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Utopia Avenue is one part Backbeat, two more of the bracing whimsical wit of A Hard Day’s Night, several parts Head-like support of social upheaval and psychedelics, with maybe a skosh of That Thing You Do! thrown in. The rest is the story – detailing the struggles and joys of the titular psych-rock band that David Mitchell’s latest novel concerns itself with – is entirely itself, kitchen-sink real and fanciful in alternating measures.
The members of Utopia Avenue could not be more different from one another. It’s 1966 and the book’s main narrator, Dean Moss, is a sleep-around bassist obsessed with the blues whose day gig at a coffee shop leads to him meeting Levon Frankland, a man looking to put together a band. It’s Levon who brings together Dean and sad-souled Elf Holloway, a refugee of the folk circuit and a keyboard player and lead singer dealing both with period-typical sexism and a break-up with her ex-bandmate-and-romantic-partner. She soon becomes Utopia Avenue’s leader and steers its musical direction. They’re joined by guitar wiz Jasper de Zoet (descendent of the hero of a previous Mitchell novel, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet), who struggles with schizophrenia and suicidal ideation which he hides from the band (his mental illness is portrayed in a harrowingly realistic way), and Griff Griffin, the jocular, confident drummer.
Together, the band struggles its way through creating several albums and several hits, one of which propels them to international stardom. But soon the band pulls itself apart thanks to unjust drug charges and further personal tragedy. In the end, who will be left standing?
The best and worst parts of Utopia Avenue can be explained by simply gesturing to Mitchell’s previous books and saying ‘well’. If you don’t like his long-at-the-pen, cheeky, mind-bending and yet out-there musings, you won’t enjoy this book. But I found the entire package pretty enchanting, a good portrait of the sixties rock scene as viewed by a group of struggling working-class musicians who make it modestly big.
All of the characters are likable. Elf was the center of the book for me, but Dean was also incredibly amusing, if a little bit selfish. Griff was the only character who felt underwritten, and indeed ended up in the background for most of the novel’s long (quite long – the book approaches 600 pages, and I wasn’t kidding about Mitchell’s longherrea) journey. Jasper’s chapters felt as if I’d been let into Keith Moon’s mind and asked to sit a spell. Together, they clash and fall in love and make messy connections. They’re endearing, in a not-quite-Jefferson-Airplane way
There’s a lot of wonderfully well-detailed technique work here; Mitchell takes you into the songwriting process and helps you to understand what it takes to make beautiful music.
The end of the book sort of falls apart as we’re treated to a few pages of an acid trip gone very wrong, but that doesn’t really detract from the grade. Utopia Avenue’s endearing characters and wonderful storyline will be transportive and hopefully transformative for the reader.
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Grade: A
Book Type: Fiction
Sensuality: Subtle
Review Date: 18/09/20
Publication Date: 07/2020
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
I love this author, and Cloud Atlas was a marvelous read for me but this ended about chapter 4!
I’m curious! What was your “no thanks” tipping point?
I picked it up because of the author and not for the plot. I just could not get into it and wasn’t in the mood to struggle my way through it. I may pick it up later as I really liked Jasper.
I could not get into this book. I love several of his books–The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet–would go on my list of top ten 50 books I’ve ever read and Cloud Atlas is a work of wonder. I also enjoyed Black Swan Green. But this one, and the two before it, were just not for me. It’s rare an author is so hit or miss for me.
From what I understand via my dipping in and out of his oeuvre, he’s very much a love-him-or-hate-him type. Some of those books will work, others just fall flat. I liked this better than Cloud Atlas.
Cloud Atlas isn’t a fun read but it is brilliant. TTAoJdZ is a mesmerizing page turner.
One of my sons gave me Mitchell’s “Bone Clocks”, and I put it aside for a long time because it looked too literary and too long. But when I forced myself to read it (brought it on a trip abroad so couldn’t just go out and buy something else) I loved it. Parts are definitely over-the-top, but parts are poetic and touching and the book totally drew me into its characters and events. Mitchell is a one of a kind writer with a unique voice. I can understand that he doesn’t work for some people, but he works for me.
I think he’s amazing but some of his books just set me on fire and others don’t.
I don’t think this book would be my cup of tea, but I have to give kudos to any review that can reference “A Hard Day’s Night” and the even more obscure “Head.”
Thank you!