Scarica Riassunto di “Absolute Beginners” - Colin McInnes e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Cultura Inglese I solo su Docsity! Absolute Beginners The second part of Colin Macinnes' London trilogy, published after "City of Spades" and before "Mr. Love and Justice", is "Absolute Beginners". Tre novel is written and set in 1958 in London. It is the summer of a boy and a youth movement that dreamed of being able to change the cultural balance of England. The novel is written from the first-person perspective of a teenage photographer, who has learned the art of photography by trying and making mistakes. He is the protagonist and at the beginning he is an outsider since he does not know the world the author is talking about, in fact he lives in a ruined but vibrant part of west London that he calls Napoli, he lives in a cheap area, home to a large number of Caribbean immigrants, as well as marginalized Englishmen from society, such as homosexuals and drug addicts. He does not drink alcohol and he does not identify with the two political parties. In the end with many episodes of violence and racism he figures out the role he has in the society, that is to connect his world with other cultures, a meeting of different realities. Jazz music does not discriminate, but put together and valorise differences. So jazz is the most important influence for the protagonist. The title can be both positive and negative. “Beginner” is for “starting from zero”. The protagonist lives the moment, he’s not afraid of future. That can be good, but also bad because he lives for the day. The real treasure is not money but it's time and he’s glad he lives in his part of London, where he can do everything he wants to. The themes of the novel are the narrator's points of views on newly formed youth culture and on his fixation on jazz clothing and music, his love for his ex-girlfriend Crepe Suzette, and his father's illness. The novel is divided into four parts, each one focused on a specific day starting from June until September, so during the summer of 1958. 1) In June shows the narrator meeting with several teenage friends and some adults. The novel starts with a conversation between the protagonist and his friend, Wiz, about a baby singer. They are in a music store and Laurie London is playing on the radio. They talk about how the adults are trying to make money using young people, and there we see the narrator discussing his vision of life and the new concept of being a teenager. He also learns that his ex-girlfriend, Suzette, is going to marry his boss, a middle-aged gay fashion designer named Henley. 2) In July, the narrator takes photographs by the River Támesis, he spend time with his father, and meets Ed the Ted. Here, the culture of teenagers is opposed to the Teddy Boys: the first is linked to jazz music and pop, is a lover of Italian fashion and Vespa; while the second is linked to American rock and is characterized by an aggressive look. 3) In August, the narrator and his father take a Támesis cruise to Windsor Castle. His father gets sick during the trip and must be taken to the doctor. The narrator also finds Suzette in her husband's cabin in Cookham. 4) In September it is set on the narrator's 19th birthday. He sees this, symbolically, as the beginning of his senior year as a teenager. He witnesses several violences, which disgust him. His father also dies, leaving him four envelopes full of money. Suzette has separated from Henley, but the narrator decides to leave the country and find a place where racism does not exist. At the airport, he sees Africans arrive and gives them a warm welcome.
