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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
When you read the whole Adrian Mole series within 3 months, the last one rather creeps up on you with how real and raw life can get. Especially when I think back to the first one which only produced nonstop laughter and chuckles and brought me back to my teens when I read similar fictional diaries. In short, sad it came to an end but happy it "ended" the way it did,
Spoiler
with a tiny glimmer of hope for Adrian.Spoiler
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
In which Adrian Mole hits 40, having lost his wife and daughter and job, his only gain being... prostate cancer. Doesn't sound like the funniest novel in the world, but Ms Townsend pulls it off. She balances the tragicomedy with poignancy, spot-on satire about real world events (the smoking ban, the financial crash) and a real love of her characters. I'm still reeling in admiration as to how she managed to get the tone so pitch-perfect. She's up there with Alan Bennett and John Mortimer in the British comic writer stakes, and is better than ever. The original teenage Mole diaries were the biggest selling novels of the 80s, but this is actually superior in every sense - laughs, tears, suspense, satire, & up-to-date research on the dreaded process of cancer treatment. Deserves more sales. Can't recommend it enough.
The older I get the less interesting Adrian becomes. As I am a couple of years older than the protagonist I found the books fun and interesting when I first started reading them as a teenager but he really has become irrelevant now.
Not one of the cheerier ones, but then the Mole books have always been a bittersweet saga, following the national mood through its various ups and downs. At this point in the narrative, the Blair years are over, he feels let down by New Labour, but worse is to come as Gordon Brown comes into office and the 2008-9 crisis hits like a slow motion train wreck. Against that background, Adrian's own home life is equally bleak. He has prostate trouble which becomes increasingly serious, his son is fighting in Afghanistan, his mum goes on the Jeremy Kyle Show and his wife is having an affair. So all pretty grim really.
But the book manages to avoid being a downer. Sue Townshend writes incredibly well, and Adrian himself is one of the great comedy characters. The jokes are there, albeit slightly darker than in some of the other books. He even manages to become strangely philosophical towards the end.
But the book manages to avoid being a downer. Sue Townshend writes incredibly well, and Adrian himself is one of the great comedy characters. The jokes are there, albeit slightly darker than in some of the other books. He even manages to become strangely philosophical towards the end.
Oh, I wish this wasn't the last book in the series, because I can never have enough of Adrian. Sue Townsend was a fantastic writer, her and her writing are sadly missed because despite the thousand diary books that are out there, Adrian Mole is one of the best.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Originally written: 11/03/19.
Most of the things in these books that I would usually fawn over, I was instead glossing over because all I cared about was whether Adrian survived. I power-read like I've never power-read before. I suspect that on a re-read of the series, I will be able to appreciate the little things more, now that I know he doesn't die.
His wife, Daisy, left him for some inbred aristocrat and their daughter, Gracie, was frankly unbearable. (The worst. Like, the worst.) No trace of William to counterbalance either, and Glenn's appearances were fleeting and mostly in letter. His two good kids were basically no-shows, but we got pages of Gracie.
Considering that Daisy left a man dying of cancer, she remained surprisingly sympathetic. She did her best and only actually left when Adrian as good as told her to. He didn't want the cancer to make her feel like she had to stay. Still cheated on him a tonne though, so kind of fuck her, just a little bit. (I could never hate you, Daisy.)
Pandora was lovely, and the suggestion by Townsend that she and Adrian got back together (possibly for good) at the end was very uplifting. I needed it, badly.
Nigel continues to be an Absolute Mad Lad.
Mr Carlton-Hayes had to close his antique bookshop due to ill health, which was also very sad and something my cynic arse took to mean that Adrian would die at the end. Because symbolism, or something. I now like to think that our boy might open a new one in the old man's honour, once he post-canon kicks cancer's arse, but that feels a bit too optimist for the world of Adrian Mole.
I love these books, even if I was too sad and anxiety-riddled to enjoy this one properly. There was one line in particular that made me just about cry laughing though. I'm mad that I can't remember it now. (Think it might have been when George and Pauline Mole talk about Adrian's fifth birthday. He invited the moon to his party, cried because it didn't show up, and then tried to throw a sausage roll at it come nighttime.)
See you again soon, Adrian.
Spoiler
She gave Adrian cancer in this one. CANCER. In the last book in the series, Adrian gets cancer that, no, doesn't kill him, but he isn't in remission by the end either.Most of the things in these books that I would usually fawn over, I was instead glossing over because all I cared about was whether Adrian survived. I power-read like I've never power-read before. I suspect that on a re-read of the series, I will be able to appreciate the little things more, now that I know he doesn't die.
His wife, Daisy, left him for some inbred aristocrat and their daughter, Gracie, was frankly unbearable. (The worst. Like, the worst.) No trace of William to counterbalance either, and Glenn's appearances were fleeting and mostly in letter. His two good kids were basically no-shows, but we got pages of Gracie.
Considering that Daisy left a man dying of cancer, she remained surprisingly sympathetic. She did her best and only actually left when Adrian as good as told her to. He didn't want the cancer to make her feel like she had to stay. Still cheated on him a tonne though, so kind of fuck her, just a little bit. (I could never hate you, Daisy.)
Pandora was lovely, and the suggestion by Townsend that she and Adrian got back together (possibly for good) at the end was very uplifting. I needed it, badly.
Nigel continues to be an Absolute Mad Lad.
Mr Carlton-Hayes had to close his antique bookshop due to ill health, which was also very sad and something my cynic arse took to mean that Adrian would die at the end. Because symbolism, or something. I now like to think that our boy might open a new one in the old man's honour, once he post-canon kicks cancer's arse, but that feels a bit too optimist for the world of Adrian Mole.
I love these books, even if I was too sad and anxiety-riddled to enjoy this one properly. There was one line in particular that made me just about cry laughing though. I'm mad that I can't remember it now. (Think it might have been when George and Pauline Mole talk about Adrian's fifth birthday. He invited the moon to his party, cried because it didn't show up, and then tried to throw a sausage roll at it come nighttime.)
See you again soon, Adrian.
The final book of one of the most endearing, funny and tragic characters I've ever had the pleasure to read. Adrian Mole was perhaps the most important character during my formative teenage years and I would not be the reader I am with his, or Sue Townsends awesome words. To know that there's never going to be a new Mole book is like knowing you'll never hear from an old and favourite friend again.
So to you dearly departed Sue, I remain, madam, you most humble and obedient servant.
So to you dearly departed Sue, I remain, madam, you most humble and obedient servant.