Review of "Mr Love and Justice" by Colin MacInnes

I was vaguely aware of Colin MacInnes, but I'd never read any of his books - I did watch the 1986 film of Absolute Beginners with David Bowie, but I don't have a very strong memory of that.

I sort of assumed that it would be a very dated book, with old fashioned sexism and racism - but it's mainly not. There are some black and other foreign characters - Maltese gangsters, some Indians - but they aren't depicted as stereotypes. The main characters are all borderline proletarians - seamen, policemen, criminals, prostitutes and pimps.

It's set in the 1950s, and it's a very vivid evocation of a London that was just passing when I was a child - bombsites, street entertainers, sleazy pubs and strip joints.

Although the characters aren't educated or particularly articulate they are represented as having real and complex emotional lives, and though it's not really plot-driven the narrative is well structured - and it's only a little book, some 200 pages.

I note in passing that the characters are depicted as using working-class London speech, but some of the words don't feel right to me. Did English men call their girlfriends "chicks" in the 1950s?

Anyway, I liked it, and I think I'll read some more of MacInnes.