What are the most vivid and inspiring settings you have found in a book? For me, personally, although it's a bit ridiculous- The Hundred Acre Woods (Whinnie-The-Pooh) is by far one of the best settings a writer has created. I find it so intrigueing that the book rarely mentions images that directly explain the woods. Instead it allows the characters to kind of 'spill secrets' about different spots. Mister Owl's tree, Rabbit's hole, and Pooh Bear's home are all well known parts of the hundred acre woods. But none of them are ever explained in detail aside from the actions the character's make within them. And the woods in general are very rarely described. And I find that to be one of the best things a writer has ever done. He leaves the setting open to the reader's (or child's) imagination. Not many writers can do that in a successful way. And to this day I think it's one of th best settings on earth- merely because he sort of let the reader create it.
I've been inspired, often, by science-fiction settings. Larry Niven's Ringworld (and some of the other strange worlds he created) is somewhat mind-blowing, if only in scale. I also love the Nautilus in Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I also have a soft spot for the Salinas Valley in California, as described by John Steinbeck in East of Eden. And, of course, the rugged California coast that poet Robinson Jeffers wrote so brilliantly about in nearly all of his work.
The most vivid setting - the one that presented the clearest picture in my mind - was Harper Lee's depiction of the people and the locale of "To Kill A Mockingbird". A close second was Michener's depiction of a tropical sunrise in "Tales of the South Pacific". Also, Estrada's depiction of Havana in "Welcome to Havana, Senior Hemingway" and Roth's depiction of Newark in "The Plot Against America".
Good call on To Kill a Mockingbird, Ed! I also have to put in a word for Dublin in James Joyce's Ulysses.
Anything by Angela Carter - she's so fairy-tale gothic her prose is amazing. Also I love, love J.G. Ballard's apocalyptic stories - The Crystal World, The Burning World, High Rise, The Drowned World etc. He's so precise and the imagery can be downright freaky. Ronald Firbank can be rather lush. Oh, and one very surreal setting that I found amazing was House of Stairs by William Sleator which seems inpired by the art of mc escher.
Hundred acre woods - what a great choice! i also agree with tcol, I adore the Discworld especially Ankh Morpork - his descriptions of the city have certainly inspired me.
EdFromNY I absolutely agree that 'To Kill A Mocking Bird' has one of the most vivid settings- very detailed. I like books like that, that can truly draw you in based not only on the characters, but the locations as well.
Argh! I forgot Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - I can not get through that book without wanting a piece of chocolate!
