Colin MacInnes follows his nameless protagonist through a city of coffee bars, elegant clothes, jazz and disposable money over the course of one endless summer in the late fifties. Accompanied by a cast of friends as ethereal and unattainable as him, he experiences love, betrayal, friendship and death. Instead of names they are referred to by nicknames or job descriptions; the beautiful Ex-Deb-of-Last-Year, part-time rentboy The Fabulous Hoplite and the sociopathic Wizard.
He makes his living taking pornographic photographs with his ever present Rolleiflex but dreams of having an exhibition of his more conventional work. His ex-girlfriend, and Negrophile, Crepe Suzette, decides to enter into a marriage of convenience with her 45 year old boss. He is given a Vespa by a client in return for photographs. He drinks a lot of coffee, wears a lot of nice clothes, listens to a lot of jazz. He argues with his mother and half brother. His father falls ill. He takes a boat trip up the Thames for his nineteenth birthday.
Not the most thrilling plot. However, it is impossible not to fall in love with the main character. To watch the summer unfold through his eyes is a stunning spectacle. You wish that Suze would realize her mistake and go back to him. Will his father to recover. Share his disgust and disbelief in the race riots that engulf his beloved London.
The writing is breathtaking. Every word carefully selected to draw you further and further in. Occasionally it becomes reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange with the teenagers having their own language and their own world, only half understood by the adults they hold in so much contempt.
One complaint of the book is that it trivializes the race riots. But it is all seen through the eyes of a teenager. His innocence is never more obvious than when he is talking about all the 'incidents' he witnesses. He is appalled but doesn't quite understand how bad things have got. His determination to help out the coloured people in his area is endearing and completely unswayed by the violence he receives for doing so.
The protagonist's name is never revealed. Even when asked directly at a party he responds mockingly with David Copperfield. He has a timelessness, which makes him untouchable and completely approachable at the same time.
Buy this book. And then buy a copy for all your friends as well.
Further Reading: Nobody's Girl by Kitty Neale.科林·麦金尼斯跟随这位无名的主人公穿过一个咖啡馆、优雅的服装、爵士乐和一次性钱币的城市,度过了上世纪50年代末一个漫长的夏天。伴随着一群像他一样虚无飘渺、不可企及的朋友,他经历了爱、背叛、友谊和死亡。他们不是用绰号或工作描述来称呼他们的名字,而是用去年漂亮的前德布、兼职的租借男孩、难以置信的霍普莱特和反社会巫师。
以下为对购买帮助不大的评价