But a book this carefully made should be read in the same way. Lovelace presents two protagonists, the first person narrator, King Kala, and the antihero, Sonnyboy, and uses them-and a host of other "minor" characters-to chronicle and comment upon an ongoing act of rebellion on society's behalf by a group normally dismissed as an underclass. (See, if you like, my chat with him at www.CaribbeanReviewOfBooks. com.) Packaging his deep, layered prose into short, cleverly titled chapters makes it easy to read; and the reading often provokes loud laughter; particularly when the reader recognises his own hypoc-risies being mocked. The book, as book, is a treat; as polemic and proffered solution, the last 50 pages, particularly, are inspiring. Random Notes and Is Just a Movie should be presented together to the Government as Cabinet Notes; everybody else should treat them as the most valuable souvenirs they can have and hold of this almost vanished thing called Carnival and this Cheshire Cat grin called Trinidad. Finally, four Fridays ago, when I began writing of Keith Smith's death, and because the last instalment was in the form of a tribute to him (which you can read as today's blog @ www.BCRaw.com) I neglected to mention one of three other deaths that provoked three columns from me, that of my friend, Wayne Brown; to whom, as it happens, Random Notes is dedicated.
BC Pires is just a random movie noter. Read more of his writing at www.BCraw.com