"China Mieville - King Rat" - читать интересную книгу автора (Mieville China)

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CHAPTERONE


The trains that enter London arrive like ships sailing
across the roofs. They pass between towers jutting
into the sky like long-necked sea beasts and the great
gas-cylinders wallowing in dirty scrub like whales. In
the depths below are lines of small shops and obscure
franchises, cafes with peeling paint and businesses
tucked into the arches over which the trains pass. The
colours and curves of graffiti mark every wall. Top
floor windows pass by so close that passengers can
peer inside, into small bare offices and store cupboards.
They can make out the contours of trade
calendars and pin-ups on the walls.

The rhythms of London are played out here, in the
sprawling flat zone between suburbs and centre.

Gradually the streets widen and the names of the
shops and cafes become more familiar; the main roads
are more salubrious; the traffic is denser; and the city
rises to meet the tracks.

At the end of a day in October a train made this
journey towards King's Cross. Flanked by air, it




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progressed over the outlands of North London, the
city building up below it as it neared the Holloway
Road. The people beneath ignored its passage. Only
children looked up as it clattered overhead, and some
of the very young pointed. As the train drew closer to
the station, it slipped below the level of the roofs.

There were few people in the carriage to watch the
bricks rise around them. The sky disappeared above
the windows. A cloud of pigeons rose from a hiding
place beside the tracks and wheeled off to the east.