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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Adrian Mole is 34 and on blundering his way into middle-age-dom. Divorced, and an absent parent to his two children who are as far-flung as Nigeria and Kuwait (where his teenage son Glenn is on military duty), he deals anew with the responsibilities of owning a new loft apartment he can't afford, and his daily troubles involve battling a group of swans from the canal his apartment faces, led by the most aggressive of the pack, whom he christens Gielgud. Sounds like Adrian's teenage dilemmas and insecurities when he was 13¾ are way way way behind him, right?
He is still smitten with his childhood sweetheart, the unattainable Pandora, who is now a politician and Labour MP. He flirts with Marigold Flowers, a customer at the small independent bookshop he is working at, and soon finds her to be a clingy and manipulative hypochondriac and tries unsuccessfully to ditch her, while falling for her older sister, the enigmatic Daisy. Meanwhile, he writes letters to celebrities like tabloid queen Jordan (in 2003 where this novel is situated) and David Beckham, in an attempt to secure interviews with them (at his convenience, no less) for his book, working title "Celebrities and Madness".
Against this frivolity that forms Adrian Mole's year-and-a-half in this installment, he has to deal with grittier issues like suddenly homeless parents who decide to live out on the fields of pig stys in (where else) the Piggeries in a hasty investment venture, real fear for his son Glenn, who gets caught up in the Iraq war, while Mole declares his undying support for Tony Blair's government, and quite vocally in a series of embarrassing letters. He also tries to keep his flagging bookclub alive while compounding his debt by signing up for more and more bank credit.
Those who have followed the Adrian Mole through his pimply youth would also recognise his BFF Nigel. In this book, Nigel becomes clinically blind, and feels like a sobering reference to Townsend's own blindness, diagnosed round the time of writing of this novel. It is commendable that she does not colour the account of Nigel's blindness with tragic overtones, but blends it into Adrian's story with darkly comic strokes.
Though raucously funny, I felt a tinge of sadness when I was reading Adrian's diary entries, not just at Townsend's recent passing, but because Adrian Mole is all grown-up agewise, but yet so beguilingly and identifiably inadequate as an adult. You worry that Adrian will never ever get his act together, and realise that even though he's a fictional charactor, you identify with him because he is the sum of all your worst fears about your adult self. At least you get to laugh about it, so maybe it won't be so bad.
He is still smitten with his childhood sweetheart, the unattainable Pandora, who is now a politician and Labour MP. He flirts with Marigold Flowers, a customer at the small independent bookshop he is working at, and soon finds her to be a clingy and manipulative hypochondriac and tries unsuccessfully to ditch her, while falling for her older sister, the enigmatic Daisy. Meanwhile, he writes letters to celebrities like tabloid queen Jordan (in 2003 where this novel is situated) and David Beckham, in an attempt to secure interviews with them (at his convenience, no less) for his book, working title "Celebrities and Madness".
Against this frivolity that forms Adrian Mole's year-and-a-half in this installment, he has to deal with grittier issues like suddenly homeless parents who decide to live out on the fields of pig stys in (where else) the Piggeries in a hasty investment venture, real fear for his son Glenn, who gets caught up in the Iraq war, while Mole declares his undying support for Tony Blair's government, and quite vocally in a series of embarrassing letters. He also tries to keep his flagging bookclub alive while compounding his debt by signing up for more and more bank credit.
Those who have followed the Adrian Mole through his pimply youth would also recognise his BFF Nigel. In this book, Nigel becomes clinically blind, and feels like a sobering reference to Townsend's own blindness, diagnosed round the time of writing of this novel. It is commendable that she does not colour the account of Nigel's blindness with tragic overtones, but blends it into Adrian's story with darkly comic strokes.
Though raucously funny, I felt a tinge of sadness when I was reading Adrian's diary entries, not just at Townsend's recent passing, but because Adrian Mole is all grown-up agewise, but yet so beguilingly and identifiably inadequate as an adult. You worry that Adrian will never ever get his act together, and realise that even though he's a fictional charactor, you identify with him because he is the sum of all your worst fears about your adult self. At least you get to laugh about it, so maybe it won't be so bad.
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: War
Minor: Death
Oh Adrian! I have to read your diary with my hand covering my face!! Love them though.. :)
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really didn't like this. With humour, it's so much a question of taste, I guess. These books are hugely popular and loads of good writers like them so maybe it's just me. Having read about Sue Townsend, I feel I ought to like what she writes but I don't.
I can't really say I find any of the characters likeable or worth caring about with the possible exception of Adrian's boss at the the bookshop. I found the bits about Nigel losing his sight, embarrassing and cringe-worthy but not funny. Sue Townsend had lost her sight recently when she wrote this so she knows what she is writing about but I couldn't engage with it- even though Adrian was appallingly insensitive I didn't warm to Nigel cos he was so unreasonable.
In general, it seems to me that the book mocks everyone for everything- weight, poverty, lack of education, fashion sense, being different, mental health issues etc. this just makes me dislike the narrator ( Adrian/ Sue Townsend).
The plot has many similarities to Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis- man dating a needy woman who is dominated by her appalling pretentious parents. I loved Lucky Jim when I read it at university but reading it recently I was appalled by the misogyny. In Adrian's case I wondered the whole time why he didn't just follow his boss's advice and stop seeing her since he didn't like her.
I can't really say I find any of the characters likeable or worth caring about with the possible exception of Adrian's boss at the the bookshop. I found the bits about Nigel losing his sight, embarrassing and cringe-worthy but not funny. Sue Townsend had lost her sight recently when she wrote this so she knows what she is writing about but I couldn't engage with it- even though Adrian was appallingly insensitive I didn't warm to Nigel cos he was so unreasonable.
In general, it seems to me that the book mocks everyone for everything- weight, poverty, lack of education, fashion sense, being different, mental health issues etc. this just makes me dislike the narrator ( Adrian/ Sue Townsend).
The plot has many similarities to Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis- man dating a needy woman who is dominated by her appalling pretentious parents. I loved Lucky Jim when I read it at university but reading it recently I was appalled by the misogyny. In Adrian's case I wondered the whole time why he didn't just follow his boss's advice and stop seeing her since he didn't like her.
One of the funniest of the series. I found it especially interesting now after Brexit and the political commentary is sharp and still relevant now.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
lighthearted
medium-paced