Chapter 9
They have finally moved
into a flat in West Kensington : a small furnished 3-room flat.
Charlie steals some of the pictures to sell, eva is sure she can
transform the flat to make something great out of it.
Charlie ofeten came by and
one night Karim decides to take him the Nashville, a fashion club.
There they will be confronted to the brand new punk culture, a
movement which according to Charlie kills the 60s.
Eva is seeing Shadwell
regularly, using his contacts. She launches a party where many guests
are indeed Shadwell's acquaintances rather than Karim or Haroon's.
Changez and Jamila come as well as Shinko though, reconciliation
takes place between the two men, sort of.
It is also the opportunity
for Karim to properly meet Shadwell and talk about theatre : he
gets an audition.
He rehearses a speech from
the Mad Dog Blues. He is finally offered the role of Mowgli in
Shadwell's adaptation of the Jungle Book.
Chapter 10
Charlie has become a punk
star while Karim is working on his rôle as Mowgli. Margaret is also
changing : she got her job back at the shoe shop, came back to
her house and changed its decoration, started wearing trousers, and
changed her hair cut. Karim started reading classics ( The red and
black for instance) and rehearsing. The first problem occurred when
he is given his costume: a loin-clothe and black-shit cream, the
second when he has to imitate a Bengali accent. But he endured.
During this time, Eva was
not unsuccessful at decoration houses.
Charlie has transformed
his group into 'the Condemned', a punk group that was described by
the media as a phenomena.
Karim and Eva attend one
of their performance, and she appears very proud.
It's finally Karim's turn
to be on stage as Mowgli. While his mother and Aunt jean appreciate
his performance, his dad and Eva, as well as Jamila can only see how
prejudiced his part has been introduced. However, the inexperienced
actor gets the opportunity of meeting Pike thanks to this play and is
offered a new part in a future play of this producer who has his own
company whereas terry one of the actors of the play who was convinced
to be noticed gets nothing.
Chapter 11
Spring. Rehearsing
workshop with Pyke start, Karim meets Eleanore, middle class... He
works on characters and decides to observe Princess Jeeta. In fact,
it is also the opportunity for the narrative voice to comment on
Anwar's behaviour: he is stubborn, believes he is always right. Karim
also deals with his perception of the Muslim religion... finally he
ends up presenting his character--Anwar, but Tracey, a black actress
of the group finds that it is too prejudiced, too much like what
white people expect from coloured people ( hunger strike/ arranged
marriage...) Karim is angry but Pyke decides that he has to re think
his part completely.
Chapter 12
Karim goes to see Changez
to tell him he has decided to choose him as a character for the play.
They talk about Jamila... Karim seems to be really in love with
Eleanore. He also works hard on his character. The reader learns more
about Pyke in this chapter: his wife Marlene is attracted by Karim.
Eleanore's former boyfriend has committed suicide and she was broken
down, that is why Pyke told her to go out with Karim. Pyke invites
them for a supper on the following Saturday night.
When Karim tries to ask
his relatives for advice he doesn't get any answer. He goes to the
party but there is no account of the supper except that Pyke
accompanies them back to the door, and they talk about being happy to
see each other on the following day.
Chapter 13
Heater-- a man in love
with Eleanore threatens Karim to take good care of her. Then Karim
sees Terry, and he follows Eleanore to various parties. Finally he
ends up at a party at Pyke's house. Other people were supposed to
have been invited but Karim understands that Pyke lied to have both
of them come to his house, so the four of them can have drugs and
sex. Karim seems to be in another state during this time.
