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'People never tell you to have a pleasant journey in the underground, just as people will say 'enjoy your meal', but never 'enjoy your cigarette' if you're a smoker.' The Northern Line is the Black Line, and William Leith's experience of it certainly reflects that. It's the line on which he has fought with his girlfriend, lost jobs, watched football teams lose, suffered anxiety attacks and been stuck underground. It's a story of London life.Tags
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Q: What IS a "Northern Line Minute"? A: When you're standing on the platform and the screen says that the next train will arrive in one minute, it invariably takes longer. The author uses this phrase throughout the book to refer to something that you expect to take a minute but in reality takes longer. Or something that takes longer than it should. This is a phrase that I think I might find useful.
William Leith, or the narrator of this book named William Leith, is a trembling mass of anxiety. When it comes to transportation, he's afraid of all forms of it, but in particular he's afraid of the London Underground. As you can imagine, this makes life cumbersome for someone who lives in London. In the opening we see the narrator tackling show more his fear and taking the Tube. As the doors of the carriage close, he smells smoke and launches himself into a stream of consciousness anxious monologue just to get himself through this journey. On the way from Belsize Park to Camden Town (that's two stops if you're not familiar with the Northern Line), he goes off on all sorts of tangents in an effort to distract himself. But he keeps coming back to the burning smell. Is it all in his head?
This 73 page book, which is pretty much one long paragraph, was fairly humorous and for the most part, interesting. Although it won't make my Top Five List for the year, I know that it will stay with me, and that the next time I'm in London and inevitably on the Northern Line, I will remember this book in detail.
Recommended for: it's very short and not much of a reading commitment. If you think it sounds like it might have potential, give it a try.
Cover comments: This sat on my counter yesterday and my daughter and husband separately both picked it up and said, "What an ugly cover!". I actually think the blurred picture of the roundel (that's the official name of that red and blue circle, btw) effectively expresses the author's existential angst. show less
William Leith, or the narrator of this book named William Leith, is a trembling mass of anxiety. When it comes to transportation, he's afraid of all forms of it, but in particular he's afraid of the London Underground. As you can imagine, this makes life cumbersome for someone who lives in London. In the opening we see the narrator tackling show more his fear and taking the Tube. As the doors of the carriage close, he smells smoke and launches himself into a stream of consciousness anxious monologue just to get himself through this journey. On the way from Belsize Park to Camden Town (that's two stops if you're not familiar with the Northern Line), he goes off on all sorts of tangents in an effort to distract himself. But he keeps coming back to the burning smell. Is it all in his head?
This 73 page book, which is pretty much one long paragraph, was fairly humorous and for the most part, interesting. Although it won't make my Top Five List for the year, I know that it will stay with me, and that the next time I'm in London and inevitably on the Northern Line, I will remember this book in detail.
Recommended for: it's very short and not much of a reading commitment. If you think it sounds like it might have potential, give it a try.
Cover comments: This sat on my counter yesterday and my daughter and husband separately both picked it up and said, "What an ugly cover!". I actually think the blurred picture of the roundel (that's the official name of that red and blue circle, btw) effectively expresses the author's existential angst. show less
I’m still going with my reading of the Penguin Lines series. The short size and story length make these books great to carry around in a handbag in hope of extra reading time or as a short read between longer books. A Northern Line Minute falls into the latter category for me, as I read it in one sitting after finishing another novel. (I was also a little too lazy to get off the couch for another book).
This short story is a great one to read in one setting. It’s tense and well written, but with enough meanders into lighter subjects to stop the story from becoming particularly creepy. (A Northern Line Minute is not a book you would actually want to read on the Tube or Underground, particularly if there’s a whiff of smoke about). show more It’s told in the first person and grabs you from the moment the narrator tells you that they think they can smell smoke deep in the Underground. Should he get off the train at the next station or is it all a figment of his imagination? As the narrator ruminates on what may or may not be happening, he imparts a lot of information about the Northern Line and how it differs from some of the other Tube lines, being deeper. I found that part rather interesting.
Overall, I enjoyed this story and I’m eager to check out other works by William Leith.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com show less
This short story is a great one to read in one setting. It’s tense and well written, but with enough meanders into lighter subjects to stop the story from becoming particularly creepy. (A Northern Line Minute is not a book you would actually want to read on the Tube or Underground, particularly if there’s a whiff of smoke about). show more It’s told in the first person and grabs you from the moment the narrator tells you that they think they can smell smoke deep in the Underground. Should he get off the train at the next station or is it all a figment of his imagination? As the narrator ruminates on what may or may not be happening, he imparts a lot of information about the Northern Line and how it differs from some of the other Tube lines, being deeper. I found that part rather interesting.
Overall, I enjoyed this story and I’m eager to check out other works by William Leith.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com show less
This is a good, and very short addition to the Penguin series (published in 2013) about the London subway lines.
It's filled with bits about the author's memories of yore but mainly, which is the theme this books circles, of the current fright he is experiencing while seemingly trapped 150 feet underground, completely unsure of what is happening as the train he's in isn't moving anywhere.
Dark and good.
It's filled with bits about the author's memories of yore but mainly, which is the theme this books circles, of the current fright he is experiencing while seemingly trapped 150 feet underground, completely unsure of what is happening as the train he's in isn't moving anywhere.
Dark and good.
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9+ Works 301 Members
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Northern Line Minute
- Important places
- Belsize Park; Chalk Farm, London, England, UK; Camden Town, London, England, UK; London Underground, London, England, UK
- First words
- I'm on the train, and the doors and shutting behind me, when I smell the smoke; or rather I'm stepping into the train, towards the seating area, when I sense something bad, and I don't know what it is, and I sit down, and I s... (show all)ee that the doors are shutting, and I don't know yet where the bad feeling is coming from, because when you smell something it goes straight to your memory, smell bypasses all analysis, as Proust described when he bit into the dunked cake and was transported to his childhood, and only later realised that this was because of the smell of the cake, the madeleine;...
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I look at the sky, and feel the need to cry.
- Original language
- English
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- Members
- 38
- Popularity
- 744,622
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.35)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 1
