I've spent the last hour or so reading my first Guy N. Smith book. To be totally honest, I assumed he was American. My mother had a few of his books, and they were on her shelves with her Dean Koontz and Stephen Kings and Virginia Andrews, and lots of other Americans.
So, I was reading this book, Bats Out of Hell, under the assumption that he was American and the book was set in America. Generally speaking, assuming that books are set in America and that the main characters are white is a totally reasonable assumption to make.
I continued thinking that Bats Out of Hell was set in America for a little while after the first mention of Birmingham. There's a Birmingham in Alabama, after all (and a Paris in Texas, and a London in Toronto, yes I know Toronto is in Canada...).
What eventually tipped me off was the mention of Snow Hill Station, and Colmore Row, and a bunch of other places I walk past at least once a week. That's always quite exciting, when a book suddenly starts talking about places that you know intimately. Annie Murray does the same thing. A favourite of mine is My Daughter, My Mother which is set in Birmingham in 1984. The main characters are single mothers, and one of them is even Asian (I know Subcontinental Indian, but I forget which bit specifically). I was born in 1988. My father is Indian, and my mother raised me by herself. I remember reading that book on a bus, back when I lived in Edgbaston, near Bearwood (as opposed to Edgbaston near Basall Heath, where I grew up). The character was on the 9, heading towards a building near the Edgbaston Reservoir. I was on the 9 heading towards a building near the Edgbaston Reservoir! That was both spooky and awesome.
I don't know if people who live in places like London get this sensation more or don't get it at all. But, it's awesome when you're reading a book and you've walked down the streets it's mentioning. It's really disappointing when they get it wrong though, like Ben Elton did in High Society when he offhandedly referred to "one of those all night fast-food places in Birmingham City Centre". We don't have any all night fast-food places in our city centre. We have the McDonalds in Paradise Forum that stays open till 3am on Friday nights/Saturday mornings, but that's about it. Completely ripped me out of the story.
So, I was reading this book, Bats Out of Hell, under the assumption that he was American and the book was set in America. Generally speaking, assuming that books are set in America and that the main characters are white is a totally reasonable assumption to make.
I continued thinking that Bats Out of Hell was set in America for a little while after the first mention of Birmingham. There's a Birmingham in Alabama, after all (and a Paris in Texas, and a London in Toronto, yes I know Toronto is in Canada...).
What eventually tipped me off was the mention of Snow Hill Station, and Colmore Row, and a bunch of other places I walk past at least once a week. That's always quite exciting, when a book suddenly starts talking about places that you know intimately. Annie Murray does the same thing. A favourite of mine is My Daughter, My Mother which is set in Birmingham in 1984. The main characters are single mothers, and one of them is even Asian (I know Subcontinental Indian, but I forget which bit specifically). I was born in 1988. My father is Indian, and my mother raised me by herself. I remember reading that book on a bus, back when I lived in Edgbaston, near Bearwood (as opposed to Edgbaston near Basall Heath, where I grew up). The character was on the 9, heading towards a building near the Edgbaston Reservoir. I was on the 9 heading towards a building near the Edgbaston Reservoir! That was both spooky and awesome.
I don't know if people who live in places like London get this sensation more or don't get it at all. But, it's awesome when you're reading a book and you've walked down the streets it's mentioning. It's really disappointing when they get it wrong though, like Ben Elton did in High Society when he offhandedly referred to "one of those all night fast-food places in Birmingham City Centre". We don't have any all night fast-food places in our city centre. We have the McDonalds in Paradise Forum that stays open till 3am on Friday nights/Saturday mornings, but that's about it. Completely ripped me out of the story.
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