Beatniks: An English Road Movie (Paperback)

Toby Litt has created an exceptional narrator in Mary, and he really seems to have walked around in her shoes, for he expresses her mentality so well, from her predilection for 'indulgence baths' to her desire for that perfect summer dress. If that makes her sound quite superficial, well then that applies to the 'men' in this novel also. Both Jack and Neal are obsessive about living up to the Beat ideal, eschewing any pop culture born after 1966 and have a habit of wearing black sunglasses indoors. Although Mary is uneasy with such beliefs, she also wants to belong to this 'cool' gang; despite the fact that Jack's female followers seem to approach a harem in number.

It could be said that Litt's protagonists are anti-heroes, so numerous are their faults. However, Toby Litt is never judgmental, never condemning. Instead, he provides an uncannily accurate insight into what it is like to be young today. Most readers will curl up in embarrassment as Litt exposes their secrets. You've only got to read that delicious scene between Neal and Mary in Bedford Park to feel as though you're eavesdropping on the most intimate details of own your past. Toby Litt allows you to wallow in such painful pleasures, the mental masochistic perversities that we've all indulged in. Mary willingly says yes when really she knows that she should be saying no. But she's not evil: just human, with all the ugliness and attractions that incur. It helps that Litt's characters are all in their early twenties, when life has to be taken seriously in all its absurd and tragic glory. Having said that, I couldn't help but think that it would be better if they were all still in their teens. As Mary remarks of the books in Neal's Beat library, they all seem "a little adolescent".

However, these characters are so vivid that they really carry the story along. Toby Litt has provided a strong structure, but one which is subtle and unobtrusive. The plot doesn't butt into these characters' lives and make a nuisance of itself. It helps that Jack and Neal are so much into Beat culture, though, especially Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road'. None of Litt's characters seem to know where they're going, even if they are following a pre-1966 'hip' map. Mary sticks her thumb out, and Neal and Jack are only too eager to pick her up. There's a telling point near the end of the novel where Mary and Jack debate whether they should have picked up a hitchhiker. What if the hitcher had been a psycho killer? But Jack has fewer reservations about picking Mary up, letting her tag onto the Beat Route, unaware that she will have a more devastating impact...

The only person who resents Mary's presence is Maggie. And for good reason, it seems, as Mary leads Neal astray. But Maggie is Mary's rival, so she just doesn't listen, even when Maggie tries to tell her about the seditious and delicious practice of yabyum. Meanwhile, Mary's parents can't help but make 'assumptions' and preclude her need for drama by talking in clichés. Neal may have changed his name as a reflection of his devotion for the Beatnik Cassady, but it would seem that Jack has more to hide. The world of the Beatniks doesn't seem like a good place to beat the retreat though. Litt skilfully weaves the story of the Beats into the background, particularly that of Jack Kerouac (note that like Neal, Kerouac had a cat to whom he was devoted). So much so, that Jack seems determined to follow Kerouac's literary tire tracks, right up to the legendary Big Sur. Trouble is, even in a huge country like America, the road's got to end somewhere...

This novel is not just homage to the Beats though, for the author has provided the most compelling portrait that I've ever read of my own generation. Toby Litt is determined to have us wanting for more, and admirably leaves closure to the reader, and so ensures this novel's immortality. It certainly hits the beat.