“Ladies an’ gentlemen, let’s hear it for- Yes, Yes, Yes the commitments.- the Commitments- ladies an’ gentlemen.- the hardest workin band in the world- The commitment-bringing soul to Dublin, bringing the people’s music to the people- Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, The Commitments.”
THE COMMITMENTS
The last time I was reading something on music was ‘An equal music’ by Vikram Seth, and it had given me variegated feelings. This time again I tried something centered around music and this time I felt as if I have consumed a psychedelic drug. This book was limited in scope, it was almost all dialogues and less descriptive. It was rapid, funny, and discrete. But It imprinted swirling abstract patterns on me. And I liked those patterns. It was a new reading experience. Don’t’ be confused! These patterns were not musical patterns but were drawn by the working-class slang and the dialect used by the characters. These guys made such a lively atmosphere through their dialogues!
A band created by working-class guys is trying to bring soul music to Dublin, in Ireland. They called it the music of people. I see, I am reading a lot of Irish stuff these days, a few weeks ago, I was reading Seamus Heaney. And I noticed that I have liked almost everything Irish so far.
“His plectrum hand danced. Sometimes it was a blur, the hand looked great. The arm heavily budged, the wrist was in charge. He held his guitar high against the chest.”
There was so much fun in the beginning. The scenes of rehearsals are very funny. One was rehearsing on his drums with a bin lid and a hammer. It was not a bin lid rather it was a tin tray, with a racehorse on it and two days later the horse was worn off. The book is more sort of a play than a novel, a playful play; it will give an added advantage if it is performed. There was a lot of Dublin slang and it will enrich your slang vocabulary if it’s not already well augmented! While all the characters will be rehearsing with their songs and you read it in a flow, I am pretty sure, you will feel their shriek, their groans, and their wails too, emanating out from the speakers along with the soul music, and that will create an enjoyable musical echo, full of sentiments, in and out of YOU. I loved such an echo. At times it was wild revelry.
Though I know, not much about soul music and Jazz music, I could see that through this musical adventure of introducing soul music to a part of Dublin, which they called Barrytown, the author has raised some black and white issues as well. The book could not impress me that much on plot and story, I will still recommend it for the lively and refreshing experience. The book is short and sweet.
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