Question #2
What cities have you visited or read about that have a symbolic sub-context, either universal or personal?
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August 18th, 2006 at 8:54 am
I don’t know about universal but personally, how about San Francisco…city of freaks? I’m kidding! I really loved it there. Visting the Haight-Asbury district was interesting. I tried to imagine what it was like in the 60’s.
I enjoyed Washington DC quite a bit. Visiting places like that always give me a strange feeling. Like when we visited Andersonville GA, the site of the Civil War Prison.
Places like that have an aura…I get a weird, surreal feeling when I stand someplace a battle was fought or history was made.
August 18th, 2006 at 7:25 pm
Honestly, I’m not sure what this question is asking…I’ll have to come back to it
August 19th, 2006 at 9:46 am
I am not too sure either what you are asking. Will have to think on it. I did visit D.C. and it was very nice to see things that mean so much to our country. I was particularly moved by the Viet Nam War Memorial Wall.
August 19th, 2006 at 8:33 pm
I’m asking about cities that have a symbolic feeling to them. Washington DC is a prime example…the feel is so political on so many levels. The city itself is a living, breathing hotbed of political power. Boston does that for me with it’s history…the way that New Orleans does with it’s underlying thrill. You can’t NOT have fun there if you are in the Quarter. (Katrina notwithstanding.) The subcontext of these cities can help a story along because they inherently carry a theme. A book set in Las Vegas will have a different feel from, let’s say, Atlantic City.
Anyway, that’s what I meant!
August 20th, 2006 at 9:44 am
The city of Philadelphia is full of history with so many well known landmarks such as the Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross’s House, Independence Hall but when you go there you see how small this historical area is. There is a feeling of history but there is also a feeling of intimacy, knowing many historical figures were walking through this area on a daily basis.
August 21st, 2006 at 11:29 am
The cities that I have read about would be cities in both Ireland and Europe. The cities that I have visited would be Niagara Falls, Sedona, AZ, New Orleans of course,and even Buffalo, NY
August 21st, 2006 at 8:33 pm
Whenever I read a book set in New Orleans I get an immediate feeling of mystery, suspense, and excitement. Anything can happen.
And when I read a book set in a small town I think I automatically get a open-space, slower pace, and care free feel to the book. Whatever drastic happens in the town becomes 10X more drastic than if it happened in a larger city(that has major crime happen dailey).
August 21st, 2006 at 8:34 pm
Oh, I forgot to say thanks Julie for the clarrification
August 21st, 2006 at 8:37 pm
There are so many I don’t know where to begin. Chicago has this v. big city yet laid back feel to it. It’s the epitome of what the midwest is like except with a lot of people.
Detroit is totally the motor city. I can’t even count how many movies I’ve seen where they show the Uniroyal tire which is on the freeway going to/from the airport. And when you go there most of the cars on the street are American makes.
Savannah is the epitome of the South in many ways, esp. the wealthy south. So is Charleston.
Key West is well Key West — it has that whole party/carnival yet laid back feel to it a la Jimmy Buffet.
Sedona, AZ feels very zen and new agey and the red rocks there somehow add to that feeling.
Big Sky, MT is truly God’s country, mountains, wide open blue skies, snowy or snow capped mountains depending on the season.
See, I told you I could go on and on. I’ll stop now.
August 21st, 2006 at 10:05 pm
I live in NY but recently went on a boat ride where we passed Rikers Island, Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty to name a few famous landmarks. It was so awesome to pass by the statue so close as it represents what we stand for.
August 22nd, 2006 at 6:09 pm
definitely whenn I read a book that has a city I know well and recognize so closely, like Santa Fe.
August 24th, 2006 at 8:41 pm
Montana was mentioned…I really like books based in Montana. The name of the state immediately tells me lots of land, few people, hard working citizens, ranches, dream homes
, horses, cattle, ect.
August 24th, 2006 at 8:42 pm
Oh..I forgot to mention cowboys
…LOL
August 25th, 2006 at 4:04 am
I have been reading books for years(68), my husband and I have done a lot of traveling, and so many places I have learned about special things to see from a story I have read, This country has so many place with underlying themes or an aura about them. Harden Montana- Custer’s last Stand, you could feel the cold spot and have a feeling of people passing, a few months later they went back and found more bodys, Gettysberg, in the still foggy morning air, it was like being in a time warp, a very strange feeling. I think almost evey place we have been has had a story that could be told.
August 25th, 2006 at 7:28 pm
I’d say California for sure. I vacationed in Hollywood a few years back and it was everything I had heard and read about. Arizona, too. A feeling of the old west in many places and cowboys…yummy!
August 25th, 2006 at 8:02 pm
You know, Key West is a world all its own. Took me two visits to really appreciate the color, since I don’t drink to excess and I don’t dance in the street naked. But I mean, once you learn your way around, it’s an experience. It was the ONLY setting that would have worked for my book, MAKING WAVES.
I love writing setting and tend to try and make it a character within itself. Some cities, like San Francisco, New Orleans, Chicago, etc, lend themselves to that. I’m proud to have introduced so many people to my hometown of Tampa through several of my books. Writing about Boston was an amazing adventure…and it helped that my editor at the time had gone to college there and new her way around like the back of her hand. She helped me lend complete authenticity to the book…and I flew up and did a very intense research trip. All in all, a great experience!
August 27th, 2006 at 12:46 am
A viewpoint from Canada: the Maritimes would be
music, dancing, lobster fests and fishing for a living.
Sask. would be wheat fields, wide open prairies.
Alta. would be oil, wealth and ranches(cowboys).
August 27th, 2006 at 8:16 am
The Arizona in Hawaii - no explanation needed. I love the cajun feelings of books set in La., also out west in the cowboy country just gives you the feel of the area.
August 29th, 2006 at 5:20 am
I immediately thought of Paris. The city of love, romance and intrique! I was there when I was 16 and I really didn’t appreciate the cities’ beauty or it’s history.
In the US…Atlanta busy, busy, busy with lots of stuff to do…the underground shopping, active night life, the old Olympic buildings, very urbane.
Nashville country music…guitar signs everywhere, Grand Ole Opry.
Seattle Pike’s Fish Market, lot’s of young business people, beautiful views of Puget Sound, the ferries, rainy weather.
August 29th, 2006 at 9:22 pm
I really enjoy learning about new places in books!
August 31st, 2006 at 10:56 am
I LOVE california too and florida settings