A Memoir of London: A Reading on Ghazi AlQosaibi’s Bye-Bye London and Anna Quindlen’s Imagined London

Abstract

This paper aims to present impressions of London “indisputably the capital of literature”, by two culturally diverse novelists and their works: the first is the Saudi diplomat, novelist, and poet Dr. Gazi AlQosaibi’s (1940-2010) Bye-Bye London (2002) and the American renowned Pulitzer Prize winner Anna Qindlen’s (1953) Imagined London (2004). The researcher used a textual analysis approach to analyze the novels. This study is an add-value to the body of knowledge by contributing to the literature of A Memoir of London and Imagined London. It addresses the manifold concept and diverse determinations of images related to the identity of London. In addition, it examines the different representations that reflect the different circumstances, defined by time and place in London. A thorough reading of both works will not only provide many insights about London, the city, but also a literary and intellectual biography of the writers themselves. Thus, a reading of their works, comparing, and contrasting them will be ostensible to further highlight their recollections, reminisces, and experiences of “the capital of the world”. The results showed that Bye, Bye London, and Imagined London are examples of honor to a metropolitan that includes one of the greatest fictional and ancient pasts. These novellas are not as thorough as Peter Ackroyd’s London: a Biography (2001) which Quindlen positions in the volume.