Looks and Smiles

by Barry Hines

First US publication of this unsentimental, sympathetic novel of the
unemployed young in Thatcher's Britain. From Barry Hines, writer of A Kestrel for a Knave and The Gamekeeper





1980, a city on its knees after
decades of steel industry decline and facing the brutal economic policies of
Thatcher. Mick wants to learn how to be a motorcycle mechanic, but bad luck,
inexperience, and tough times make it hard to find a job. At a disco one
evening, he meets Karen, who works in a shoe shop, and the pair hang out with
Mick's buddy, Alan. Mick and Alan's efforts to find jobs are in vain and they
face a remain jobless or join the army, which is recruiting to police
the North of Ireland.



The author's unerring eye for detail and ear
for dialogue are utterly engaging and evocative. Looks and Smiles is a gritty and poignant bulletin from a forgotten
period of British history. A Barry Hines classic.

Genres: Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 1981

About the author

Barry Hines (June 30, 1939 – March 18, 2016) was an English author, playwright, and screenwriter. His novels and screenplays explore the political and economic struggles of working-class Northern England, particularly in his native West Riding / South Yorkshire.

He is best known for the novel A Kestrel for a Knave (1968), which he helped adapt for Ken Loach's film Kes (1969). He also collaborated with Loach on adaptations of his novels Looks and Smiles (1981) and The Gamekeeper, and a 1977 two-part television drama adaption of his book The Price of Coal.

He also wrote the television film Threads, which depicts the impact of a nuclear war on Sheffield.

Reviews

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looks and Smiles was written by Barry Hines, who also wrote A Kestrel for a Knave, a title that changed to simply Kes after it was made into a (very good) film a few years later. The story is about three young people and, to a certain extent, their families. They have not long left school and are trying to find their place in the world.

Their main problem is that their world is Sheffield in 1981. Mines are closing, factories are closing, jobs are scarce and investment minimal. The local authority has no money owing to government cutbacks, and support for the unemployed and poor is insufficient. Anyone who watched the TV news in the early 80s will know what I mean. It was depressing: strikes, redundancies, riots, all kinds of brutality (including by the police), poverty, anger frustration, confusion, stress and grief.

This book is bleak and, it seems to me, a damning political statement, as well as an indictment of, and an angry riposte to, the Conservative government’s policies at that time. Hines makes the same statement several times throughout the book – 'the project was not completed because of cutbacks and a lack of money'. If you’ve seen The Full Monty, you’ll get the picture.

The main characters are Mick, Alan and Karen. They want to work, go out drinking and meet the opposite sex. They have no money, no transport and parents who, worried that they will be left behind, nag them to keep trying to get work irrespective of the continual efforts they make – and the rejection they experience time and time again. The youngsters also worry about the police who, knowing that so many people have nothing, are suspicious of all young people out during the evening and are likely to question or harass them (sometimes with good reason).

I don’t want to give away the plot and I hope the above does not make you want to get depressed and reject the book, because this is well written and realistic in many ways. The teenage characters are well drawn, and their dialogue rings true. Mr Hines has a knack for bringing them to life in a way that makes you reassess some of your own attitudes to ‘hooligans’ and people in general who feel left out of society or put down by it. There are parallels here with the Black Lives Matter campaign, and it makes you realise (I hope) that we all need to be kinder, more inclusive, and less judgemental and preachy. There are people out there who find life hard, and they need a leg up.

Thought-provoking, concise, a bit sad but also a testament to the human spirit, Looks and Smiles is an important book in British social history, and remains relevant today.
Five stars.

[Suzy Espersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written during, and about, the depression in the 80s, this novel is depressingly relevant today.

[Draganka · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit sad. A bit strange, and still just a bit charming.

[Steven Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

"a missed opportunity of a novel in many ways" "The main character Mick is inconsistent" "some of the writing is good... at other times it is truly awful." full review at: http://stevek1889.blogspot.co.uk/2014...