Flesh by David Szalay (Vintage) - Some people love prose that is 'brilliantly spare' as it depicts the vicisitudes of life as they occur to a central figure with very little passion, emotion, or even dialogue - a grunted assent being about the height of the mains character's communicative powers. Others find the austere minimalism limiting and tedious, as in this novel of István. Our protagonist is a Hungarian émigré living in London to whom adventures happen (largely incorporating sex and violence), from which he learns nothing until he ends up back in the place where he started living with his mother and staring at the television. It is a wheel of fortune narrative through social and economic strata from the army to security work, drug deals, riches and temporary acceptance, and while some may claim his is a masculine tragedy, his determined lack of personal development undermines any sympathy for his individual odyssey.
Thirteen Steps Down by Ruth Rendell (Hutchinson) - This novel
is dedicated to P.D. James, “with affection and admiration”, which serves as an
introduction to a style of thriller that is equally reassuring to read and
disturbing to consider. Written in 2004, this stand-alone novel features
delusional people haunted by the spectre of Rillington Place and John Christie.
Michael (Mix) Cellini is obsessed with Christie and chats to him as a friend.
He also fixates on Nerissa Nash, a model whom he stalks while imaging their
future life together. She, meanwhile, dreams about a neighbour, Darel, who disregards
her as flighty; in Ruth Rendel’s world, we all want attention and don’t really
know each other. Fame or infamy are interchangeable to Mix as he reads
about the serial killer and rapist, admiring his notoriety. He admits that he
wants Nerissa, “For herself, of course, but also for the fame she’d bring him.”
Noting that neither man sees Nerissa as a person but rather as an object or a
symbol of something, the opposing attitude is encapsulated by Darel’s view of her.
“Someone belonging in that so-called elite must be empty-headed, ignorant,
tasteless and shallow.” Meanwhile, Mix’s landlady is a cantankerous old woman
lost in reveries of the past in which a doctor came to care for her mother many
years ago, and Nerissa visits a clairvoyant who peddles spells and crystals. The novel is full of pretence and self-delusion
in a world where, “thousands of people disappear every year and are never
found.” This is very isolating and a sad comment about the loneliness and
insular world of the individual rather than the richness and fulfilling aspect
of belonging to a community.
Homecoming: Voices of the Windrush Generation by Colin Grant (Vintage) - Colin Grant interviewed about 100 people and transcribes their words verbatim, with a little bit of editing into themed sections. He held writing workshops with Caribbean people through an Arts Council England project, Writing Everyday Stories of Diverse Britain, in Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham. Due to this method, it can often seem like a dissertation or the raw data wating to be shaped into something more interesting. Naturally not all the voices are the same and they can feel quite differently about their experiences. "There are as many accounts of the generosity of the British population as there were of insincerity. Topics covered include employment, racism, parenting styles, colonialism, American influence and feelings of displacement. When
they arrived, they found it cold, grey, cramped and bland – especially the food
and the clothes; and the houses were damp and dark – they brought colour, spice,
music and style (including hair), making noise at the cricket rather than
sitting and applauding politely, and dancing through the streets in carnivals.
“Almost everyone I interviewed was disappointed by the blandness of what was on
offer when they came to the UK, especially the food.” Some were nostalgic for home and even tried to return but they realised there were more opportunities for them in Britain adn that they were often unwelcome or the victims of violence back in the Caribbean. Grant concludes, “The
Caribbean world did come to Britain and forced a realignment of the culture.
The achievements of the Windrush generation are many. But the afterglow of
their presence is found in their children and grandchildren who have ‘stopped
talking tripe’ and have moved from the margins to the centre. Along the way
they redefined the very notion of what it is to be British.”
