Beatniks (novel)

Beatniks is a book set in Bedford in The United Kingdom in 1995, and concerns the adventures of a group of young people who admire the Beat Writers and Musicians of the 1950s and 1960s America.

The plot revolves around:

• Mary, a young headstrong woman, who has recently graduated from University and lives with her parents (the novel is told in first person, from her view point).
• Jack, an intense and handsome young man in his early twenties who idolises Jack Kerouak and Bob Dylan, so much so he refuses to entetain anything that existed prior to 1966, he is the most enigmatic of the characters, as despite being the lead male of the novel, we never learn where/who he lives with, or his real name (Jack is a pseudonymn borrowed from his idol)
• Neal/Matthew, a gentle affectionate young man, who shares Jack's passion for The Beats, like Jack he goes by a pseudonym (in his case Neal Cassady) he loves, but is intimidated by Jack, more is known about him, and we find out he lives with his parents (though his father is never introduced, his Mother and him are very close) and his cat Koko, who he is extremelely attatched to.
• Maggie, a slightly younger woman (estimated by Mary to be about eighteen years of age) who seems happy to go by the title of "Jack's Chick" she dislikes Mary intensely, and the pair never have any sort of freindly exchanges, but her appearance is described very explicitly, she is blonde, full figured, wears a lot of eyeliner, and generallly carries off the retro "Beat" look very well. Although she seems rather aquiescent to the male characters in the book, she is openly hostile to Mary, because of Mary's attraction to Jack and her desire to infiltrate the group.
• Emily (Neal's Mother) is on very close terms with her son and his freinds, she shares some of their views and smokes cannabis both with and without the rest of them. She likes Mary on sight and encourages her relationship with Neal, she is also happy to follow unconventional life choices and consults the I Ching throughout the novel.
• Koko/Godot, a black cat who belongs to Neal. Despite not being human, Koko is an important character in the book, she is not anthropomorphicised, so we never "hear" her think or speak, but her behaviour towards the novels characters is rather communicative. She also has a pseudonym (she was orgionally called Godot, but was renamed by the group "Koko" after a Charlie Parker song) and her presence is important symbolically owing to her close relationship with Neal.

The book also contains:

• Mary's Parents, supportive and kind, but not actively involved in the plot.
• Lang, the uncle of a freind of the main characters Otto Lang, (who we learn was a writer who commited suicide shortly before the novel begins.) Lang is considerably older than the main characters in the book, yet is also involved with the Beat lifestlye. He enters the novel in part II, when Jack, Neal and Mary visit his house in Brighton.
• Claire, a freind of Mary, who only appears berifly at the start of the novel. It is her who first introduces Mary to the group.

Beatniks the book, however is not set in the 50s and 60s, or in America, it is set in the far less interesting time/location of Bedford UK in 1995/1996 and whilst Britpop and Cool Britannia are all going on, its central characters Jack, Neal, Maggie and Mary (all in their early 20s or therabouts) are convinced it is 1966 and wish they lived in America and were hanging out with the likes of Kerouac and Bob Dylan, as a result they have banned themselves from doing/buying/listening/wearing/eating ANYTHING that predates 1966, the year in which Bob Dylan, apparently "died"

Beatniks is a book set in Bedford in The United Kingdom in 1995, and concerns the adventures of a group of young people who admire the Beat Writers and Musicians of the 1950s and 1960s America.

The plot revolves around.

Mary, a young headstrong woman, who has recently graduated from University and lives with her parents (the novel is told in first person, from her view point.

Jack, an intense and handsome young man in his early twenties who idolises Jack Kerouak and Bob Dylan, so much so he refuses to entetain anything that existed prior to 1966, he is the most enigmatic of the characters, as despite being the lead male of the novel, we never learn where/who he lives with, or his real name (Jack is a pseudonymn borrowed from his idol)

Neal/Matthew, a gentle affectionate young man, who shares Jack's passion for The Beats, like Jack he goes by a pseudonym (in his case Neal Cassady) he loves, but is intimidated by Jack, more is known about him, and we find out he lives with his parents (though his father is never introduced, his Mother and him are very close) and his cat Koko, who he is extremelely attatched to. He also works part time at Cafe Alphonse that Mary frequents.

Maggie, a slightly younger woman (estimated by Mary to be about eighteen years of age) who seems happy to go by the title of "Jack's Chick" she dislikes Mary intensely, and the pair never have any sort of freindly exchanges, but her appearance is described very explicitly, she is blonde, full figured, wears a lot of eyeliner, and generallly carries off the retro "Beat" look very well. Although she seems rather aquiescent to the male characters in the book, she is openly hostile to Mary, because of Mary's attraction to Jack and her desire to infiltrate the group.

Emily (Neal's Mother)is on very close terms with her son and his freinds, she shares some of their views and smokes cannabis both with and without the rest of them. She likes Mary on sight and encourages her relationship with Neal, she is also happy to follow unconventional life choices and consults the I Ching throughout the novel.

Koko/Godot, a black cat who belongs to Neal. Despite not being human, Koko is an important character in the book, she is not anthropomorphicised, so we never "hear" her think or speak, but her behaviour towards the novels characters is rather communicative. She also has a pseudonym (she was orgionally called Godot, but was renamed by the group "Koko" after a Charlie Parker song) and her presence is important symbolically owing to her close relationship with Neal.

The book also contains.

Mary's Parents, supportive and kind, but not actively involved in the plot.

Lang, the uncle of a freind of the main characters Otto Lang, (who we learn was a writer who commited suicide shortly before the novel begins.) Lang is considerably older than the main characters in the book, yet is also involved with the Beat lifestlye. He enters the novel in part II, when Jack, Neal and Mary visit his house in Brighton.

Claire, a freind of Mary, who only appears berifly at the start of the novel. It is her, who first introduces Mary to the group.

Plot Synopsis (beware as there are spoilers!)

Part 1

The novel starts at a party, where Mary meets Jack, Neal and Maggie, although she finds Jack offensive and annoying, she is fascinated by his good looks and charisma, so later in the week she attempts to track him down, instead she finds Neal at Cafe Alphonse by chance, who invites her to a poetry reading.

Later in the week, she arranges to meet the group at Neal's house, there she meets Neal's mother Emily, and Koko the cat whom she gets on well with. However when she attempts to befreind Maggie, Maggie is very hostile and strange.

At the poetry reading Neal is proven to be a slightly better writer than Jack, he also dedicates a poem to Mary, who is worried as it is Jack she is in love with, not Neal, she also snubs him, slightly over this, which appears to upset him.

However, Neal telephones Mary a few days later and asks her to give him a driving lesson.

At the driving lesson, (to which he brings along Koko the cat) he confesses he actually can drive (but Jack and Maggie dont know this) he also tells Mary he loves her, and they kiss for the first time. This is awkward for her, as she prefers Jack, but she does start to have genuine feelings for Neal.

Shortly after this, Mary catches Jack playing a modern video game at an amusement arcade, this is outrageous as it is so inconsistent with his "hipness" rules about not wishing to partake in anything that only came into existance before 1966, however Mary doesnt confront him, as she is unsure what to do about this.

The group later arrange to all visit Lang's house in Brighton, to collect writings by his late nephew Otto, and to work on their magazine "Cafe Bohemia" Maggie, Jack, and Neal all arrange to go, with Mary as the designated driver, however before they leave Bedford, Jack and Maggie have a huge fight, and Maggie refuses to go.

Part 2

At Lang's house, Jack and Neal inform Mary of the Buddhist ceremony "yabyum" which was practiced by The Beats and consists of its participants engaging in group sex. This is the reason that Maggie refused to go on the trip. Mary, being so attracted to Jack agrees with some persuasion, so the three of them engage in a threesome. However the esperiences is marred for Mary as Lang is spying on them throughout, through the bedroom door.

At this point the novel takes a sinister turn. Lang expresses feelings for Mary, that she finds repulsive. They are also having problems with the whole concept of "hipness" whilst Mary finds her treatment at the hands of 1960s devotees, outdated and very sexist by 1990s standards.