England, Half English: A Polyphoto of the Fifties

by Colin MacInnes

Tony Gould, in his biography of Colin MacInnes - Inside Outsider (reissued by Faber Finds) - is in no doubt, 'the volume of essays, England, Half English , contains the best of his writing. The range is impressive too: from expected pieces on popular culture (e.g. Pop Songs and Teenagers and Sharp Schmutter ), to an essay on the London drinking clubs ( See You at Mabel's - 'It's five past three in the afternoon, the London pubs have closed, you're dying for a drink. What happens?), and substantial articles on Nikolaus Pevsner (whom MacInnes described as this 'thoroughly inside outsider') and Ada Leverson (Oscar Wilde's The Sphinx 'whose name', as MacInnes says 'is so honourably remembered and whose writing remains disproportionately unread' - alas still true). 'To read England, Half English is to be reminded how few writers there are nowadays who are prepared even to attempt what should be the writer's first task; simply to tell us how we live ...who will bother to look at the way we dress and take our holidays, who will listen to the music that erupts from our loudspeakers, who will try patiently and assiduously to see if we can learn something from the crowds, you and I among them, who swarm on the pavement outside his wisdom' - Dan Jacobson, New Statesman . 'He was, in short, the first Pop anthropologist, the first post-war style sub-culture essayist: he created the trade' - Peter York, Harpers & Queen .

Genres: Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

MacInnes was born in London, the son of singer James Campbell MacInnes and novelist Angela Thirkell, and was educated in Australia. He served in the British intelligence corps during World War II.

He was the author of a number of books depicting London youth and black immigrant culture during the 1950s, in particular City of Spades (1957), Absolute Beginners (1959) and Mr. Love and Justice (1960).

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays by the fascinating and always interesting Colin MacInnes, who wrote the Mod classic novel of the 50's "Absolute Beginners." I tracked down this book because Billy Bragg recommended it on a Guardian Top Ten Books list. I am trying to collect as much 'Mod' literature as possible. When I pass away in my office, with Goodreads on the computer screen, and surrounded by Mod books - it might make a good news item.

[David Lai · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. MacInnes's style seems very dated now, being quite stiff and academic; and there are jarring uses of words such as "coloured". Much better things have been written about pop music (to be fair, most of this was written before Beatlemania), some of his subjects (Ada Leverson, Sidney Nolan and others) are now pretty obscure, and, of the better-known ones, his description of Ella Fitzgerald's voice as "bland" put me right off.

The longish essay on Nigeria was fairly interesting.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

better off reading his works of fiction than his essays, all the same themes but far more eloquently touched on. ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS = great. this = just good.

i like macinnes, he hated cars: "Car owners of the world, unite: you have nothing to lose but your manners and someone else's life." .. worrrd.