress throughout the walk. I settled in to read this book and found myself thoroughly enjoying it. Mark has a witty sense of humour and makes some great observations on his walk, filled with sarcastic comments, thought provoking discussions and interesting facts. This book had me laughing along with it and my feet itching to go back to London. Some parts in London I have visited so I could picture exactly where he was, other parts were new to me, but I could picture where he was and what the area was like from his observations.I took this book to work with me to read in my lunch break and I already have three people waiting to read it. I would sit there giggling or going 'ooh' at certain facts so my colleagues would ask 'what's that about then' and just from sharing snippets and talking about the book, they are as fascinated as I was.The writing style flows well and takes you into the heart of the book. I felt like I really was walking along with him (without the sore feet and aching legs on my part!)If you love London or just want to know more about this great City I really would recommend this book. It will make you see London in a whole new light and give you the urge to explore.I have to say I think his wife is very tolerant of what may seem like a pointless endeavor, I loved the interaction between them, and all the fabulous people he met on his journey brought a whole new perspective. As a non-fiction book it took me slightly longer to read than fiction, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was glad I read it.Stand back Bill Bryson, you've got competition, Mark Mason is on the scene.
What do You think about Walk The Lines: The London Underground, Overground (2011)?
Loved this book and had to keep putting it down because of all the juicy facts I wanted to absorb!!
—cazorange
Not a bad read,Some interesting facts about London which I didnt know...Worth a read
—vonnie
Loved all the trivia and factoids. A good fun read.
—blackbutterbly
A fun read with lots of London trivia.
—lolwutburger