The classic novel about the post-war experience of West Indian immigrants in London The Lonely Londoners opens with a disgruntled Moses Aloetta. A Trinidadian immigrant himself, he's off to Waterloo station to greet a new arrival named Henry Oliver. Moses is a reluctant good guy. He feels a sense of duty to help out fellow immigrants, but there's also a sense of futility. This new arrival will follow in the same economic and social footsteps as other West Indian immigrants. Moses moves about in a small but vibrant West Indian community consisting of mostly men. He describes their lives: trying to get work, forming emotionally unsatisfactory relationships with white women, living in substandard housing, dire poverty (Henry Oliver, nicknamed “Galahad”, even kills a pigeon to eat he's so hungry) and too much drinking. They are all trying to get ahead, to make a life for themselves in the promised land that is London, but the great city falls short. While the racism experienced in England isn't as explicit as in America, it's still there, hidden beneath the surface and practised in all manner of subtle ways. These coloured immigrants are denied decent work and housing, forced to live on the fringes of British society. Moses has lived in London for ten years, and despite this, he still hasn't been able to establish himself. His life seems to be stuck. Samuel Selvon moved to London in the early 1950s and in 1956 published The Lonely Londoners. The novel's standout feature is its use of creolised English. Selvon had originally written only the dialogue in this style, but found it didn't properly capture the feel and energy of the stories and characters he'd accumulated during his time in London. So he re-wrote the whole novel in English creole. For example, here is a description of a dole office: “It ain't have no place in the world that exactly like a place where a lot of men get together to look for work and draw money from the Welfare State while they ain't working. Is a kind of place where hate and disgust and avarice and malice and sympathy and sorrow and pity all mix up. Is a place where everyone is your enemy and your friend.” Some readers may find the style a little discombobulating. Nonetheless, it is this which makes such a lasting impression, the language giving the characters a solid presence and three dimensional feel. The sense of loneliness and estrangement, despite the often comic tone of the dialogue and situations, is palpable throughout. A seminal work of literature that is said to have influenced such writers as Zadie Smith and Hanif Kureishi. The Lonely Londoners, by Sam Selvon. Penguin. $39.99 Review by Chris Saliba Comments are closed.
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