REVIEW: Utopia Avenue

A short review of Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell.

With the Daisy Jones and the Six craze in full force on social media, I stumbled across a post suggesting other books with similar music themes. One was Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell, author of Black Swan Green among other novels. Trusting the suggestion and intrigued by the back cover description, I bought it.

Set in 1960s London, the novel follows the creation of a band, consisting of four weird individuals, each extremely different from the others, including a northern aggressive drummer aptly named ‘Griff Griffin’ and a posh half Danish guitarist who spent a few years institutionalized as a teenager. The book is separated into sections, each narrated by a member of the band and their manager as they go through their creation, their successes, their personal tragedies and relationships. There isn’t exactly a true story arc as much as there is in other books of the genre, but instead there is more depiction of many people’s lives over time, with all the idiosyncratic things that happen along the way.

What makes this book special is how visceral the pain, betrayal, friendship, and beauty in music is for the reader. The characters are easy to root for and easy to dislike as they all resemble types of people I’ve met in real life.

One reason why this book is 4.5 and not 5 stars is because I felt slightly cheated by the ending. Without any spoilers, I expected from such a real and explosive group of band members, a more explosive end for the band. I do feel though that the way the end petered out mimicked the realistic aspects of the story and the band’s rise.

One other reason for the (high, but not highest) rating was the depiction of real musicians in the time of the book. The characters meeting the Beatles, Bowie, Hendrix, etc. both added to and distracted from the reality of the ‘Utopia Avenue’ band. I always feel slightly uncomfortable with fictional depictions of real people and artists in the past. Whenever used as parts of a story without permission or first-hand knowledge, the author must make up aspects of their lives and personalities. Part of me wished that ‘Utopia Avenue’ existed in a London music realm all its own. But by putting it in the true past, the band and its music felt much more real along the historic dimension.

An aspect of realism I really did enjoy, though, were all of the places, especially Soho,where the band spent its time. I, too, have enjoyed a fun evening at Ronnie Scotts, and felt the freedom of Soho’s underground clubs and live music. The book captured that feeling, along with the grit that was present in parts of London in the 60s.

I would give anything to listen to the fictional album ‘Paradise is the Road to Paradise’. Highly recommend this book for any music lover who wants to read something just a bit grungy, a bit weird, and very, very English.

4.5 STARS

Where to buy online: https://www.waterstones.com/book/utopia-avenue/david-mitchell/9781444799477

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