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London Blues
  
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London Blues (Paperback)

by Anthony Frewin (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 302 pages
  • Publisher: No Exit Press; New edition edition (25 May 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1901982467
  • ISBN-13: 978-1901982466
  • Product Dimensions: 17.5 x 10.9 x 2.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 613,111 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Synopsis

The chance discovery of a 30-year-old blue movie leads back to the film's maker, a pioneer of the black and white British blue movie and a figure on the periphery of the Profumo sex scandal. But who was directing him, and where is he now?

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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Porn and Profumo, 28 Jul 2002
By A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Five years ago, I saw this book in a London bookshop and filed it away in my head as something to check out when I had more money. Last week, after carrying the title around in a notebook for years, I stumbled across a used copy in a local bookshop. I'll step right up and say that, yes, it was worth the effort and the wait. Frewin's debut (he was Stanley Kubrick's PA for many years), is a great, gritty period thriller set amidst early '60s London. The atmosphere oozes off the page in a story which follows a small-time part time pornographer who gets mixed up in the Profumo scandal.

A note of caution here-those not familiar with the Profumo scandal (which is likely to be almost any American reader) would be well advised to do a little reading about it prior to embarking on Frewin's book. The Guardian web site has a decent mini-history of the affair, or at the least, watch the 1989 film Scandal (starring John Hurt and a young Bridget Fonda). The whole sordid episode is presented in Frewin's book, but only through the eyes of the protagonist, and much of the context may be confusing without further grounding.

A further note of caution is order due to the book's structure. Some readers may find confusing or be put off by its framing technique. The book starts with a 40 page section in which a contemporary narrator discovers an old '60s short porn film appended (appropriately enough) to a video of Get Carter. His curiosity over the maker of the "blue" film leads an interview-like series of other people talking about "Tim." Then the bulk of the book slips back in time to follow country lad Tim, as he tries to make it in the big city and the unsavory people he gets mixed up in. The book then ends with a brief further contemporary section. Those who demand their thrillers end neatly, with all loose ends tied up will be especially frustrated by the outcome.

Frewin's prose is direct and lively, capturing the period slang and tone. To a large degree, the story is one about a "secret London" of greasy cafés, small time hoods, West Indian immigrants, wanna-be models, and cover-ups. It's a vibrantly seedy portrait of London's transition from the postwar '50s to the legendary "swinging" '60s. (If the time and place interests you, check out Colin MacInnes' London trilogy of City of Spades, Absolute Beginners, and Mr. Love and Justice) The thriller aspect is a rather perplexing, tied up as it is in Tim's pornographic work and the Profumo scandal, but moves the story along-always with a hint of conspiracy. Good stuff, and I'll definitely be adding Frewin's next two books, "Sixty-Three Closure" and "Scorpion Rising" to my list, although hopefully it won't take me five years to find and read them!

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5.0 out of 5 stars frewin's fiction best and a "mod book", 14 April 2009
By Stefano Galli (italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: London Blues (No Exit Press 18 Years Classic) (Paperback)
Although the previous review of the book is spotless, I would like to push a little bit more towards the linking with Absolute Beginners (mentioned by A. Ross).

This is a splendid "mod book" (and the knowledge of jazz sported by the author is very remarcable). The understanding of the London scene and way of life is really excellent.

You should indeed read this book not like a mystery/crime book but "as
itself" without gendre tags (the mod reference simply refers to an era and to London in that era).

In my opinion this is the best of the four fiction books written by Frewin and you should start from this and then continue with "Scorpian Rising" (a more "standard" crime novel which may then push you towards Jake Arnott "The Long Firm", if not the entire trilogy) and with "Sixty-Three Closure".

As for "The Reich Stuff" (the last fiction Frewin wrote until now): well not for everybody.

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