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    Gents
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    Gents
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    Gents
    Ebook112 pages1 hour

    Gents

    By Warwick Collins

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Ezekial Murphy, a West Indian immigrant, takes up a new job as an attendant at a large London lavatory. The supervisor, Josiah Reynolds, and Jason, a third West Indian, explain that their main problem is the casual sex which takes place in the cubicles.

    Under pressure from the council authorities to reduce such behaviour, they expect Ez to help them in 'cleaning out the swamp'.

    Each of the protagonists brings his own moral assumptions to the question. Ez, a devout Adventist, is shocked by such revelations. Jason, a Rastafarian, believes that this kind of sex occurs because 'Whitey' is inherently corrupt. Reynolds, who takes more pragmatic view, is concerned to prevent further illicit encounters in case the council attempts to close the establishment down. Subtly influenced by the women in their lives, Ez, Reynolds and Jason – their future employment prospects in jeopardy – must take a fresh look at their work and at themselves.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateAug 4, 2016
    ISBN9780007391783
    Unavailable
    Gents
    Author

    Warwick Collins

    Warwick Collins’s poems were first published in the magazine Encounter, during his early twenties. He has published eight novels, translated internationally, including Gents, which was reviewed in the Times in its series of all-time classics. He lives near Lymington, in Hampshire.

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    Reviews for Gents

    3.5/5

    67 ratings22 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A warm short novel about three toilet attendants who fear that they will lose their jobs at Charing Cross station if the level of gay casual sex in the cubicles is not reduced. After some success they find that their campaign has halved use of the facility, which now means that it may not be cost effective. Faced with ethical and economic dilemmas, the Jamaicans come up with a heartwarming plan. All this is set against a leisurely description of the processes of urinal maintenance and of the relationships between the men and their families. The book's brevity feels appropriate to its slight subject but is essentially satisfying.
    • 5/5
      Meet Ezekiel Murphy.Needing work, he takes a job working as a toilet attendant at a men’s washroom in the London Underground. Working with two other men, Reynolds and Jason, he figures this will be just one more run of the mill job.He is mistaken.One day while cleaning the bathroom, he watches as two men leave a cubicle together. Another time, he watches as someone kneels on the ground while the other man stays standing.Appalled, he asks Reynolds and Jason what is going on. “It’s the reptiles.” Jason says. Apparently the bathroom in which they work in is a popular spot for “cottaging” or gay sex. Many men cruise the washroom looking to get off.What shocks Ez the most is that these are seemingly normal men. He observes one gentleman he saw in a cubicle with another meet up with his family. “Took your time,” the wife observes. He wonders if he should say anything; wonders if it’s his place.The three men are dealt a further blow when they are given an ultimatum: cut down on the amount of gay cursing in the washroom or the London council will shut it down. Suddenly, the three men find themselves in between a rock and a hard place having to confront an enemy they know nothing about.They decide to take matters into their own hands. They start to observe the “reptiles” and their habits; they start to fight back. But what are they fighting most?Their own prejudices or the rights of others? Gents may be a small novel but it packs a mean wallop. Clocking in at only 172 pages, many would under estimate the power of this slim volume. They would be unwise to do so. Gents take an in your face look at many issues that other writers would cheerfully avoid: homosexuality, washroom sex, cruising, races, culture, prejudice and racism.Gents has so much power because it looks at all these issues and more in such brutal, unashamed honesty. You never feel for an instant that you are reading something that should be shocking or scandalous; though, looked at separately, many of the books subjects do indeed cause scandal.Collins has also created some of the most likeable, wonderful characters I've ever encountered in literature today: Ezekiel, a West Indian immigrant worried about providing for his wife and son. Jason, the Rastafarian who has two wives. Reynolds, their supervisor, who tries to remain distant from their situation but can't help getting drawn in.These people breathe. I don't think I can say it clearer than that; they are people I know, people I talk to every day. They are real and honest and true people. It takes a talented writer to create characters with such finesse; characters that I feel I've known for years. It takes not only a writer but a magician to create with such simplicity.Gents is written in simple, precise words. You won't find any purple prose here; because of the writing style, the issue is right there, out in the open, waiting for you to acknowledge it. Though the language is simple, the words have power. The book doesn't take a political or social stance. It sets everything on the table for you to read and makes no judgments.Though many would argue that this is a book about homosexuality, it isn't. This is a book about people who are forced to confront something within themselves and make a decision that affects others. It's not about gay cruising. It's about the power of the human heart when you are asked to confront something you don't understand.Gents is a treat, a joy and a pleasure. I am reading it again for the second time. I was moved, swayed and held by the power of Collins words and Gents is a novel that will haunt me for some time to come.
    • 5/5
      A quick, enjoyable read. This took me under two hours to read, but they were two highly enjoyable hours. Beautifully written with humour and wit, this book relates the dilemma of a gents public toilet in London; if the toilet attendants clear the facility of the unsavoury element ("reptiles"), the place becomes uneconomical. I loved the Jamaican characters, all three of the beautifully drawn, and the way they cleaned the place so thouroughly that it didn't feel like an unsavoury setting at all! This sparse book was spot-on, highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      A quick read. Three West Indian men look after a gents' toilet in London, and, at the behest of the local council, try to rid it of the cottagers who frequent it. However, their success brings a drop in profits for the toilet, and they have some difficult decisions to make. This book taught me more about urinals than I ever wanted to know.
    • 4/5
      simple and sophisticated at the same time, it is also very original in describing in a very humble way, the big issues of race and class.
    • 3/5
      Barely a novella, not much more than a short story this is a tale of social integration - a topic still of great importance some 9 years after Gents was initially published. Ez (Ezekiel) Murphy is a Jamaican imigrant settled in the outskirts of London. He takes a temporary job as a cleaner of the public toilets somewhere near Charing Cross. His two colleagues (does it really take a staff of 3 to clean toilets? I've never seen permenant cleaners in london toilets! only one of several casual errors that litter the book) Jason and Reynolds are also of Jamaican descent and they have a comfortable rapport working together. Ez quickly comes to realise that, as the council puts it, it is a "habitual place of assignation" by those all of whom Jason depicts as "reptiles" - cold of heart. Again an unlikely depiction of the variety of the human race. This has consequences, most of their turnover, is of this nature, and if they act agaist this behavior then they have less customers and no matter how clean the facilities are, they will be closed. Jason, Reynolds and Ez, all have different attidutes to solving this problem - which doesn't take long. The writing is light, sketched characters, and almost no description - the dialog is filed with jamaican patois which is irritating to read, but not complex. Unfortunetly the details are also littered with errors, even 1997 public toilets were more expensive than 10p. The minimum wage has never been as low as £2/hr as Ez's son is claimed to earn. etc etc. However the short story is also enjoyable. The engaging Jason, and Ez's moral quandries are worth reading - for all of the hour it took to complete this book. It could easily have been made more complex and longer, but it is perhaps better that it wasn't. A quick excursion into the problems and life of communities of imigrants in London, and an unusual spotlight into a english subculture makes it worthwhile.
    • 2/5
      I requested this book via the early reviewer program after reading the blurb and when it arrived I red the blurb on the book and I was still keen to read the book. After about 30 pages (close to 1/5 of the way in) I realised that this wasn't really a book for me. I carried on though and got through the book in one sitting. At 172 pages long it is very short and thats when it is spaced out! Not one to occupy you for a week or so.Anyway I found it hard to engage with the charachters and what they were trying to achieve. I struggled to see how the book would end and was dissapointed with the way that it ended. There didn't seem to be any life about the book. All that said it has to be one of the nicesest books that I have seen for ages - that is the paper and the print was excellent. So well done to the publisher but not so well done to the author.
    • 2/5
      I put in for a copy of this as an earlier reviewer and I found it a bit of a disappointment. It's a very short book, thin and large text meant that i finished it in an hour. The women in the book are barely covered, why does one of the men have two wives? Why does the author also describe several of the women by their hip size? Distaste?I found the Jamaican immigrants a bit wooden and the morality tale a little simplistic. It's not a terrible book but I'm not tempted to read anything else by the author.
    • 3/5
      A very easy and enjoying read, about Ez, a Jamaican Londoner, who finds a job as a cleaner in a public toilet. This establishment is frequented by gay men, who use it for quite different needs than what is logical to Ez. In the course of time Ez starts to understand what's going on. His opinion develops from negative to pragmatic. The story is over before you know it. I guess it's more like a short story than a novel. Personally I prefer longer novels; I like to dive into a story for days on end. For some reason short stories always seem slightly superficial and easy to forget. What I liked about this story were the descriptions of work in a public toilet. It's an interesting and original setting, and kind of opens your eyes to what it would be like to work in such a place. I also liked the development of the character of Ez, as a slightly naive immigrant to a pragmatic businessman. Still, I fear that I will very soon forget this book, as it was nice, but not impressive.
    • 4/5
      Gents has some delightful characters; Ez, Jason and Reynolds have amusing exchanges in their patois that really show how they feel about the situation they find themselves in.The story focuses on how the three deal with the how their public toilet is being used by a community of cottagers; how that effects their place of work and the other "normal" users of the toilet. It is well written - the presentation and content kept me entertained to the point where I read the entire book in an evening.In fact, that's my single point of contention - it's very short, which makes me think that as good as it is, it's not worth picking up at full price. But if you see it as part of an offer or available online at a discounted value, go for it - you're nearly guaranteed to have an enjoyable read!
    • 4/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is well written, with passages of thoughtful and well-crafted descriptive writing alternating with totally credible Jamaican dialogue.My big issue is with its length. With large print and wide line spacing, it cannot be more than about 25,000 words. Certainly not a novel and hardly even a novella - more of an extended short story. It seems a bit steep to have to pay £7.99 for a paperback which takes little more than half an hour to read.
    • 4/5
      A short read that took me into a world beyond my experience. I would not choose to read a book about a public lavatory – let alone the gents! Set in an underground gents we follow the three characters who work as toilet attendants in a subterranean world. There is a gentle rhythm of mopping floors, replacing toilet rolls, scrubbing tiles and urinals. The book was engaging, thought provoking and in places humorous. Never was I told what to think - rather I was left to reflect upon issues of racism, homosexuality and friendship at work. The overriding sense is one of humanity struggling to make sense of the world and I did actually find myself ‘caring’ for the situation when the takings of the public convenience fell. The writing is simple and in places understated. Overall, I am really pleased I read this book which I would never have approached had it not been for the Early Reviwer copy I received. If curiosity is prompting you – go ahead, find it and read it!
    • 3/5
      A nice little story of three men dealing with the complications of running a men's public toilet, and how they deal with the conflicting interests of the council and themselves. Quite amusing in places, but overall quite a slow read.
    • 4/5
      This is a short tale in what might seem an unsalubrious setting, but it's a small gem of a book that's well worth reading. It was first published in 1997, but went out of print, before being republished in 2007 by The Friday Project. The republication is well deserved.Gents is the tale of Ezekiel Murphy, a West Indian immigrant, and the job he takes as an attendant in a public lavatory in London. The supervisor, Josiah Reynolds, and the other cleaner, Jason, teach him the job, which includes more than he had expected. As Ez soon discovers, the facility is popular with cottagers -- men using the cubicles for fast, anonymous sex with other men. The attendants discourage it as best they can, but tolerate a certain amount of activity, because as Reynolds points out, the 'reptiles' are no threat to anyone. There are still complaints to the council about the goings-on, and the crew are told that they must clamp down on the cottaging or the facility will be shut. Alas, they're too successful for their own good, and takings from the small cover charge that covers the facility's running costs drop precipitously, leading to renewed threats of job cuts, and a dilemma for the attendants...Gents is a gentle, funny and subtle parable about tolerance, on more levels and subjects than the obvious one. The characters and situations are sketched lightly but deftly, in a lovely display of showing rather than telling, and I wasn't surprised to learn that Collins originally conceived the story as a screenplay. The three West Indian attendants have much in common through their common background, but are still very different people with different attitudes and prejudices. They have an outsider's view of the society they live in, and see it from underneath. Through Ez the book touches on issues of race, class, homophobia, religion and culture, without ever being heavy-handed or one-sided.There are stunningly good descriptive passages about the men and their world, and the characters are likeable and sympathetic, without being unbelievable saints. The main characters are the three men, but they also all have wives (two in Jason's case), and Ez's wife Martha and his relationship with her is a particular strength of the book.One minor problem for some readers will be the Jamaican patois in the dialogue, which does take a few pages to get used to if you're not familiar with it. But it's appropriate for the characters and not pushed to the point where it's hard to follow.This is a much shorter read than its 172 pages might suggest, as a large font and plenty of white space mean that there aren't many words per page. At 25,000 words or so, this is a novella rather than a full-length novel, and you get around an hour's reading for your eight pounds. But it's beautifully written and a joy to read. It may be short but there's plenty of depth, and it will stand up well to re-reading. Even if you feel that the book is too pricy for the word count, it's well worth checking it out from your library.
    • 5/5
      A very unusual little book. This will not take you long to read, in fact it took me 40 minutes so it might be worth acquiring it cheaply rather than paying full price; unless you intend keeping it. Ezekiel Murphy is a West Indian immigrant who has taken up a new job as a toilet attendant in a large London lavatory. There are two other people he works with - his boss, Josiah and the other attendant Jason (both Jamaican). The topic matter may sound quite unusual, 3 toilet attendants working in a hot spot for `Whitey' (quoted from the book) homosexual encounters. The novella also introduces the three men's wives and their families. It is an odd concept but it explores relationships between families and employers as well as cultural relationships. I can't say it's the best book I've ever read but it is an enjoyable one. Collins explores through the characters exactly what it is we are prepared to do to get by in life. It is, as the blurb describes it, a "fresh look at their work and at themselves". Well worth a read. It's very well written and a novella to get you thinking about how cultures work together. I found it refreshing and different.
    • 4/5
      This is not a spoiler free review...Gents was a very quick read - probably less than an hour in total. To manage that it leaves much of the development to insinuation and the reader's own imagination. The journey from Ez's distaste of to his tolerance and exploitation of cottaging men in his work and his beginning acceptance of his son leaves us with hope for society as a whole.
    • 3/5
      Brings new meaning to the idea of a 'reptile house'! The story centres around cleaners in a public lavatory & how they deal with the 'reptiles' who use their immaculately maintained public toilet for cottaging purposes. The three Jamaican cleaners have their own clique, separate from the men using the facilities; when together they fall into patois speech and discussions of home and family. In the meantime the anonymous men come and go while the cleaners try to disuade them with raps on the cubicle doors and whacks on the ankles. There are some very humerous moments in the book and the whole tale makes for a nice circular discussion of the veritable pros and cons of allowing the toilets to be used in such a way, at least from the point of view of the men who work there. I did find some of the writing quite stilted with staccato-type sentences, but overall enjoyed the book. I must agree though with other reviewers that the cost of the book is high for the length of the story - I read this in a couple of hours and certainly don't consider myself a particularly fast reader.
    • 3/5
      Gents is a short novel and easy to read. The writing is fluid and straight forward and the characters are believable, although their development is limited due to the length of the book.The plot is a more a vehicle to the delivery of the moral than anything else. A man begins working in a public urinal and is shocked to find it is used for casual sex. At first the book seems to have very judgmental, almost intolerant overtones. It is worth progressing with to see how the interaction of the characters - and circumstances of fate - affect the protoganist and his views.All the same, I cannot give the book more than three stars. It put me in mind of a book for young-adults (apart from the subject matter). It is short and therefore holds your concentration for the required period and has a very clear point to make. But it isn't a gripping story or a 'must-read' 'can't put down' choice.
    • 4/5
      This is a bit of a gem - and I've heard it's getting reprinted! Despite the book's blurb, it's not so much about the "actions" in the stalls as it is about culture clashes and the question of how to survive in a multi-cultural world and how to deal with all our different views of sin, racism, prejudice, family, society, and sex. Collins' descriptions of this underground world are so precise and yet so feather-light that it's almost like reading a poem. I also love how the attendants aren't so upset about what goes on in the stalls, but how it's done - no courtship... Of course, how the guys solve the problem with keeping their jobs in the end is just fantabulous! :) It's a short book, but it packs a punch and a half.
    • 5/5
      Three West Indian men take centre stage in this engaging short novel; Reynolds, the long standing boss; Jason, his young Rasta assistant of six years, and new man Ez. As Ez joins the staff at the public convenience complaints about cottaging, (men in twos, threes or more are using the cubicles for their dubious pleasures), threaten to close the public toilet. The three men use their own ingenuity to bring the problem under control, with considerable success. In fact so successful are they that takings drop markedly, and so three men are no longer needed to maintain the toilets, one of them may have to go. Again, they come up with an ingenious solution.The real joy of the book however is the characters. Although Reynolds, whose life revolves around managing the conveniences, appears constantly to jibe Jason, he is in fact very fond of the lad and regards him like a son. While Jason might seem sullen and self absorbed, and as Reynolds often accuses, "bad", events prove him to be principled, proactive and imaginative. Ez, is a gentle, loving and tolerant man. Their mild Jamaican patois is well captured, and their interactions and activities prove quite comic.This is a very gentle story with a message, a touch of irony, likeable characters, plenty of humour and a positive outcome.
    • 4/5
      Three Jamaicans work in a public toilet in London. They are pretty much resigned to the almost constant cottaging that goes on, until one day the council tells them that it needs to be stopped or the premises will be closed.That might not sound like a great premise for a book - and indeed, the story is both short and a quick read. But the style and the subject matter both pack a lot more punch than you might think on a first look.The style is very spare - it feels as if you are being told everything that happens, but of course there is actually a lot going on between the lines. The story, too, manages to bring in some big questions - particularly how different people choose to respond to other lifestyles (not just sexuality) - without ever labouring the point - it's beautifully light-touch.Sample sentence: It was possible to tell from the sound alone which cubicle had opened or closed. The doors of the seventeen cubicles were like a musical scale. Each hollow space they enclosed had a different frequency. The flushing of the cistern in cubicle three had a different sound from cubicle eleven.Recommended for: anyone who appreciates good writing and is prepared for an unusual setting!
    • 4/5
      A very quick read, effortless with a simple vocabulary. Simple yet effective, raising many modern issues. Could easily be a recommended school book text, covering many prominant modern issues. A classic in the making, and worth a quick read.