Mitchell is too good a writer for there not to be passages of brilliance, but the overall effect is wearying-like some of those ‘raga rock’ albums recorded by pop stars who’d grown a beard for the first time, smelt some patchouli and listened to Ravi Shankar. But, at just 30 pages (or so) shy of 600, this is a self-indulgent, overly schematic, frequently tedious and self-congratulatory book. The novel also takes a fantastic detour-a fittingly psychedelic trip. Mitchell structures the novel like the band’s oeuvre, with each of the six parts serving as one side of an album (vinyl, obviously) and each chapter as a song title. Utopia Avenue tells the story of the rise of a fictional, eponymous British band-the action largely taking place between 19-with seemingly every pop legend of the era being wheeled on for a stilted cameo. Several of David Mitchell’s nine novels, including his latest Utopia Avenue, share a sibling relationship, but the pleasures of discerning patterns, connecting dots, recognizing references, in-jokes and plot devices are secondary to the thrills of reading each as a discrete work. Utopia Avenue’s endearing characters and wonderful storyline will be transportive and hopefully transformative for the reader.(Left:) British author David Mitchell (right:) his latest book, Utopia Avenue (Photos courtesy Alamy and Hachette India) 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. 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. They’re endearing, in a not-quite-Jefferson-Airplane way Together, they clash and fall in love and make messy connections. Jasper’s chapters felt as if I’d been let into Keith Moon’s mind and asked to sit a spell. 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. Elf was the center of the book for me, but Dean was also incredibly amusing, if a little bit selfish. 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.Īll of the characters are likable. If you don’t like his long-at-the-pen, cheeky, mind-bending and yet out-there musings, you won’t enjoy this book. The best and worst parts of Utopia Avenue can be explained by simply gesturing to Mitchell’s previous books and saying ‘well’. But soon the band pulls itself apart thanks to unjust drug charges and further personal tragedy. Together, the band struggles its way through creating several albums and several hits, one of which propels them to international stardom. 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. She soon becomes Utopia Avenue’s leader and steers its musical direction. 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. 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. The members of Utopia Avenue could not be more different from one another. 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. 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.
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