The Colour of Memory by Geoff Dyer - book review

Welldescribed grit with bright sploshes of lyricism.

Published in 1989 it describes a Brixton that is often unsafe. The storyteller fortifies his council flat with tons of metal, his pal has to butt a racist agressor in the stomach and run for his life and jump onto a bus.

The characters are young,likeable, a group of friends, sometimes working at casual jobs at a time sometimes not. They have a lively energy. Some do creative stuff, at least one writes, one paints, one rennovates deckchairs and creates canvas prints to go inside. They do a bit of booze and dope, play cards. There are football kickabouts in the park. Then 'suddenly like a submarine breaking the surface of the ocean after long months beneath the waves, it was summer.' The gang get outdoors, go cycling, go swimming in Brockwell Lido. The books' ending is twisty.

I'm envious, I visited the territory during the era but didn't have the bottle to move in. Perhaps that's why my review is a bit soggy.