The City and ytiC ehT
China Miéville's book was an interesting twist on the grizzled cop who has to go to another country to solve a crime that involves both.
Using this framework, and the wonderful conceit of two small European countries that share the same territory but different governments, police, languages, and traditions, he explored the concept of the nation state, and how 'othering' works, taking it to extremes. While the two states share the same overall area, within that area are streets that are only one nation's, both, disputed, and other. If the street is shared, a house may belong in one country, the next in the other. Inhabitants of each state grow up learning to ignore or "unsee" those of the other. Visitors have to be rigorously trained in how to tell each nation from the other, and to ignore the other, unless they go through the one major security check-point that links the two. Then they have to learn to ignore the people whom they were interacting with before, and only interact with the members of the 'new' country they are now 'in'.
It's a wonderful deconstruction of the whole idea of the nation-state. It also has a reasonably good mystery plot, which hinges on the history and mysteries of the place.
Using this framework, and the wonderful conceit of two small European countries that share the same territory but different governments, police, languages, and traditions, he explored the concept of the nation state, and how 'othering' works, taking it to extremes. While the two states share the same overall area, within that area are streets that are only one nation's, both, disputed, and other. If the street is shared, a house may belong in one country, the next in the other. Inhabitants of each state grow up learning to ignore or "unsee" those of the other. Visitors have to be rigorously trained in how to tell each nation from the other, and to ignore the other, unless they go through the one major security check-point that links the two. Then they have to learn to ignore the people whom they were interacting with before, and only interact with the members of the 'new' country they are now 'in'.
It's a wonderful deconstruction of the whole idea of the nation-state. It also has a reasonably good mystery plot, which hinges on the history and mysteries of the place.