Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Some Kind of Black by Diran Adebayo Some kind of black diran adebayo. The difficulty a novel like this has is that its instantly lauded and pigeonholed by well-meaning London literary types. Anything that describes an ethnic life beyond their ken which is written well becomes a victim of its own success. I think the author survived the patronising quite well. All he did was write about real life in a very real way. And thats what I found fairly interesting about it. The white characters behave towards the protagonist in a fairly ignorant and predictable way, and the London boy in him finds it difficult to let go of his roots. and some of his roots want to strangle him. *Bloke. Yes, Im allowed to say bloke because Im white British and using my own patois to add colour to this review. See what I did there? Oni Suru. Diran Adebayo. He read Law at Oxford University and worked as a journalist on the London newspaper The Voice , before working in television as a researcher and assistant producer. The prize included a publishing contract with London publishers Virago, which published the book in The book centres on Dele, a young black student living in Britain, and his attempt to reconcile his experiences at university in Oxford, his Nigerian roots and his exploits in urban London, where he explores the music scene, experiments with drugs and becomes involved in black activism after his sister is arrested. Diran Adebayo is currently at work on a screenplay, Burnt , for FilmFour, and his third novel. He lives in London. The publication of Some Kind of Black , Adebayo's multi-award-winning debut novel signals the arrival of a significant new literary talent on the London scene. Adebayo's stylish, hedonistic prose is tempered by a sensitive, self-critical intelligence that stops it growing tired, or superficial. Please sign in to write a review. If you have changed your email address then contact us and we will update your details. We have recently updated our Privacy Policy. The site uses cookies to offer you a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you accept our Cookie Policy, you can change your settings at any time. In stock online Usually dispatched within 24 hours. Quantity Add to basket. Navigation menu. Oludiran "Diran" Adebayo FRSL born 30 August is a British novelist, cultural critic and academic [1] best known for his stylish, inventive tales of London and the lives of African diasporans. His work has been characterised by its interest in multiple cultural identities, subcultures, and its distinctive, "musical" use of language. His work has won many awards and wide acclaim from critics. His fans include the writer Zadie Smith , who has praised him for his "humanness", [2] arguing that he is one of a few English writers who "trade in both knowledge and feeling". Born Oludiran Adebayo in London in , to Nigerian parents, [5] Adebayo won a major scholarship when he was 12 to Malvern College , where he boarded as an adolescent, [6] and is an Oxford University Law graduate. His follow-up, the fable My Once Upon A Time , set in a near-future London-like western city, fused noir with Yoruba folklore to striking effect, and solidified his reputation as a groundbreaker. Diran Adebayo has been hailed as one of the most original literary talents of his generation. Some Kind of Black tells the story of an Oxford history graduate called Dele, who also happens to be a street - smart black man. Dele and his sister Dapo's parents are Nigerian and very traditional in their attitudes and outlook. Dele glides through London, switching and shifting between African and Caribbean communities, and despite his Nigerian background, his voice is undoubtedly and authentically that of a Londoner. As Dele dissects the different attitudes to race and class, Adebayo makes observations in a sharp and original way, writing in a variety of convincing voices - Jamaican, Nigerian and South London. At the beginning of Some Kind of Black, Dele and his friend Concrete- so named because of his talent for head-butting - play a game of blackjack. Having not been able to agree on the rules of the game, the two decide to play by the Queensberry rules in north London and by Concrete's "Concrete madness" in the south. In the course of the game, Dele discovers that Concrete has "slipped in some new piece of slyness", symbolic of the divisions in the black community. It's these divisions which are explored in this accomplished first novel, winner of the Saga prize for unpublished black British authors. Diran Adebayo draws on his experiences as a black Oxford graduate, born and bred in London but of Nigerian descent. Dele, Adebayo's fictional alter ego, indulges in a summer of sex, smokes and substances of an increasingly potent order - first in Oxford and then in London. Dele "clocks" and "scopes" the female populations of Oxford and Brixton, working his way through Helena white and horsey , Cheryl "his side of coffee-coloured" , and Andria, a white girl with a Jamaican accent who deals in "GBH" and animal tranquillisers. Diran Adebayo. He read Law at Oxford University and worked as a journalist on the London newspaper The Voice , before working in television as a researcher and assistant producer. The manuscript of his novel Some Kind of Black won the inaugural Saga Prize, set up by the actress and novelist Marsha Hunt for black British writers. The prize included a publishing contract with London publishers Virago, which published the book in 1996. The book centres on Dele, a young black student living in Britain, and his attempt to reconcile his experiences at university in Oxford, his Nigerian roots and his exploits in urban London, where he explores the music scene, experiments with drugs and becomes involved in black activism after his sister is arrested. The book also won the Author's Club Best Novel of the Year award, a Betty Trask Award and a Writers' Guild Award (New Writer of the Year) in 1996. His second novel, My Once Upon a Time (2000), is a modern day fable set in London's near future. In 2006, Adebayo was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He has also contributed to Underwords: The Hidden City (2005), the Book Trust London Short Story Competition Anthology. His recent work includes the essay 'The Footman's New Clothes' in Locating African European Studies (2019). Diran Adebayo is currently at work on a screenplay, Burnt , for FilmFour, and his third novel, while also lecturing in creative writing at Kingston University. He lives in London. Critical perspective. The publication of Some Kind of Black (1996), Adebayo's multi-award-winning debut novel signals the arrival of a significant new literary talent on the London scene. Adebayo's stylish, hedonistic prose is tempered by a sensitive, self-critical intelligence that stops it growing tired, or superficial. His sharp eye for current trends and fashions - speech patterns, dress, drugs, music, turns of phrase - make him what one critic calls "the leading writer of the Now Generation". Adebayo's perceptive insights on British and Black British contemporary culture have also earned him a reputation as an insightful journalist, as his 12 page article on race in Britain for The Observer (25 November 2001) testifies. Yet for all its 'street-wise' rhetoric, Adebayo's fiction is ultimately more interesting for the way in which it rejects the latest fads and fashions. If in recent years, Black has become a fashionable commodity (witness the proliferation of 'ethnic' accessories on the white European body) then Adebayo's Some Kind of Black , is on one level a parody and critique of that trend. As the title suggests, this text is an experimentation with and interrogation of what it means to be Black, rather than an attempt to buy into or market a true, authentic Blackness. Some Kind of Black is a semi-autobiographical tale, a narrative that fizzes with energy. It tells the story of Dele, a history undergraduate who moves back and forth between Oxford and London in search of sex, parties and good times. Dele's character represents a break with the archetypal 'victim' of early Black fiction. Exploiting his ethnicity in order to take advantage of his white middle-class peers, Dele is presented performing various roles, "donning different hats to see how they fitted". Beneath the surface excesses of this street-smart, care free narrator however, is a more complex character. For all his machismo and posturing, Dele is a vulnerable figure, who is both concerned about the welfare of his sickle cell suffering sister (Dapo) and who himself suffers at the hands of a violent father. When Dapo falls into a coma while in police custody (following the arrest of Dele, Dapo and friend Concrete), the protagonist is forced to assess the relationship between the liberatory role-playing in which he has been indulging and a more militant Black politics. Adebayo's second novel, My Once Upon a Time (2000), is a more ambitious, inventive, polished piece of work than Some Kind of Black . Where the plot of the first book has a tendency to loose direction, My Once Upon a Time is a tightly structured text that captures the reader with its confident and skilful deployment of suspense. Working within, while at the same time extending and subverting the conventions of the thriller genre, My Once Upon a Time (again, the title provides the reader with a significant clue) is a self-reflexive narrative, a tale about telling tales. But what kind of tale is this? As well as a detective story, My Once Upon a Time is part sci-fi (set in London in the near future), part mythical quest and part fairy tale (with its 'once upon a time' allusions to Cinderella). The plot centres on Boy, a private investigator who is offered a small fortune to find a bride for a millionaire client. As the story progresses it becomes increasingly unclear as to whether Boy is the hunter or the hunted, however. His search takes us on a compelling journey through the back streets and high spots of the metropolis. While the dark, underworld settings through which Boy moves will be familiar to the reader of detective fiction, My Once Upon a Time is much more than a clever quotation from earlier urban fictions. Adebayo re-invents the capital on a scale that has rarely been seen since Sam Selvon's The Lonely Londoners of the 1950s. In his poetic descriptions of the bridges over the Thames or his comic vision of Ice Cream, an all-inclusive Black life style resort deep in the W9s, Adebayo imagines the city anew, defamiliarising its well-trodden spaces so that we are compelled to take another look. His metropolis is brought alive by a rich cast of characters, including Sundays, Merciless, Sinbad and Mad Phantom, not to mention the mysterious Race Man. My Once Upon a Time is a powerful, confident novel which confirms Adebayo's reputation as one of the most original artistic talents of his generation. Some Kind of Black. Diran Adebayo has been hailed as one of the most original literary talents of his generation. In 1995 this novel won him the Saga Prize, a Betty Trask Award, the Author's Club Best First Novel Award and the Writer's Guild New Writer of the Year Award in 1996. Some Kind of Black tells the story of an Oxford history graduate called Dele, who also happens to be a street - smart black man. Dele and his sister Dapo's parents are Nigerian and very traditional in their attitudes and outlook. Dele glides through London, switching and shifting between African and Caribbean communities, and despite his Nigerian background, his voice is undoubtedly and authentically that of a Londoner. As Dele dissects the different attitudes to race and class, Adebayo makes observations in a sharp and original way, writing in a variety of convincing voices - Jamaican, Nigerian and South London. Dele is sharp, witty and very engaging. His personal journey takes us through London, against a backdrop of recognisable urban landscapes, in and out of political groups, gambling and gaming dens, minicabs, student life and brushes with the law. The book has a real feel of the city and really takes you there, and understands the layers of prejudice and pre-conceptions which lace the world Dele inhabits. Adebayo creates a very real world, drawn with humour and great tenderness - particularly in the relationship between Dele and Dapo, which is made more poignant by Dapo's chronic illness. Adebayo's London is alive with great characters and despite the violence and harshness of so many lives, it has a tangible and lasting optimism. I found it very evocative and authentic of London and would appeal to anyone who knows and loves the city, and who wants to join a young man's journey to find himself, to a sort of coming of age, set against a backdrop of pirate radio. Some Kind of Black features Dele, a young black student living in Britain and his attempt to reconcile his experiences at University in Oxford, his Nigerian roots and his exploits in urban London, where he explores the music scene, experiments with drugs and becomes involved in Black activism after his sister is arrested. We meet him in his final year as he figures out his Oxford life style, questioning his reason for being there. Also trying to figure out his white colleagues who claim to be his friends as well as African colleagues expecting him to be African. And there is the problem of his parents who expect that when he gets to London, he should have an idea of what career he should follow. Dele, being from a typical Nigerian family, it is taken for granted that he should follow in some sort of professional career, a view that Dele finds oppressive. Dele�s sister Dapo and his good friend, Concrete, have a confrontation with the Police. Dapo is taken to the hospital; she is unconscious and falls into a coma. Dele attempts to gain justice for her whilst anti-racist organizations use the situation to promote themselves through his family tragedy. Dele has to grow quite quickly from being book smart to street smart to outsmart all those who try to use him. In other words, he progresses from a man with a confused identity or more to the point, a man who has no racial consciousness to buffer him against the negative experiences, to a man who is more grounded and rooted by all what he has gone through. I found this a difficult book to read so the way I want to review this is just to say what I liked and didn�t like about it. At times I felt I was on a roller coaster that was out of control. I felt the story moved from one place to the next without ever pausing. Maybe Adebayo is trying to capture the frenetic nature of Black London life. I wanted him to slow down so that one could savour some of his �realities�. But you don�t get the chance to do this. I didn�t like his approach to women. Women, with the exception of his mother and Dapo, were treated as objects to do things to. And this was more or less all the women he came into contact with. Without sounding too puritanical, a decent woman like Cheryl who had a lot of self-respect, Dele just completely overlooks and dismisses her virtues like it�s an inconvenience. And his depiction of West Indians?� well as I am of West Indian parentage, and fully aware of the tensions between Africans/Nigerians and Black Britons, it doesn�t really surprise me that Dele views the West Indian with disregard. His dislike of them manifest itself by giving them silly names like Concrete and Sol, and presenting them as doing no good. However, I think its better that Adebayo speaks or writes as he finds. It would be pretentious of him to write that everything was cosy between us. I found it interesting that when he was a student at Oxford, because he was black, he was seen as a kind of fashion accessory, that is, cool, a great body, great CD�s and quality drugs etc and that he did not question the fact that people wanted to �experience� him. I found it irritating that he traded himself just to sleep with some of the women. I liked the mix of Standard English, Jamaican/West Indian patois and �street talk� � a mixture of American and English slang. I found it alive, innovative and incredibly creative but at times it jarred/irked because of his urgency to sound cool means coming up with hip hop words, made up words, phrases, just so that the author comes across as credible. I think where the language does work is when Adebayo describes the character�s love for music. An art form that is not always easy to find the right words to describe a particular sound or how it makes the listener feels, Adebayo, however, does not have that problem. He finds the appropriate words to express a variety of different types of music and what it does for him. Another important feature of the story is location. Adebayo includes the areas where Black people live � Tottenham and Brixton, (similar to how Bernadine Evaristo does in Lara) giving the story the necessary realism. I think the most poignant point in the novel is his awareness of what his situation actually is. From page 180 to 185, we witness Dele trying to explain the �bones� of Dapo�s situation to Andria. Andria listens politely and nods her head, anxious for him to finish his explanation. He excuses Andria�s lame response as someone who is not easily �fazed� by things because she had seen a lot of unpleasant things in her life and therefore feels no need to ask unnecessary questions. Then a little later, when he ponders on whether his father is aware of Andria spending a few nights at the house, Dele marvels at the situation that is before him: a sister who has been put in a coma because of a confrontation with the police and is now in hospital; parents who have suffered because of racism; and then himself, dating a white woman, a white woman he sees as a representative of a people who had made his sister and parents to suffer. He tries to console himself that by having an Oxford degree makes him an establishment man. Makes him somehow special, different. But does it? Andria is a working class woman he has nothing in common with yet he cannot make up his mind whether he should like her or hate her. Or probably he realises he is with her for the wrong reasons. But it dawns on him, painfully, that his �paper�s� are meaningless simply because society believes that the degree will hold little value as it is in the hands of someone they feel has little value. Finally, I also thought it interesting that Adebayo had mastered the Jamaican patois/African-American street speak to perfection, but given the tension between West Indians and Africans, in order to survive, I find it sad that he and perhaps many other Africans, had to adopt the patois. Since the popular culture amongst the youth is so rap orientated, there is no room to accommodate anything that is Black, standard and educated. Nobody wants to be stigmatised as being �White�. Even White teenagers have to conform to a certain extent, as nobody can afford to be left out. Diran Adebayo describes himself as a Nigerian Londoner. When he came to Nigeria and gave a talk at a Nigerian University, he said that he wasn�t your �typical Nigerian� and African culture could be �conservative and that he wasn�t�. Overall, Some Kind of Black was an interesting read albeit it a difficult one. Some Kind Of Black. Sorry, this is currently unavailable. Find out why here. Please click below and we will notify you when it is back in stock. Short Description: Winner: Betty Trask Award, 1996; Authors' Club's 'Best First Novel' Award, 1996; The Writers Guild's New Writer of the Year, 1996. Read more. Product Description & Details Review this book Author Biography. Product Description. Winner: Betty Trask Award, 1996; Authors' Club's 'Best First Novel' Award, 1996; The Writers Guild's New Writer of the Year, 1996. Longlisted, Booker Prize. 'A gloriously capable and confident writer. Some Kind of Black is thoughtful, witty and moving. it is refreshing to read something so extrovert and alert. I urge you to read it' The Times. 'Has the rare, incandescent energy of a story that's never been told. A classic coming-of-age tale. marks the debut of a serious talent' GQ. 'It is difficult to discuss the book without talking in terms of its uniqueness - and without resorting to superlatives. a tremendously rich, subtle and nuanced read' The Scotsman. A coming of age story about Dele, a young student, and his sister Dapo whp glide through love, politics and violence; Diran Adebayo's debut is funny, street-smart fiction which puts language through hoops to create an exhilarating odyssey through the London scene. Some Kind Of Black Paperback edition by Diran Adebayo. Product Details. Product Specification. Categories. Write a Review. Please sign in to write a review. Author Biography. Diran Adebayo grew up and lives in London. His acclaimed first novel, SOME KIND OF BLACK won a number of awards: The 1995 Saga Prize, a Betty Trask Award, and The Writers' Guilds New Writers of the Year Award. He has since written drama for radio and television. Other books in this series. Zora Neale Hurston's masterpiece is perhaps the most widely read and highly regarded novel in the entire canon of African American literature. Published as part of a beautifully designed series to mark the 40th anniversary of the Virago Modern Classics. 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