Nightwalking: Four Journeys into Britain After Dark

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But in addition to these figures, Beaumont points out, London’s streets belong to the nightwalker, a “modern antihero” who spends the hours of darkness pacing through the city, whether this is because he is seeking himself (almost all the figures Beaumont discusses are male) or fleeing from himself. Nightwalkers are outsiders who prefer to remain on the outside. As Virginia Woolf explained in her 1930 essay “Street Haunting”, to be in the streets when we have no real business being there allows us to shrug off the usual rules of life. At night “we are no longer quite ourselves”, and we can explore who else we might want to be – or who we fear we might become. This book taking place pre-dawn, just like books taking place at night, utilizes dark colors, so most of the book is very dark. The font is white so it could be read well in a poorly-lit room, but you will miss the illustrations. A well-lit room is a bonus here. You can see lots more walks in the book London’s Hidden Walks, too. You can get it here. It’s just the thing if you love exploring the city. There are additional ideas in my London walking books post as well. A prehistoric landscape comes to seem more palpable beneath the pavements of the city. And in this half-familiar environment it is difficult to eliminate entirely the archaic conviction that, as for our ancestors, the night itself remains ominous, threatening. Residues of a primal fear of the dark begin to trouble you.

Today, more than ever, solitary walking at night in the streets of the city does not necessarily mean deviant movement. It may well be perfectly legitimate, purposeful. Contemporary capitalist society requires what Jonathan Crary has identified as the despoliation of sleep in the interests of maximising the individual’s potential – both as a producer and a consumer – for generating profit. The political economy of the night, in this dispensation, means that plenty of people have to commute after dark, sometimes on foot, sometimes across considerable distances. The use of blue ask darkness and yellow as the juxtaposition makes sense logically for how things would look in real life, but it is also very beautiful. If this one appeals, you can see the full route and map on my blog post about the best walks in London.

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This ended up being rather surprising. First, I really struggled to get going with this book. I wasn’t sure that I was going to enjoy it. It also took me a week to read, which for me is rather a long time given the size of the book. However I think that in the end, reading this book slowly is what made me enjoy it more. It let me think, it let me soak it all up. I keep getting the impression that even though her toddler is excessively demanding, she gives in to him without thinking.

All the angst is rendered in both eloquent and laugh-out-loud terms. I giggled with recognition and comradery. I admired the honesty. Sarah Moss is one of my favourite writers. I have gradually collected all of her books except for her memoir and I’m so looking forward to the release of her new novel Summerwater. The reasons that I love her work are many and varied, but here are a few of them:There are stories within stories within stories in this novel. It is very atmospheric, and I was delighted with the frank and honest way Anna's ambivalence at being a mother is described. It is not often we get such direct light shed on this holy of holies. Work family balance? No such thing here. I was intrigued by the history of childhood, and the paper that Anna works on is interspersed throughout the novel. It was interesting reading about Anna's inner life and her struggles. However, I could have cared less about the mystery at the core of this story, though it was interesting to learn more about the natives and their history. All these various plot lines get rather muddled in the final telling, at least for me. This is a quiet, character driven story, so if you're looking for a fast paced plot, skip this one. Another of my favorite London night walks is one in the area around London Bridge. This part of the city is for you if you enjoy history, food, and riverside scenery in equal measure. Who walks alone in the streets at night? The sad, the mad, the bad. The lost, the lonely. The sleepless, the homeless. All the city’s internal exiles. The night has always been the time for daylight’s dispossessed – the dissident, the different. Walking alone at night in the city by both men and women has, since time immemorial, been interpreted as a sign of moral, social or spiritual dereliction.