Skip to main content

"Extra Soupy"



Graham Swift wrote a novel with a more-than-meets-the-eye title: Here We Are.

The novel centers around a trio of stage performers: a magician named Ronnie, his assistant, Evie, and the show’s compère, Jack. Although the narration makes a series of jumps into the past and future, the main action of the story is set in the summer of 1959, in Brighton. Over the summer season, readers follow the evolution of their brand of seaside entertainment and of their personal relationships. There is a handful of musical references in the novel: “When the Red Red Robin (Comes Bob’ Bob’ Bobbin’ Along)”, “Sunny Side Up”, “By the Light of the Silvery Moon”, “Shine on Harvest Moon”, “I’ve Got A Crush on You”. The epigraph is a line from Joni Mitchell's song “Both Sides Now”. There is also a TV reference: “Saturday Night at The London Palladium”.

One of the first things the author does as he introduces the characters is to let us know who can sing and who cannot. Jack can really carry a tune for he is, as he modestly describes himself, “an old song and dance man” (10). He is the one who sings “When the Red Red Robin…” to the audience at the end of each show. Evie, however, is incapable of singing. As she reminisces about a failed audition, the author tells us that “She could never sing” (17). As a chorus girl, Evie had to learn to lip-sync “Sunny Side Up”. Ronnie’s singing abilities are never discussed in the book.

Let’s return to Jack’s favorite ditty, a way for the audience to transition to the real world after Ronnie and Evie’s performance. The song is mentioned very early on (8) and near the end (188). Quoted twice (10, 188), “Wake up, wake up, you sleepy head” seems to be the most significant line of the song. Here, one cannot help but draw a parallel between the line and Jack’s future part in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Doesn’t Puck, aka Robin Goodfellow (97-98), tell his audience to wake up at the end of the play? The author uses two other lines: “There’ll be no more sobbing” (18) and “Live, love, laugh and be happy” (141).  Much like in “Sunny Side Up”, there is a pervasive naiveté in these promises (or in these injunctions) of happiness.

While the “Robin” song is the final send-off, Jack has other musical numbers to introduce the various acts of the show. One of them is “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (80). To introduce readers to the song and to create a vivid picture of the multi-talented compère, the author attempts a typographical rendering of the performance: lines from the song in italics alternate with the onomatopoeic rhythms produced by Jack’s tapdancing. Later, the author also uses the line “Honey Moon, keep-a shinin’ in June!” (94).

When Ronnie is temporarily unable to take the stage, Jack has to lengthen his interventions. He adds “Shine on Harvest Moon” to his list of songs (140), the new number described as “extra-soupy”. When he tries to join one of the other musical acts, Doris Lane or The Rockabye Boys, egos get in the way. He’s relegated to the part of mute dancer as “The Mistress of Melody” performs “I’ve Got a Crush on You” (141).

When Ronnie, aka the Great Pablo, makes his triumphant return, he refines his illusions. One performance in particular will leave audiences breathless. To ensure maximum effect, Ronnie employs the skills of the drummer in the pit (161-165). The fact that we get the musician’s full name seems to establish him as a crucial part of the performance. The description of Arthur Higgs’ drum work includes the following expressions: “his own little whispery scuffling”, “a little gathering shimmer on the cymbals”, “his wait-and-see whisking and thrumming” and “a big drum crash”. What is interesting here, is that the drummer is both a close collaborator and a “dumbstruck” spectator. Those who are curious about Ronnie’s masterful illusion will have to read the book. 

Swift, Graham, Here We Are, Scribner, 2020

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Opus 77", d'Alexis Ragougneau

Opus 77 d’Alexis Ragougneau est un roman que j’ai découvert sur le présentoir d’une librairie, où je me rendais pour la première fois, la librairie Page 189 sur le boulevard Saint Antoine. Le livre portait une mention « coup de cœur des libraires ». Sur la couverture, un piano surplombe le nom de l’auteur et le titre, simple numéro d’opus. Il y avait dans cette disposition quelque chose de très alléchant pour le lecteur que je suis. La promesse d’une œuvre littéraire qui se concentrerait tout particulièrement sur la musique. J’ai probablement aussi été attiré par le caractère quelque peu sinistre de la couverture. Puis la quatrième de couverture m’a révélé que la référence du titre appartient à Chostakovitch. Une vraie trouvaille puisque je n’avais encore jamais lu de roman faisant référence à Chostakovitch. Depuis, il y a eu le roman d’Akira Mizubayashi, Reine de Cœur avec ses références aux symphonies. Mais ici, il s’agit du premier concerto pour violon. Je feuillèt...
Post a Comment
Read more

"Zazie dans le métro", de Raymond Queneau

La première personne à m’avoir parlé de  Zazie dans le métro était certainement mon père. Mais il m’avait prévenu : au-delà des aspects ludiques et amusants du texte, le roman de Raymond Queneau avait des aspects plus sombres. J’en étais resté là. Alors, qu’est-ce qui a bien pu me motiver à lire ce classique de 1959 ? J’étais en train d’explorer la filmographie de Louis Malle lorsque ma compagne m’a rappelé qu’elle possédait un exemplaire du livre (avec Catherine Demongeot et Philippe Noiret sur la couverture, aux côtés du portrait géant de l’auteur). Je me suis dit qu’il serait bon de lire le roman avant de regarder l’adaptation. Et le livre m’a énormément plu. Il est à la hauteur de sa réputation de chef d’œuvre de l’humour. Les personnages prennent vie à travers leurs paroles, leur gouaille. On a le sentiment que l’auteur a dû s’amuser en écrivant son histoire, en écoutant ses personnages parler, en commentant malicieusement les échanges. Quant aux thématiques...
Post a Comment
Read more

"Coming Through Slaughter", by Michael Ondaatje (2)

I have written before about Michael Ondaatje’s novel Coming Through Slaughter (here’s the link to the English version ). A few recent searches led me to an article by Emily Petermann and the albums of Dave Lisik and Jerry Granelli. Back in 2010, Emily Petermann published an article entitled “Unheard Jazz: Music and History in Michael Ondaatje’s Coming Through Slaughter ” . Thanks to this article, I have learned the meaning of the term “ekphrasis” as it applies to the description of music in literature.   Back in 2009, Dave Lisik released a whole album based on the Ondaatje novel: Coming Through Slaughter, The Bolden Legend . Each track title is a reference to a scene from the book. If you listen to the opening track, you too will marvel at the beauty of the low end of the trombone’s range. Hear how effectively the Bb signals a repeat of the theme’s first section, as though the whole ensemble was breathing through that one tone. And what about the drummer’s cross stick wo...
Post a Comment
Read more