Who They Was by Gabriel Krauze

 

Snoopz is young man from a polish family living in London. His twin brother is an accomplished musician, his father a cartoonist, but he has been drawn to a life of violence and crime in inner-city London. Hanging out with kids from a nearby estate he smokes drugs and commits violent street robberies. The novel opens with a violent and vicious robbery of a woman on the street. All the while though, he’s also studying for an English degree and the violence and thuggery is interspersed with descriptions of seminars and lectures.

 

The author, Gabriel Krauze, was himself engaged in this life, indeed this is clearly a very thinly disguised memoir, there being many similarities between Snoopz and himself, and this lends the text a certain credibility. 

 

One thing of note is gangs are rarely mentioned and Snoopz himself appears to have no particular affiliation. Gangs are constantly in the news at the moment, yet recently I met someone who works in prisons who told me that their prevalence is exaggerated, that often police claim offenders are part of a gang as they know it plays well with juries, but really it’s just a  group of mates. That certainly seems the case here, Snoopz and his friend just rob people for money and smoke drugs together and are not part of any wider criminal enterprise.

 

The best element of this novel is the juxtaposition between the protagonist’s English studies and his criminality. In particular he takes Nietzsche’s work to heart, the philosopher’s writings on morality justifying the criminality and violence he commits against others. When he discusses morality with a seminar group it really is quite chilling, for we the reader knows his secret, that this isn't just an academic exercise for him.

 

In many ways Who They Was is a very nihilistic novel. While there is a character arc in that the protagonist grows out of crime, there’s no regret or remorse for what he’s done. In many ways this reminded me of Anthony Burgess’s Clockwork Orange (the novel, not the film), the protagonist of which never really comes to feel any contrition. This in itself is unsettling, though perhaps honest. In fiction we’re led to belief that people who commit crimes face comeuppance, or at least feel shame, but in reality, it’s as likely that just as many don’t.

 

Who They Was is a disconcerting and challenging novel and one that’s well worth a read.

 

4 out of 5 stars