There are a lot of very good New York novels, but there's no single all-encompassing novel, the way you could look at any number of Dickens books and say we know London as a result of that.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I like New York. There are similarities with London that make it feel rather like home, but at the same time it's slightly fictional.
My agent in London says all New York films are wonderful if they're really New York films because they're like travelogues.
My neighborhood in South London was very Dickensian.
I love New York, but I have to admit that I feel very English, and I do miss that sense of history that you have everywhere in Britain.
I don't read a lot of books that were published after 1755. One thing about having friends in New York who belong to the literary world, however, is that I have a steady stream of books coming to the house.
Dickens is a very underrated writer at the moment. Everyone in his time admired him but I think right now he's not spoken of enough.
I seem to only write New York stories because it's the only thing that inspires or interests me.
I think New York is a good place to write in general because it's a grid. It's organized. You know where you are on the map. That centers you, and your imagination is perhaps freer to roam.
I feel like all Londoners relate more to New York - L.A. doesn't feel like a 'city' city. It's like a sleepy town.
The whole world knows Dickens, his London and his characters.