It is the lack of
geography. It is
alienation made
concrete.
Everyone is foreign, transient.
Any accent, any language, up to and including English. It is the melting pot that has melted down. This sprawl was once part of England. All places, all cultures, have come here and mill about in crowds.
Dilapidated Lego jigsaw semidetached suburbs of crumbling 1890s assembly line manufacture.
Disorientation by Tube. Dark tunnels that jolt and turn and pull in at some place that could be the same place. All stations are the same one. No map. No geography, save winding rows of houses, and the winding grey-green greasy Thames.
Too many conflicting maps. Straight lines on the tube map wind and twist on the steet map, and vice versa. Too many cultural identities, no culture.
Capital of Grey Britain.
I didn't like London much in 1999. There were reasons. I wanted to put it behind me. I am back in 2002 and am slowly learning how to love London.