Imatge de l'autor

Colin MacInnes (1914–1976)

Autor/a de Absolute Beginners

22+ obres 1,239 Membres 27 Ressenyes 3 preferits

Sobre l'autor

Crèdit de la imatge: Courtesy of Allison and Busby

Sèrie

Obres de Colin MacInnes

Absolute Beginners (1959) 564 exemplars
City of Spades (1957) 172 exemplars
Mr. Love and Justice (1960) 126 exemplars
The London Novels (1969) 86 exemplars
Australia and New Zealand (1964) 71 exemplars
England, Half English (1961) 41 exemplars
Westward to Laughter (1969) 30 exemplars
Three years to play (1970) 28 exemplars
June in Her Spring (1952) 27 exemplars
To the Victors the Spoils (1950) 21 exemplars
All Day Saturday (1974) 13 exemplars
Sweet Saturday night (1967) 10 exemplars
Sidney Nolan (1961) 10 exemplars

Obres associades

Absolute Beginners [1986 film] (1986) — Original novel — 23 exemplars
OZ 44, September 1972 (1972) — Col·laborador — 2 exemplars
London OZ 1 (1967) — Col·laborador — 1 exemplars
London OZ 3 (1967) — Col·laborador — 1 exemplars

Etiquetat

Coneixement comú

Nom normalitzat
MacInnes, Colin
Altres noms
McInnes, Colin (birth)
Thirkell, Colin (childhood)
Data de naixement
1914-08-20
Data de defunció
1976-04-22
Gènere
male
Nacionalitat
UK (birth)
Australia (passport)
País (per posar en el mapa)
UK
Lloc de naixement
London, England, UK
Llocs de residència
London, England, UK (birth)
Australia
Educació
London Polytechnic
School of Drawing and Painting, Euston Road, London, UK
Professions
novelist
journalist
Relacions
McInnes, James Campbell (father)
Thirkell, Angela (mother)
Kipling, Rudyard (cousin)
Baldwin, Stanley (cousin)
Thirkell, Lance (half brother)
McInnes, Graham (brother) (mostra-les totes 7)
Burne-Jones, Edward (great-grandfather)
Organitzacions
BBC Radio
British Army (WWII)
Biografia breu
Son of singer Joseph Campbell McInnes and novelist Angela Thirkell, Colin MacInnes was born in London, raised in Australia, and returned to England in 1930. He served the UK in WWII, after which he wrote his first novel, To the Victor the Spoils, and worked for BBC Radio until he could earn a living writing.

He was openly bisexual, and though obviously in love with the city of London, remained relatively realistic about urban life. This is reflected in his writing, which often addresses race relations of the day, urban squalor, and includes frank and realistic depictions of gay and lesbian characters.

Membres

Converses

1914: Colin MacInnes - Resources and General Discussion a Literary Centennials (febrer 2015)

Ressenyes

That was fairly good. It starts off well, told from the point of view of two main characters, a nigerian student in london for a year of study and a newly appointed colonial welfare officer.
The coloured community of 1950s london is a pretty unique setting. As well as nigerians you have gambians, people from trinidad and other caribbean islands, and a number of americans usually visitors, GIs or showbiz types.

However after the initial setup things become a bit episodic or sporadic might be a better descriptor. With its variety of characters it reminds me a lot of [a:Evelyn Waugh|11315|Evelyn Waugh|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1357463949p2/11315.jpg], except not funny, then again i don't usually find his stuff all that funny either :P .
Like Waughs novels, by the end there arn't really any likable characters or over-arcing plot, its more just a series of incidents.
The main nigerian character probably comes off the worst until you remember he's 18, which pretty conclusively explains if not entirely excuses his actions ;) .
The book is about race but not really racism. Its surprisingly light on the racism for 1950s but mostly because there are only a few white characters and they're mostly of the very liberal type.

By the end the whole thing just feels a bit slight. Fun and interesting enough but a bit thin.
… (més)
 
Marcat
wreade1872 | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Nov 28, 2021 |
Energetic and well-written account of youthful mucking-about in London of the 1950s. London then, like any big city any time, offers freedom from conformism and constraints, a stage for self-expression and self-discovery, and a crew of charismatic chancers. This time also has milk bars and music, beatniks with their now-weird cool slang, and some, thankfully also now dated, race riots, as indeed did occur in 1958 in Notting Hill, then still solidly working class. Echoes of James Dean and somehow of Dean Moriarty.… (més)
 
Marcat
eglinton | Hi ha 18 ressenyes més | Mar 22, 2020 |
A picaresque novel of a young free-lance photographer in 1958 London. A little difficult for me to follow at times due to the author's heavy use of late '50s British colloquialisms and teenage slang. Though not nearly as heavy as "A Clockwork Orange" published three years later, which may have been influenced by the same events (e.g. Rising youth culture and gang violence, Teddy Boys, the Notting Hill Race Riots). I got more out of the education of events and sub-culture then anything else the book offered.… (més)
 
Marcat
Tallowyck | Hi ha 18 ressenyes més | Apr 15, 2019 |
A bit of just not quite stream of conscious as we follow the just turning 19 year old aspiring photographer and jazz lover around 1959 London. It is a bit of a critique of the people and a paean to the city as it should aspire to be. The mixed maturity level of the main character isn't quite realistic, but does convey what a liberal of the time hope he would be. It's a fun trip.
 
Marcat
quondame | Hi ha 18 ressenyes més | Apr 8, 2019 |

Llistes

Premis

Potser també t'agrada

Autors associats

Tony Gould Introduction, Editor
Erwin Fieger Photographer
Francis Wyndham Introduction
Kenneth Clark Introduction
Peter Blake Cover artist
Lothar Gorris Translator
Ralf Niemczyk Translator
Günter Eichel Translator
Neville Brody Cover designer
Horace Ové Cover photograph
Paul Weller Foreword

Estadístiques

Obres
22
També de
4
Membres
1,239
Popularitat
#20,720
Valoració
½ 3.6
Ressenyes
27
ISBN
87
Llengües
6
Preferit
3

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