Absolute Beginners (novel)

Absolute Beginnersis a novel byColin MacInnes, written and set in 1958 London, England. It was published in 1959. The novel is the second of MacInnes'London Trilogy, coming afterCity of Spades(1958) and beforeMr. Love and Justice(1960). These novels are each self-contained, with no shared characters.
The novel is written from thefirst-personperspective of a teenage freelance photographer, who lives in a rundown yet vibrant part ofWest Londonhe calls Napoli. The area is home to a large number ofCaribbeanimmigrants, as well as English people on the margins of society, such ashomosexualsand drug addicts.
The themes of the novel are the narrator's opinions on the newly formedyouth cultureand its fixation on clothes andjazzmusic, his love for his ex-girlfriend Crêpe Suzette, the illness of his father, and simmering racial tensions in the summer of theNotting Hill race riots.
The novel is divided into four sections. Each details a particular day in the four months that spanned the summer of 1958.
In Junetakes up half of the book and shows the narrator meeting up with various teenaged friends and some adults in various parts of London and discussing his outlook on life and the new concept of being a teenager. He also learns that his ex-girlfriend, Suzette, is to enter amarriage of conveniencewith her boss, a middle-aged gay fashion designer called Henley.
In Julyhas the narrator taking photographs by the riverThames, seeing the musical operettaH.M.S. Pinaforewith his father, has a violent encounter with Ed the Ted and watches Hoplite's appearance on Call-Me-Cobber's TV show.
In Augusthas the narrator and his father take a cruise along the Thames towardsWindsor Castle. His father is taken ill on the trip and has to be taken to a doctor. The narrator also finds Suzette at her husband's cottage inCookham.
In Septemberis set on the narrator's 19th birthday. He sees this, symbolically, as the beginning of his last year as a teenager. He witnesses several incidents ofracial violence, which disgust him. His father also dies, leaving him four envelopes stuffed with money. Suzette has separated from Henley, but still seems uncertain as to whether she should resume her relationship with the narrator. The narrator decides to leave the country and find a place where racism doesn't exist. At the airport, he sees Africans arriving and gives them a warm welcome.
The narrator also encounters a left-wingtrade unionistcalled 'Ron Todd' in a jazz club.In 1985 a real-life trade unionist calledRon Toddbecame general secretary of the TGWU.
Although MacInnes turned 44 in the summer of 1958, the book is written through the eyes of an 18-year-old, who is part of the new vibrant and affluent London youth culture ofcoffee bars, modern jazz androck 'n' rollmusic, and Italianscootersand clothes. As such, it chronicles the first years of what would become themodsubculturein the 1960s. MacInnes has the narrator use a very stylised form of speech. For example, when the narrator and Zesty-Boy talk about why Vendice no longer uses Dido's newspaper for advertising, MacInnes writes it as:
The narrator is never given a name. When asked it by a girl at a party, he avoids the question. When pressed, he says, sarcastically,David Copperfield. He is variously addressed in the book as "blitz baby", "kid", "teenager", "child", "infant prodigy" and "son": all terms that emphasise his youth. The majority of the other characters are given nicknames or referred to by their job titles, rather than by their real names.
The novel was adapted into a musical film directed byJulien Templeand released in 1986.The narrator was given the name Colin, after Colin MacInnes, and was played by Eddie O'Connell.Patsy Kensitplayed Crêpe Suzette andDavid Bowieappeared as advertising man Vendice Partners. Bowie also wrote and performed thetitle song, which reached number 2 in the UK singles chart in March 1986.
The film used many of the characters of the book, but changed a lot of their motivations and the story's ending. It also made more use of the idea of older characters exploiting the young, which was merely hinted at in the novel.
The novel was republished byPenguin Booksto tie in with the film's release. The cover showed O'Connell and Kensit in front of a stylisedsilhouetteof the London skyline.
The singer-songwriterPaul Weller, who was born in 1958, has described the novel as "a book of inspiration". This quote was used on the cover of the 1986 paperback edition. Weller also chose the book when he appeared on theBBC Radio 4programmeDesert Island Discs.
His groupThe Jamreleased a single called "Absolute Beginners" in 1981. It reached number 4 in the UK charts. His second band,The Style Council, recorded the song "Have You Ever Had It Blue?" for the 1986 film.