When he had first arrived, he had found London huge, odd, fundamentally incomprehensible, with only the Tube map, that elegant multicoloured topographical display of underground railway lines and stations, giving it any semblance of order. Gradually he realized that the Tube map was a handy fiction that made life easier but bore no resemblance to the reality of the shape of the city above. It was like belonging to a political party, he thought once, proudly, and then, having tried to explain the resemblance between the Tube map and politics, at a party, to a cluster of bewildered strangers, he had decided in the future to leave political comment to others.
Neil Gaiman (b.1960), Neverwhere
CabbieBlog 
I think you have to be born in London to understand that it is essentially made up of many different villages that eventually merged into one huge city around the original walls. People I knew that moved to the city from other parts of the country never really understood it, and tended to rarely venture far from the area they lived in, or the prominent tourist sights and theatres or galleries.
The remarks about the tube map are true, it helps you get around on the tube, but has little use in teaching the geography of London.
Cheers, Pete.
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The genius of the Tube map, designed by Harry Beck (a lecturer at my college) was that to turned a map to a simplified diagram. Yes many just connect the dots not realising what’s above their heads in the train. I’ve spent many hours in Bermondsey ‘village’ enjoying their hostelries.
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When a man is tired of Neil Gaiman quotations about London, he is tired of life.
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Very clever. Thanks for the comment.
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