Moses Ascending

London Trilogy #2

by Sam Selvon

The derelict house in Shepherd's Bush that Moses takes on becomes the scene for an hilarious, topsy-turvy, irreverent sequence of events.

Genres: Fiction, Race, Classics, Literature, 20th Century, British Literature, Read For School

140 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Samuel Dickson Selvon was born in San Fernando in the south of Trinidad. His parents were East Indian: his father was a first-generation Christian immigrant from Madras and his mother's father was Scottish.He was educated at Naparima College, San Fernando, before leaving at the age of fifteen to work. He was a wireless operator with the Royal Naval Reserve from 1940 to 1945. Thereafter, he moved north to Port of Spain, and from 1945 to 1950, worked for the Trinidad Guardian as a reporter and for a time on its literary page. In this period, he began writing stories and descriptive pieces, mostly under a variety of pseudonyms such as Michael Wentworth, Esses, Ack-Ack, and Big Buffer. Selvon moved to London in the 1950s, and then in the late 1970s to Alberta, Canada, where he lived until his death from a heart attack on 16 April 1994 on a return trip to Trinidad.

Selvon is known for novels such as The Lonely Londoners (1956) and Moses Ascending (1975). His novel A Brighter Sun (1952), detailing the construction of the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway in Trinidad through the eyes of young Indian worker Tiger, was a popular choice on the CXC English Literature syllabus for many years. Other notable works include Ways of Sunlight (1957), Turn Again Tiger (1958) and Those Who Eat the Cascadura (1972). During the 1970s and early 1980s, Selvon converted several of his novels and stories into radio scripts, broadcast by the BBC, which were collected in Eldorado West One (Peepal Tree Press, 1988) and Highway in the Sun (Peepal Tree Press, 1991).

After moving to Canada, Selvon found a job teaching creative writing as a visiting professor at the University of Victoria. When that job ended, he took a job as a janitor at the University of Calgary in Alberta for a few months, before becoming writer-in-residence there. He was largely ignored by the Canadian literary establishment, with his works receiving no reviews during his residency.

The Lonely Londoners, as with most of his later work, focuses on the immigration of West Indians to Britain in the 1950s and tells, mostly in anecdotal form, the daily experience of settlers from the Caribbean. Selvon also illustrates the panoply of different "cities" that are lived in London, as with any major city, due to class and racial boundaries. In many ways, his books are the precursors to works such as Some Kind of Black by Diran Adebayo, White Teeth by Zadie Smith and The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi. Selvon explained: "When I wrote the novel that became The Lonely Londoners, I tried to recapture a certain quality in West Indian everyday life. I had in store a number of wonderful anecdotes and could put them into focus, but I had difficulty starting the novel in straight English. The people I wanted to describe were entertaining people indeed, but I could not really move. At that stage, I had written the narrative in English and most of the dialogues in dialect. Then I started both narrative and dialogue in dialect and the novel just shot along."

Selvon's papers are now at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas, Austin, USA. These consist of holograph manuscripts, typescripts, book proofs, manuscript notebooks, and correspondence. Drafts for six of his eleven novels are present, along with supporting correspondence and items relating to his career.

Reviews

[Emmkay]

I loved The Lonely Londoners, and this sequel doesn't live up to it, but was a fascinating if uncomfortable read. Its predecessor was set in the 1950s among the Windrush generation, strivers newly arrived to London. Now, it's the 1970s, and protagonist Moses has finally 'ascended' to the heights of becoming a landlord, buying a leasehold boarding house with scant years remaining on the lease and filling it with tenants of colour, as well as a white British man, Bob, who is willing to act as general dogsbody . Moses is a big fan of Upstairs, Downstairs and happy to install himself in his "penthouse" (attic) with Bob as his butler. "if you are a tenant, you catch your arse forever, but if you are a landlord, it is a horse of a different colour," he asserts. But chaos and backsliding is never far away, as despite his determination not to he gets mixed up in his tenants' various schemes, including people smuggling and Black Power.

The portrait of the times is really interesting. The politics are roiling, and Moses wants nothing to do with them, having decided to be out for himself alone, even if he can't avoid getting mixed in. It's all delivered with the offensive, broad humour of 70s British television comedies. Brenda, the feminist Black Power activist who lives in the basement, is nearly raped (for laughs) early in the book. The South Asian tenants confusingly mingle references to Islam and Hinduism, and one is known throughout only as P*ki. The kibbutzing and comedy has a bitter edge as Moses, bewildered and individualistic, tries to hold on to his gains. There is, as they say, a lot to unpack.

"Sometimes in the winter when the alarm go and you get up and look through the window to see the weather conditions and you can't see nothing, only smog and frost out there, and the sky so grey and gloomy it look as if it join-up with the earth and make one, you does wonder what crime this country commit that it have to punish so with this evil weather. It is not the alarm what really wake you up: it is cold in your arse."

"Strangers in London - even bona fide Londoners too - have been heard to remark that they can't see the hordes of black faces what supposed to clutter the vast metropolis. Ah, but at what time of the day do they make this observation? If they had to get their arses out of a warm bed in the wee hours, if they had to come out of cosy flat and centrally-heated hallways to face the onslaught of an icy north wind and trudge through the sludge and grim of a snow-trampled pavement, they would encounter black man and woman by the thousands."

"A set of blacks was being towed, propelled, and dragged across Trafalgar Square. The place like it was full up of police, as if the whole Metropolitan force was lurking in the side streets waiting for a signal. Blue lights flashing, radio-telephones going, sirens blowing. Alsatians baring their teeth for the kill, and Black Maria waiting with the doors fling wide open in welcome.

I was in one panic as I find myself in this doomed company.

'Galahad!' I scream, as we pass the plinther, 'Galahad! Tell these people I am not a brother!'"

[Amanda B · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5🌟

[Miss Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Assigned reading for a university course on Representing Black Britain in Literature.

Oh boy. Firstly, I really enjoyed the writing style, the subtle Trinidad dialect flowed really nicely and gave the text character an flavour. The satire element was well done, the story fast-paced, to the point were it felt a bit as though the main character was flip-flopping around from one mood to the other, but I attribute that as part of the satire slap-stick style.
However.
The blatant misoginy was just sickening. Women are only referred to as "pussy", "thing" or, occasionally "bitch". Every woman is only a potential sexual conquest, especially the only two (!) female characters that actually have a name. And of course, as soon as these two female characters meet on the page they are catty and jealous and start sabotaging each other. Not to mention, there is literally an attempted rape scene right at the beginning and the main character's response is "I even get up from the table and stand to get a better view of the proceedings."
Another trend is the "the female is being contrary so lets fill her up with alcohol" which usually magically improves her mood.
And none of this is really addressed or discussed in a way that makes it clear the author is aware of this problematic depiction. Brenda, one of the named women who apparently is supposed to be a satire of Black feminists at the time, does get a few lines of "women should not be treated like this!" but more for comedic effect than anything else. Her involvement in the Black Power movement, organising rallies, speeches and a Black run newspaper is all undercut by her sexualisation by the main character and his white handyman, as well as her "helping around the house" because she is a woman and so that's her job.
I could rant on for longer, but I will wait until the class discussion and maybe add some more later.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

By its nature satire often gets too close to the mark and should make you feel uncomfortable, however there was too much of this where I couldn’t really distinguish between what was satire and what wasn’t. There were some moments of genius writing, especially at the start of the book, but overall, despite enjoying the first book in the trilogy, this wasn’t really for me.

[Julia Zhang · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good writing overshadowed by blatant sexism— more on this later, but I can’t justify writing a story about a marginalized/oppressed group who uses the subjugation of another group for shits and giggles.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read this book for class, I thought it was a satire of something that might have happened in 1970s London. I even sort of enjoyed it, though the treatment of Brenda and the racism in the book was jarring at times. Then I read the introduction. While the author was satirizing some things, he apparently was not joking when writing the out of control misogyny in this novel. The best thing about this book is that years later, the author was slapped at an event by a female activist for his horrid portrayal of women in his books.

For a man writing about a character who supposedly had sex with hundreds of white women and managed to get Brenda to sleep with him even after he let his friend try to rape her without interfering, this author seems to have neither respect for nor an understanding of women.

It's not an awful book. I am not so blinding by anger right now that I cannot see the redeeming qualities of the prose. But man. Ugh.

[Noel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sharply witty, incessantly ironic, infectiously fast-moving. A British comedy of sex and race in the 70s, from the point of view of Moses, a black landlord hoping to live large and instead encountering illegal immigrants, Black Power radicals living in his basement, and infidelity scandals involving his servant Bob.
(Read for class- Anglophone Literatures of the Third World)

[Nayomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moses Ascending is about Caribbean immigrant Moses and his experiences writing his (so called) memoirs as he enjoys his retirement in Britain as the landlord of delipidated property in Shepherds Bush. After years of toiling and living in danky basements, Moses is finally about to enjoy the high life as the "master" in his West London penthouse with his "servant" Bob and his somewhat problematic tenants. Things get complicated when Moses realises he's got a Black Panther/Power movement operating in his basement and Pakistanis illegally being smuggled into the country via his house! How does Moses handle all of this, well quite badly... I found Moses' pompous, pretentious philosophical attitude and "wisdom" humorous and found myself smiling all the way through. The book is written in a slight Caribbean dialect which I found easy to read and added character although I realise some reader found it hard to understand. Would I say Moses Ascending is a must-read, yes and no - the book is a snapshot into the what life was like for a West Indian black migrant in the 70s was life however the storyline I felt was somewhat melodramatic and unrealistic at times. All in all and nice short fun read - 3.5 stars.

[A gin and orange, a lemon squash, and a scotch and water, please! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliantly evocative of the time and superbly written. Within the stylish writing and lyrical prose there's a bitterness that lingers long after the story ends. I'm not sure if it's a bitterness of disillusionment - the ones that will bring you down the most are your own people, the same people who are as prejudiced against peoples of other colours as white man is prejudiced against black - or a bitterness of the author. Either way, in a strange way it doesn't detract from the story: call it what you will, it certainly adds another flavour to the storyline.
It's a story of the rise and fall of Moses, a man not unaware of the struggle of black people against the establishment in the 1970s, but a man who, having worked (slaved?) all his life now wants some peace and quiet. (Though I'm not sure his fall is as much of a fall as some would argue). I really enjoyed the nuanced and, above all, realistic attitudes that prevailed at the time.
Some parts jar, some characterisations don't succeed totally, but all in all a thoroughly enjoyable read.

[rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rated 3 stars for the limited scope of the story, not the message. The story was centered around Moses' house, and how he went from being the landlord living in the penthouse to the disgraced tenant living in the basement backroom. Very interesting racial comments woven throughout the book, showing how Moses tried so hard to become a "true" (white) Englishman and thought very little of everyone else of color in the story. Nevertheless, his efforts to gain respect as an English writer fail, and he is unable to maintain control of his tenants. He ends the story as the lowliest tenant in all senses, regardless of race. I definitely get the secondary source reading now about how this book demonstrates how messy and intertwined racial relations are, in contrast to the clean racial dominance found in Robinson Crusoe.

[Angbeen · Rating 3 out of 5]

decent satire but kind of falls flat as a kind of sequel to lonely londoners, which was a supremely well-written book. i mean, sam selvon is still incredible in terms of style but maybe better as a slightly more earnest storyteller. also kind of difficult to stomach the extent of the sexism in this book - i understand the point but it feels a little heavy handed in this compared to lonely londoners

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

A tragi-comic story of one man’s physical and figurative ascent in Shepherd’s Bush in 70s London. There are some well-observed and nicely written passages, but it’s an uncomfortable, and rather dated read.

[Jo Bullen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The biggest thing I can say about this is that it could have been written yesterday, with its issues of racial tensions, anti-Islamic comments and refugees. I'm not entirely sure what the *point* of the novel was, as Moses is a very strange narrator, but it was okay.

[Maral Al-Tikriti]

Read for ENG 200

Probably good satire but ummmmm I was very uncomfortable with how the female characters were treated. Overall I’m not sure how well this book aged but imma see what the professor has to say about this

[Rico Caraco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another classic in the Selvon catalogue, not as good as Lonely Londoners but then what is?

[Nena Gluchacki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read for a Black British Literature class and prefer to save my rage for the massive paper to be written on this.

[Mrs D. J. Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sequel to Lonely Londoners a funny and absorbing read

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up
Somewhat funny but the satire is mixed success. Particularly, hard to tell whether the book is meant to be sexist or if Brenda is a caricature of women's lib.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny and clever storytelling.

[Sarah Sloane · Rating 2 out of 5]

not my cup of tea, unlikeable characters but I think that's part of the point. interesting tongue in cheek writing.

[Haley Belle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book from the outside is very quirky and silly. But a deeper look reveals some extraordinary intricacies that I had a fun time dissecting.

[Julia Gillis · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5✨
moses was funny i liked him

[Eddie Harvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough read this one. I don’t expect satire to deliver charming storylines but it’s fair to say that the presentation of women and brown characters in this are problematic.

Beyond that I did find Moses’ character arc enjoyable

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having studied 'The Lonely Londoners' for one of my Uni modules, (which was a BRILLIANT book!), I eagerly downloaded 'Moses Ascending' onto my Kindle to find out what happens to the hero - narrator, Moses Aloetta, next. Moses is one of a community of black immigrants from the West Indies (The 'Windrush' generation) who emigrated to England after WW2 to help re-build the war ravaged cities. As his name suggests, Moses takes on the leadership of this community within their strange 'Promised Land' of London. 'Moses Ascending' picks up several years after the final scene of 'The Lonely Londoners' - Moses now being a man of property enjoying relatively high social status. But, he gets himself into a few comical scrapes, which leave him in very different circumstances and a 'changed man'.

Love the inter-textual links with DeFoe's 'Robinson Crusoe' in this trilogy (the final one being 'Moses Migrating'), and the comedy really does make you laugh out loud whilst, at the same time, cringe at the stigma and stereotypes that are prevalent towards the racial 'other' in society.

May 2015: Have just re-read this novel in preparation for a Uni essay. Love it even more the second time around, so it goes from three to five stars!

[Nariece · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was really interesting. Funny at times, relatively fast paced whilst addressing what life may have been like for the Windrush gen. Once you adapt to the context of the novel, and realise that Britain was far less of a "politically correct" nation, it makes for easy reading. Of course people interpret Moses as "sexist" and quite "racist" at points, but I think that shows the age of the novel. Back then it may have been socially acceptable to act the way he did. I like to think we've moved on from that behaviour.
Anyway, I particularly liked moments such as the goat situation in the back garden, perhaps because mum says that was what it used to be back "at home" in the 70s. A pretty good read.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was mediocre at best. It was an assigned reading for class and I definitely will not be choosing to read this author again. The lack of chapters is irritating and language is difficult to read. The events that take place are interesting but it is difficult to tell what might be historically accurate. Lastly, the sexism in this book is disgusting, although moderately amusing if you choose not to be offended. All in all a waste of time and the only reason I finished it was because of my class.

[Noha · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens when Crusoe is the slave and Friday is the master? This novel takes you through a subversive reality where the black man is the slave and the white man is the master. With long-running irony, a form of English language which is not only misused but actually abused, it makes for a brilliant work.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A strange but interesting book. Moses is a West Indian landlord who "ascends" into the penthouse of his new building and along the way mimics what he thinks high British living is. Partially a satire of British novels of class ascent, it also parodies various tropes found within in the immigrant community of 1970s London.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't remember reading this book at all, but it was for class, so I'm not surprised I don't remember it. But I did read all of it as I marked it up (I often don't finish school books because I get behind easily).

[Ahmad · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the funniest West Indian novels I have read. It takes a few pages to get going but once it starts, it's lol, lol, lol and more lol.
When you get over the lols, you may realize that the message of the book (and the author's views)are pretty depressing.