The Rambling Man

The thing I found the most interesting while in London and Dublin that related to the class was was walking around the streets that these two authors would have journeyed through daily. The Victorian-Gothic architecture in London drew me in right away, when you take the time to look at the buildings in both of these two cities, although they have changed in the last 100+ years, you begin to get a sense of the settings the authors had in mind when writing their stories. Before my visit to London, I read Dracula, when reading the book I began to envision a setting much different from what it was intended. The setting I created was a few gigantic buildings among a seemingly simple town of small building that had thatched straw roofs, much like that seen at the Globe Theater. After studying abroad I realize may time line was far off.

The most influential part of the journeys around town we partook in was the walk down Picadilly Street looking for the house that Count Dracula "resided" in while in London. From this spot, the Count planned his invasion of London and from London to the entire world. Picadilly is consitered to be the workers part of London and I think this busy street begins to give you a real feel for how things used to be in the late nineteenth early twentieth century, apart from the Hard Rock Cafe and all of the embassies located here. Within the first block of the street you see tall buildings that seem to always be connected. The amazing thing about this street is that, to me at least, it seems to have had little modification to the exterior of the buildings which preserves the style of the buildings which helped me to form a better setting for the book.

In conclusion reading a book like Dracula can bring one to a journey to London, but a trip to London, where you are able to visually observe the setting of the book. When one is able to put themselves physically into the setting of the book it brings a new aspect to the book when reading it.