Adequate But a Tired Novel
|
I am an avid fan of the adventures of Mole and especially loved the the great "Capuccino Years" but this is a bit dissapointing:- Mole is at his most feeble and the constant crammng in of contemporary themes such as Iraq, MRSA, credit culture and enviromentalism seems forced.
Mole desite his lower-middle class small-mindedness has often evoked affection from readers rather than disgust but Adrian has gone from a pretentious adolescent to now a selfish middle-aged serial monogamist. I lost sympathy with the midlander half-way through. Now he is a hybrid of David Brent and Alan Partridge. In that regard the main character, and the book as a a whole, is a victim of Townsend's friendly fire.
|
|
The best Adrian Mole
|
|
This is one of the few books (along with the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy) that made me laugh out loud all the while I was reading it. I have read all the Adrian Moles but this one is the best.
|
|
the early twenty-first century viewed by one Mr Mole
|
The eponymous diarist over some decades is here writing as a man in his mid-thirties, a failed family man who increasingly lives beyond his means. H is opinionated and naive but catches the zeitgeist of early 21st century Britain. Easy to read because beautifully written. It may never be considered a major work, but offers a compassionate, affectionate but nonetheless highly critical look at today's England.
|
|
|
The funniest book I own - but disappointing ending
|
Honestly, I have probably never laughed so much reading a book. Isn't that a terrible cliche? But true. Sue Townsend seems to have a direct tap to my funny bone. I'm so glad she continued to write Adrian Mole - the early books get funnier each time I read them now that I know more about the history and politics of the early 80s, but it's such a treat to have her give the 2000s the Adrian Mole treatment. Credit card debt, doing up old wrecks in the hope of making a fortune, old factories turned into overhyped apartment developments, Iraq... and her usual social themes.
Sue Townsend is the only satirist I can think of who has such fondness for her characters and their pathetic little world. Adrian himself is a prime example - how, how does she make such an idiot so very sympathetic? - and his boss Mr. Carlton-Hayes is nothing less than adorable - but when she wants to stick the knife in to a character, she really can; witness one Michael Flowers. Flowers is a sort of satire of the typically pompous fifty/sixty-something man devoid of all self-awareness, her in the guise of a New Age madrigal-singing despot. His daughter Marigold Flowers, too, is hilariously awful, once she's sucked Adrian in with her fragile wrists. Anyone who finds it hard to say 'no' will laugh with total recognition of how it is being dragged around by somebody they have nothing but ridicule for yet find strangley intimidating. I love the lines Pauline Mole puts into her son's mouth: "Ever since I was a little boy, I have preferred to live in the world of fiction. I have found the real world to be a harsh place. I avoid confrontation and am easily manipulated by people who have a strong sense of themselves". I love Pauline Mole, full stop, and she's on form in this book! The hapless, loyal Glenn and poor old Sharon are also as likeable and hilarious as ever - in the hands of another writer, Sharon would be all that is wrong with England and 'chav culture', whereas in Townsend's sympathetic hands, she springs off the page as a sort of ill-educated, well-meaning victim of circumstance as well as a very amusingly observed Miss Piggy type.
Also hilarious are the Leicestershire and Rutland Creative Writing Group scenes - Ken Blunt's hideously vulgar anti-Americana and Gladys' cat poems. I love when Sue Townsend puts poetry in her character's hands - I remember Barry Kent's privet hedge poem well!
My only criticism is that unlike any of the previous books, a serious happy ending and new start is given to Adrian, as Townsend rounds off the saga. No more yearning for Pandora. The Iraq part also gets more serious and ranty, which disturbs the comic tone; I'm not heartless, but I didn't think it fit with the tone of the rest of the book. I guess Adrian is finally allowed to grow up, and it's not in the reader's interest for him to do so.
Still, I feel silly even criticising Sue Townsend because I consider her an absolute master and satirical genius at what she does, and seemingly a very nice person too who writes with such heart. I firmly believe that if more people read Adrian Mole, the world would be a much better place!
|
|
|
So brilliant: a noble swan of naivety on a muddy pond
|
Is it the last volume of the Adrian Mole saga? Of course not. I doubt it very much. There is no end to a good recipe, a ratatouille or a beef and kidney pie. But we'll see. This volume is extremely interesting. For our Adrian Mole is still Adrian Mole. He is naïve and he is sending to us a very simple-minded vision of the world that is absolutely disarming - a must with the title we know - in naivety and vanity. This vain naivety or naïve vanity is his trademark and it is marvelously refreshing. It could probably not break a man's arm, but it can break, even smash, a man's despair. And this here volume is still a perfect example, at the age of 35, nearly middle-aged, of this entertaining village philosopher from Leicester. The book is also fascinating because we are in 2002-2004 and the central problem is the war on Iraq and Blair's support, till the day when he acknowledges there were no WMDs. The political question is systematically shown through the opinions of various people. Adrian is pro-Blair and he supports his own son when he is sent to Iraq, though he is frightened by the prospect of his son's death for and with no cause, and actually the son's best friend is killed by shrapnel. Pandora is against the war and she resigns from Blair's government. And between the two we find all kinds of shades. The dramatic dimension of the problem is strong because of the son's position in the armed forces. At the same time the book criticizes all kinds pf shortcomings of Blair's policy and of capitalistic greed. Adrian and his father are confronted to the National Health Service, and Adrian is suddenly thrown into bankruptcy by greedy banks and various store- or credit-card providers as well as by his vain desire to live over his means. The book is also fascinating because of the love life or rather non-love and/versus love lives of Adrian. He finds himself trapped by a false pregnancy and ends with a real third child born in love. Finally the book is fascinating because of the numerous vignettes it provides on various characters and situations: the independent bookseller, the local would-be or wanna-be writer, the protection of Her Majesty's swans, the Koran, Chinese restaurants, baby-boomers, vegetarian or bio-friendly people, etc... There you feel a high level of irony, humor, sarcasm, and that is so English, so brilliantly English.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada