Banjo by Claude McKay

It’s hard to believe that it’s taken 80 years for the first official UK publication of Claude McKay’s great novel, Banjo. It tells the story of a band of black sailors who have chosen to make their home on the Marseilles waterfront, in the very aptly named Ditch. It’s a rough and tumble place, full of poverty, but also occasional riches. McKay provides an incredibly vivid portrait of the very multicultural port of Marseilles. Lincoln Agrippa Daily is the Banjo of the title, named after his instrument of choice. As well as being a skilled musician, he is very much a skilled survivor, relying on his wits and his friends to get by. Another of the main protagonists is Ray, an American writer, who seems to be very much based on Claude McKay himself. The issue of race is very much to the forefront, as there are run-ins with the local police, and sailors of different nationalities, such as the Senegalese. As the subtitle of the novel says, this is very much a “Story without a Plot”. However, although most of the book is taken up by various episodes in the lives of Banjo and his friends, there is narrative progression, especially with regards to Banjo’s on-off relationship with Latnah. Claude McKay splendidly brings 1920s Marseilles and the world to life, discussing issues such as Garveyism along the way. Despite being 80 years old, this is a thoroughly vibrant and modern novel: Claude McKay was clearly years ahead of his time in terms of his prose style, as he expertly prefigures post colonial literature. I heartily recommend this great novel, and congratulate Serpent’s Tail for reviving it.

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