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Revision as of 10:10, 30 January 2010
, 10:10, 30 January 2010no edit summary
But things soon disintegrate - all that glisters is not gold and it doesn't take much scratching at the surface to reveal a very seedy underbelly. Drugs, knives, guns, rape, even slavery - to how much will Jonah make himself an accessory before he finally decides to walk away?
Well, we know it's a quite a lot, as ''Playground'' has a prologue in which Jonah is giving a talk to young offenders, and the week ''really'' doesn't end well for him. It's an arresting first chapter, but I wish it hadn't been included - this is a gritty, urban, kitchen sink story and it's not as though we wouldn't be expecting our central character to pay a hefty pricefor his sins, but we do lose a bit when we know exactly what that price is from page one. Once the main, flashback narrative thread began, I enjoyed this ultra-realistic novel. First-time writer Bonner is intent on giving us a warts and all picture of his characters and their lives and he doesn't let us off even for a page. We see drunkenness, drug-taking, stabbings, shootings, sexual assaults, animal cruelty - even vomit and diarrhoea find their way in, so this book is pretty much for the stout of stomach only.
While it paints such a hyper-real picture of the inner city youth experience, I don't think this is so much a political or social commentary. It's mostly about peer pressure and friendship. Jonah has a conscience, but he's quite prepared to stretch it for some way before it eventually gives. I found him a fully-rounded and deeply credible character. Interestingly, Jonah is the central character but not the novel's pivotal one. That honour goes to Solomon, the enigmatic man behind Dwayne and Billy's new lifestyle. He is always in the background, but his malign influence pervades every page in the book. We never really know him, and perhaps he's intended as a cipher. He certainly made me shudder.
