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mikewa14's review against another edition
2.0
http://0651frombrighton.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/a-northern-line-minute-northern-line.html
samstillreading's review against another edition
4.0
I’m still going with my reading of the Penguin Lines series. The short size and story length make these books great to carry around in a handbag in hope of extra reading time or as a short read between longer books. A Northern Line Minute falls into the latter category for me, as I read it in one sitting after finishing another novel. (I was also a little too lazy to get off the couch for another book).
This short story is a great one to read in one setting. It’s tense and well written, but with enough meanders into lighter subjects to stop the story from becoming particularly creepy. (A Northern Line Minute is not a book you would actually want to read on the Tube or Underground, particularly if there’s a whiff of smoke about). It’s told in the first person and grabs you from the moment the narrator tells you that they think they can smell smoke deep in the Underground. Should he get off the train at the next station or is it all a figment of his imagination? As the narrator ruminates on what may or may not be happening, he imparts a lot of information about the Northern Line and how it differs from some of the other Tube lines, being deeper. I found that part rather interesting.
Overall, I enjoyed this story and I’m eager to check out other works by William Leith.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
This short story is a great one to read in one setting. It’s tense and well written, but with enough meanders into lighter subjects to stop the story from becoming particularly creepy. (A Northern Line Minute is not a book you would actually want to read on the Tube or Underground, particularly if there’s a whiff of smoke about). It’s told in the first person and grabs you from the moment the narrator tells you that they think they can smell smoke deep in the Underground. Should he get off the train at the next station or is it all a figment of his imagination? As the narrator ruminates on what may or may not be happening, he imparts a lot of information about the Northern Line and how it differs from some of the other Tube lines, being deeper. I found that part rather interesting.
Overall, I enjoyed this story and I’m eager to check out other works by William Leith.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
sunflowerwinters's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
I really really love London and am always intrigued by the Underground! I love traveling with it and therefore also enjoyed reading about it, the celebration of 150 years of the London Underground by short stories is such a fun initiative. However this specific story is probably not my favourite of all the Underground Line stories, as I said I love this travel system and this writer clearly has a troubled experience with it, which doesn't fit my experiences. I did like how he portrays his anxiety in his short story, a lot of elements were very familiar. The experience he tells us about is just quite uncomfortable, I don't have trouble with the train stopping in a tunnel or uncomfortable stories, but he gets incredibly anxious when this happens and adds another layer to that anxiety; a fire in a tunnel and feeling completely helpless. Nevertheless, I really appreciate him writing about anxiety in relation with the Underground, I feel like a lot of people's Subway experiences are similar and therefore deserve to be heard.
I really really love London and am always intrigued by the Underground! I love traveling with it and therefore also enjoyed reading about it, the celebration of 150 years of the London Underground by short stories is such a fun initiative. However this specific story is probably not my favourite of all the Underground Line stories, as I said I love this travel system and this writer clearly has a troubled experience with it, which doesn't fit my experiences. I did like how he portrays his anxiety in his short story, a lot of elements were very familiar. The experience he tells us about is just quite uncomfortable, I don't have trouble with the train stopping in a tunnel or uncomfortable stories, but he gets incredibly anxious when this happens and adds another layer to that anxiety; a fire in a tunnel and feeling completely helpless. Nevertheless, I really appreciate him writing about anxiety in relation with the Underground, I feel like a lot of people's Subway experiences are similar and therefore deserve to be heard.
pivic's review
3.0
This is a good, and very short addition to the Penguin series (published in 2013) about the London subway lines.
It's filled with bits about the author's memories of yore but mainly, which is the theme this books circles, of the current fright he is experiencing while seemingly trapped 150 feet underground, completely unsure of what is happening as the train he's in isn't moving anywhere.
Dark and good.
It's filled with bits about the author's memories of yore but mainly, which is the theme this books circles, of the current fright he is experiencing while seemingly trapped 150 feet underground, completely unsure of what is happening as the train he's in isn't moving anywhere.
Dark and good.
purplemuskogee's review
2.0
Not my favourite this year. I picked it up because I was intrigued by the whole collection and am most familiar with the Northern Line, but it was fairly disappointing. I didn't particularly write the writing - long paragraphs, a somewhat boring monologue - and I find strange the idea of writing about the Tube to celebrate its 150th birthday when one actually really dislikes the Tube.
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