Gabriel's Gift
Encyclopedia
Gabriel's Gift is a novel by Hanif Kureishi
first published in 2001
about a 15 year-old London
er called Gabriel who wants to become a filmmaker and whose parents break up rather unexpectedly one day—or, as John Crace
puts it in The Guardian
, "Co-dependent 15-year-old Buddha of Suburbia sorts out his parents' predictably dreary middle-aged rock'n'roll existential angst before embarking on his own".
Archie died while still little, and in many ways the family of three still live and think according to the unwritten laws of the late 1960s and 1970s, despising anything remotely connected with middle class
mentality, advocating universal freedom, and smoking the occasional joint
.
When Christine has had enough of Rex and his lazy, good-for-nothing ways, she throws him out of the house, and for the first time in decades Rex has to fend for himself. While Christine herself gets a job as a waitress
in a bar
and hires an au pair
from some Eastern Europe
an country to look after Gabriel, Rex, left to his own devices, ends up in a shabby bedsit
a few blocks away from his former home but even there has difficulty paying the rent.
A meeting with Lester Jones renews Rex's hopes of becoming a sought-after musician again, but when Rex and Gabriel visit him at his hotel
it soon turns out that all he wants is listen to Rex's reminiscences of their days together for his intended memoir
. To Rex's dismay, he does not even pay him for it; however, on parting he presents Gabriel with one of his drawing
s.
A talented creative artist himself, Gabriel is impressed by this gift, but it soon becomes clear to him that both his parents are after the picture: Christine because, for the time being, she wants to keep it in a safe place; and Rex because he wants to sell it immediately. In order to prevent yet another argument between his mum and dad, Gabriel secretly makes two copies
of the drawing—in doing so he has to forge
Lester Jones's signature twice— and hands one copy to each of his parents while keeping the original for himself.
Unfortunately, each parent independently has the same idea of presenting the drawing to Speedy, an old friend of theirs who runs a hamburger restaurant full of 1970s memorabilia—a place occasionally even visited by Lester Jones himself—so that the picture can be exhibited there:
At Speedy's hamburger joint, a chance meeting with film producer Jake Ambler (also fictitious) sets off Rex's teaching career. Looking for someone to give his spoiled teenage son private guitar lessons, Jake offers the job to Rex who, encouraged by Gabriel to do something useful and earn some money at the same time, reluctantly agrees ("We're not so desperate that we're going to start working for a living") and eventually, after word of mouth
has spread and he is teaching not just one but several kids, quite enjoys being seen as an authority on music by his pupils.
Before the truth about Lester Jones's drawing is found out, Gabriel strikes a deal with Speedy, regains possession of the picture in exchange for a painting of Speedy he has to paint himself, and destroys the two copies. Seeing her ex-partner's reformation, Christine reconsiders her decision to spend the rest of her life without him and does not mind the end of her affair with George, a young artist and a regular at the bar where she is waitressing. At the end of the novel Rex and Christine get married, and in the following summer, under Jake Ambler's supervision, Gabriel starts shooting his first film.
As opposed to other protagonists created by Kureishi, Rex, Christine and Gabriel are white
.
Hanif Kureishi
Hanif Kureishi CBE is an English playwright, screenwriter and filmmaker, novelist and short story writer. The themes of his work have touched on topics of race, nationalism, immigration, and sexuality...
first published in 2001
2001 in literature
The year 2001 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The film version of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic book, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, is released to movie theaters...
about a 15 year-old London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
er called Gabriel who wants to become a filmmaker and whose parents break up rather unexpectedly one day—or, as John Crace
John Crace (writer)
John Crace is a British journalist writing for The Guardian.Crace is probably best known for his "The Digested Read" column, in which he reviews new fiction by condensing it into short narratives of about 700 words in the style of the book itself...
puts it in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, "Co-dependent 15-year-old Buddha of Suburbia sorts out his parents' predictably dreary middle-aged rock'n'roll existential angst before embarking on his own".
Plot summary
Rex Bunch, Gabriel's father, is a musician who, for a short time back in the 1970s, played in pop icon Lester Jones's band. However, while (the fictitious) Lester Jones is still going strong almost thirty years later, Rex has been leading a quiet and modest life without a regular income together with his live-in partner, Christine, Gabriel's mother, who back in the good old days designed trendy clothes for various rock stars. Gabriel's twin brotherTwin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
Archie died while still little, and in many ways the family of three still live and think according to the unwritten laws of the late 1960s and 1970s, despising anything remotely connected with middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
mentality, advocating universal freedom, and smoking the occasional joint
Joint (cannabis)
Joint is a slang term for a cigarette rolled using cannabis. Rolling papers are the most common rolling medium among industrialized countries, however brown paper, cigarettes with the tobacco removed, and newspaper are commonly used in developing countries. Modern papers are now made from a wide...
.
When Christine has had enough of Rex and his lazy, good-for-nothing ways, she throws him out of the house, and for the first time in decades Rex has to fend for himself. While Christine herself gets a job as a waitress
Waiter
Waiting staff, wait staff, or waitstaff are those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers — supplying them with food and drink as requested. Traditionally, a male waiting tables is called a "waiter" and a female a "waitress" with the gender-neutral version being a "server"...
in a bar
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
and hires an au pair
Au pair
An au pair is a domestic assistant from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a small monetary allowance for personal use...
from some Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an country to look after Gabriel, Rex, left to his own devices, ends up in a shabby bedsit
Bedsit
A bedsit, also known as a bed-sitting room, is a form of rented accommodation common in Great Britain and Ireland consisting of a single room and shared bathroom; they are part of a legal category of dwellings referred to as Houses in multiple occupation....
a few blocks away from his former home but even there has difficulty paying the rent.
A meeting with Lester Jones renews Rex's hopes of becoming a sought-after musician again, but when Rex and Gabriel visit him at his hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
it soon turns out that all he wants is listen to Rex's reminiscences of their days together for his intended memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
. To Rex's dismay, he does not even pay him for it; however, on parting he presents Gabriel with one of his drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
s.
A talented creative artist himself, Gabriel is impressed by this gift, but it soon becomes clear to him that both his parents are after the picture: Christine because, for the time being, she wants to keep it in a safe place; and Rex because he wants to sell it immediately. In order to prevent yet another argument between his mum and dad, Gabriel secretly makes two copies
Duplication
Duplication, duplicate, and duplicator may refer to:Art and fiction* Duplicate , a Bollywood film directed by Mahesh Bhatt* Duplicate , a 2009 Malayalam film...
of the drawing—in doing so he has to forge
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
Lester Jones's signature twice— and hands one copy to each of his parents while keeping the original for himself.
Unfortunately, each parent independently has the same idea of presenting the drawing to Speedy, an old friend of theirs who runs a hamburger restaurant full of 1970s memorabilia—a place occasionally even visited by Lester Jones himself—so that the picture can be exhibited there:
'[...] It's me, me, me, with you lot. People don't know, or won't say, how much they hate their children.'
He was hardly listening. She [Christine] wanted him to be a lawyer. He was, he reckoned, already sufficiently engaged with the Law. In the next few days his mother would have her forged copy of Lester's picture framed and presented to Speedy, who would have been presented with two forged copies of the same picture by two members of the same family.
Gabriel's prison sentence, already long enough, would surely be increased. [...] (Chapter 10)
At Speedy's hamburger joint, a chance meeting with film producer Jake Ambler (also fictitious) sets off Rex's teaching career. Looking for someone to give his spoiled teenage son private guitar lessons, Jake offers the job to Rex who, encouraged by Gabriel to do something useful and earn some money at the same time, reluctantly agrees ("We're not so desperate that we're going to start working for a living") and eventually, after word of mouth
Word of mouth
Word of mouth, or viva voce, is the passing of information from person to person by oral communication. Storytelling is the oldest form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others of something, whether a real event or something made up. Oral tradition is cultural material and...
has spread and he is teaching not just one but several kids, quite enjoys being seen as an authority on music by his pupils.
Before the truth about Lester Jones's drawing is found out, Gabriel strikes a deal with Speedy, regains possession of the picture in exchange for a painting of Speedy he has to paint himself, and destroys the two copies. Seeing her ex-partner's reformation, Christine reconsiders her decision to spend the rest of her life without him and does not mind the end of her affair with George, a young artist and a regular at the bar where she is waitressing. At the end of the novel Rex and Christine get married, and in the following summer, under Jake Ambler's supervision, Gabriel starts shooting his first film.
As opposed to other protagonists created by Kureishi, Rex, Christine and Gabriel are white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
.
External links
- David Jays: "Never Trust a Man in Platform Heels" (review), The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
(25 February 2001). - Another review at fantasticfiction.co.uk.