Reading 1001 discussion

Rating: 3.5 Stars


A coming of age story set in a very hip late-50's London. London seemed like a much cooler place then than the pre-British Invasion US of the same time frame. Of course I wouldn't know personally, since I wasn't alive then. I really liked the nostalgic vibe of the book. The descriptions were great and painted a vivid picture of Modernist London. I imagine it would be even more meaningful for those who had actually been there then. It seemed like a very dynamic time in history.

The main character is a teen-aged photographer. The book takes place over four separate days during 4 different months, culminating in the Notting Hill Race Riots. I found the story itself less than inspiring, but the atmosphere and snapshots of history compensated for a lot of this. The racist monikers used in the book made me uncomfortable, but according to some, that was apparently how people talked then. It would totally not be PC now. Aside from the racist nicknames, the main character portrays a favorable attitude toward minorities that does not seem to be shared by many other members of society during that point in history.

Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes. This book, written by Colin MacInnes, is set in the late 50s and covers a new creation, teenager. The war is over and kids no longer go from being children to being part of the work force. Our narrator, is an anonymous teenage who is a loyal London city boy but this is a hot summer and the outbreak of London's worst race riots. This brought home what was going on in the South of the US and also South Africa.

The author was born in 1914 and died in 1976. He was a journalist and a novelist and while he used derogatory slang in this book. Spade for blacks, you have the sense that he is not prejudiced and I think he used the word to capture the spirit of the Jazz age. The book was set in the Notting Hill area which was essentially poor and racially mixed. The author was openly bisexual, and wrote about such things as wrote about subjects including urban squalor, racial issues, bisexuality, and drugs. In the book, I liked the quote, "I don't understand my own country any more.....In the history books, they tell us the English race has spread itself all over the world: gone and settled everywhere, and that's one of the great, splendid English things. No one invited us, and we didn't ask anyone's permission, I suppose. Yet when a few hundred thousand come and settle among our fifty millions, we just can't take it." This makes this book timely, immigration being an issue in the fifties and is currently an issue.

The book uses a lot of slang. What I take to be teenager slang. Perhaps teens don't use slang anymore but it was a big thing in the 50s, 60s and 70s. The characters are only seen though our narrators eyes and in many ways they are stereotyped but they are fun and they represent that fringe society. The book was readable. Even though full of slang it wasn't hard to follow. It should be a fairly quick read for most people.

While it didn't win any awards, it is on both the 1001 Books You Must Read and the Guardian 1000 list. There is a political statement, a cultural statement and there is some derogatory slang and swear words but overall not a bad read and if this is the worst race riot for England, they can still hold their head up when compared to the US and South Africa.

Rating 3.833

This account of the aimless wanderings of a London teenager in the 1950s seems a bit dated now, but is a quick and easy read. The best part for me were the descriptions of London, the narrator/author’s love for the City shines through. He also illustrates the rising tensions that led to the race riots, and show how life carries on as normal in the peaceful middle class areas while the violence and crime are rising in the more deprived areas just a street away.

The language is full of slang and terms such as Spade which would now be seen as racist but are used by the author in a mildly affectionate kind of way, as part of the scene at the time. The main character has some interesting relationships with family and friends, especially his father, but overall I’m not sure it has enough special qualities to be included on the list.