Michael Moorcock - King Of The City (Scribner)
Michael Moorcock might be best known to most for the seemingly endless series of fantasy novels he churned out for cash in the 60s and 70s, not forgetting writing lyrics for Hawkwind, but don't let that put you off. 'King Of The City' is in much more recognisable territory - teenage London in the 60s through to the paparazzi and sleaze of the 90s.
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One of the most interesting authors I've discovered recently would surely be Michael Moorcock. Although he has established a name for himself in certain circles as one of the great British novelists of our time I hadn't heard of him before.
King of the City was recommended to me as an introduction to his work and having read it I would easily agree on this 'goozer' 's writing-talents.
Following the footsteps of rock-guitarist turned photo-journalist Dennis Dover the reader gets exposed to a very bitter, yet striking and at times hilarious charge against the consumer age.
Moorcock uses his fiction to point at the age's major concerns in an uncompromising way. He definitely makes the reader think hard but never loses himself into a moral crusade doing so.
The opening scenes immediately make you realize a fascinating read lies ahead. Dennis finds himself in a difficult situation afterwards. He goes on reminiscing his childhood in Brookgate and an, in his mind , environmentally declining London. When the story turns into a drugged-up, pissed-up trip around the globe we find the character struggling with the omnipresent power of money.
At the same time it's a story of love, loyalty and betrayal between Dennis, his longtime pal Rosie, his cousin Johnny and of course Tubby, the drummer in seclusion.
The final outcome is no letdown either I can tell, but I wouldn't call it exactly all's well that ends well!
From a Mod point of view my feelings are slightly ambivalent however. I mean, don't we all love to spend money on clothes and records ? As of course Modernism and youth-culture in general came with the malign consumerism. For instance: most of us would arguably have done the same at their age but remember the free accounts The Small Faces had at several boutiques in Carnaby Street? And didn't they end up with piles of clothes never to be worn ? Something to think about I'd say.
[Published 15 December 2003]
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| alex roest | dec 18 2003 7:11AM |
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| JTO> Thanks a lot for the feedback ! I'd say we're on the same wave-length overall. When big money meets politics has been *the* frustration for many for thousands of years now re-democracy.... BTW I should read up on Moorcock a bit as I failed to seriously do so really. If I can find the time that is :-) | |
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| JTO | dec 17 2003 7:04PM |
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| Alex - from what I've seen of his responses to questions on the Internet, he's not anti-capitalist, more anti-corporate. I think there's a similar distinction made by a Mod gang member interviewed in 'Days In The Life' who said that 'We loved money and doing deals but we hated the capitalists' - I think this was in reference to commercial venues like The Speakeasy in the late 60s moving in on the scene. Sure, as mods we like nice clothes and nice records, but it's also cooler if they come from a little tailor we know about rather than Gap, or a 45 on Wand rather than a CD of Motown hits, something we think we've discovered rather than something which is 60% advertising. I can imagine a capitalist world without supermarkets, chainstores and major record labels - what terrifies me would be one where the only clothes you could buy are 4 quid jeans from the supermarket because everyone else has gone bust, where the only music on the radio is Robbie Williams . . . (of course it won't happen because that's always the perfect conditions to encourage people to get of their bum and do something). On a more serious point, and what I think Moorcock was getting at with Johnny Begg, the real issue is when big money meets politics - democracy supposedly being about us all having an equal voice, not just the rich. | |
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| alex roest | dec 16 2003 9:33AM |
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| Cheers Helen ! I must say I could have picked an easier book as for my first review ever tho'.... | |
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| Helen | dec 16 2003 7:03AM |
| http://www.theidler.co.uk | |
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| Nice review, Alex - might check that book out. Moorcock's anti-commercialism isn't an entire shock if you bear in mind that he is associated with The Idler (check out the website) - he hated 'The New Puritans' as well. There is a great tension within The Idler (and many contemporary British novels) between the guilty desire of the liefty for the finer things in life and the drudgery of work. Perhaps the answer is to buy cheap luxury items that aren't made in 3rd world sweat shops.... ;) | |
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