A new voice, worth listening to
Capital Volume 1
By Anthony Macris
Allen & Unwin, $16.95
Review by Maree Roberts
This, Macris' first novel, represents a fresh voice in Australian fiction. Not the usual middle-class-angst voice or the sexy-young-dirty-realist voice, which are very marketable to the profitable "demographics".
The title refers both to Marx and to the capital where half of the book is set, London, which is of course where Marx wrote Capital. Marx's book is based largely on his observations of the workings of British capital, and remembering this enriches the experience of reading the novel.
Capital Volume 1 is structured so that alternating chapters give memories of the protagonist and observations of fragments in the life of the London Underground, "the tube".
The protagonist grew up in Brisbane; his selected memories, reflecting some of the anti-Marxist arguments you will have heard through the years, frame the ironic observations in the other chapters: the father telling his son that criticism of Stalin is only western propaganda; the standard '60s liberal line on countries like China — sad people who aren't allowed to watch F Troop or Skippy, don't have advertising and are all brainwashed — and the inevitable "between capitalism and socialism" discussion in the canteen.
This is juxtaposed with descriptions of the maelstrom of modern life, language reduced to banality by advertising and alienated people using their inner-talk to negotiate around other human beings. The impression given is one of critical comment on where capitalism finds itself at the end of the 20th century. And it's not a comfortable place.
There are some devastating passages, but the highlight is the short, sharp history of David Bowie and his rise to fame and wealth: David Bowie, the man who fell to earth, the man who just listed himself on the stock exchange.
Macris seems to have sifted through a lot of material to distil the messages he wishes to get across. It's a little subtle in parts, and some may even find the passages about advertising a bit boring, but they have a point. Most of the juxtaposition works well, and the style is refreshingly different. Read it.