Soul City Wandering: A London Pilgrimage (Paperback)

The aim of Soul City Wandering is to guide individuals towards embracing their urban environment by encouraging interaction between time, place and emotion, or engagement with a journey. As such, Soul City Wandering is a gateway into the world of psychogeography, a comparatively modern label for the act of experiencing your surroundings on a sensory level. The model is London. A city so complex, crowded and consuming, that it's easy to feel disoriented, disenchanted and disconnected. Fusing history, music and poetry, the author invites readers to rediscover the capital, its streets, its structures, and its soul. The main 'pilgrimage' is an easily navigable route combining walking and public transport. It links twelve highly evocative places and uses lyrical expression to amplify a sensory perception of the city. This book is not about 'hidden London'. Most of the locations are well-known. They have been selected because they have a strong 'synergy'. That is, spaces where the interaction of multiple agents or events produces an effect greater than the sum of their individual significance. Two further models of this concept are included. Both are London-themed but a little more compact: 'Romancing the British Museum' is an exploration of that institution's influence on poetry, while 'Ghosts of Swinging London' is a jaunt around Soho, focusing on its impact on rock 'n' roll. In addition, hints and tips have been added to help readers create their own experiences.