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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Like other things for the 13¾’s like Haribo and cheesy films, they can be enjoyed by adults and children alike. On the surface, Adrian lives an entertaining life, caught up in the dramas of the day-to-day: school, family, girls and a horribly tight budget. We can relate to his experiences, both trials and triumphs, and easily engage with the titular calendar. Sue Townsend does a brilliant job of regressing to her teenage years to remember the intimacies of the most awkward age group.
For the adult reader, though, Adrian Mole represents more than daft fun. While his peers will share in his bewilderment, Townsend cleverly gives just enough clues to her more mature audience to piece the jigsaw together and read between the lines. Also set firmly in 1982—1983, Margaret Thatcher’s government has an important role to play. The political sympathies of the characters’ are alluded to and often stated explicitly, along with the bias and preconceptions Adrian has picked up from his parents.
Mole, 13¾ – and the series in general – has a really clever element of social commentary, mapping the attitudes and sympathies of the British public throughout real events, such as the wedding of Charles and Diana in this first instalment. This takes the series from being disposable fun to a shrewd, carefully considered archive of public feeling.
Townsend’s decision to present the story as a diary, as the title would suggest, gives us a unique insight into Adrian’s mind. There are some genuine laugh-out-loud moments that just invoke hysteria, with Adrian’s experiences, perceptions and rapidly changing views. The writing is short and snappy and keeps the pace going and it impressively doesn’t miss a single date in over a year, besides the brief couple of days he left his diary at home. Written from Adrian’s viewpoint entirely, the self-absorbed teenaged attitude provides a refreshingly fun alternative to the adult narrator you’d expect with their levelled understanding, and is a perfect vehicle to the social commentary and exposure of prejudices. Although it does, arguably, limit how well you can get to know the other characters, Townsend does a magnificent job of building a really vivid, colourful cast through Adrian’s eyes that doesn’t leave you cheated at all.
A fantastic read that’s nostalgic (without a rose tint) for not just the 1980’s, but also the 13¾’s.
For the adult reader, though, Adrian Mole represents more than daft fun. While his peers will share in his bewilderment, Townsend cleverly gives just enough clues to her more mature audience to piece the jigsaw together and read between the lines. Also set firmly in 1982—1983, Margaret Thatcher’s government has an important role to play. The political sympathies of the characters’ are alluded to and often stated explicitly, along with the bias and preconceptions Adrian has picked up from his parents.
Mole, 13¾ – and the series in general – has a really clever element of social commentary, mapping the attitudes and sympathies of the British public throughout real events, such as the wedding of Charles and Diana in this first instalment. This takes the series from being disposable fun to a shrewd, carefully considered archive of public feeling.
Townsend’s decision to present the story as a diary, as the title would suggest, gives us a unique insight into Adrian’s mind. There are some genuine laugh-out-loud moments that just invoke hysteria, with Adrian’s experiences, perceptions and rapidly changing views. The writing is short and snappy and keeps the pace going and it impressively doesn’t miss a single date in over a year, besides the brief couple of days he left his diary at home. Written from Adrian’s viewpoint entirely, the self-absorbed teenaged attitude provides a refreshingly fun alternative to the adult narrator you’d expect with their levelled understanding, and is a perfect vehicle to the social commentary and exposure of prejudices. Although it does, arguably, limit how well you can get to know the other characters, Townsend does a magnificent job of building a really vivid, colourful cast through Adrian’s eyes that doesn’t leave you cheated at all.
A fantastic read that’s nostalgic (without a rose tint) for not just the 1980’s, but also the 13¾’s.
I read this long ago in my young manhood. It first came out in 1982 and I probably read it about 1984--i.e. when I was still in my 20s. I enjoyed it a lot then and I still find it very funny. In lots of ways this book prefigures Bridget Jones. Helen Fielding had to have had it in mind when she created her grown woman equivalent of Adrian. Another book that is indebted to ADRIAN MOLE is Mark Haddon's THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME. Anyhow much hilarity on display here, some gentle mockery of teen-aged boys, and a good bit of subtle and not so subtle commentary on the English class system. A light read, this book is dead good.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I didn’t realize this was a children’s book when I picked it up from a list of comic novels; I finished it because it seems to be somewhat of a classic and I thought I may as well. Though Adrian is meant to be 13-15, I think the writing would be pitch perfect for kids 10-12. An easy read, very cute. I might one day pick up one of the books where he’s an adult.
I actually read The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass, which is a Christian parody of this book, first. I liked Adrian Plass more because it is less depressing, but they are both fun reads. Adrian Mole gets better once he has a few friends and life improves for him a bit. The sort of book that you might as well laugh at so you don't cry.
Still references I didn't get, but I did know enough about British culture and the history of the 80s to get most things.
The Brits do love their puddings.
Also, kind of ironic to finish reading this right when the Brexit vote happened.
Still references I didn't get, but I did know enough about British culture and the history of the 80s to get most things.
The Brits do love their puddings.
Also, kind of ironic to finish reading this right when the Brexit vote happened.
Good fun--coming-of-age diary of 14-year-old British school boy and all his various angsts and family dysfunctions. It's a classic--written back in the '80s--but I had never gotten around to reading it.
This is probably one of the key books of my youth, and introduced me to glimpses of the adult world that were as yet unknown. And while decades have passed, my own son, now 12, also loves the book. It's a classic.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes