Book Review - Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend
Category Book Reviews
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend was one of those library books that attracted me due to the quirky title and unusual cover. Having no background with Townsend's work or any other Mole novels, I really didn't know what to expect. What I found was an incredibly funny English novel that I was unable to put down until I was finished.
Adrian Mole is a 34 year old single guy living with his parents and working in a second-hand bookstore. He has a couple kids by different women, but the relationships didn't work out in the long run. In order to live the style of life he envisions for himself, he buys a flat on Rat Wharf and proceeds to spend himself into an incredible crushing load of debt using credit cards. His life starts to spiral downhill when he dates a mousey "organic" lady by the name of Marigold Flowers. Her parents are into "natural living" to the extreme, and he quickly figures out that this is not the family and lady he wants. But he has a hard time saying no, and pretty soon he's engaged to be married to a woman he doesn't love and that is apparently with child. To complicate issues further (as if they weren't already warped), he's madly in love with Marigold's sister, a fashionable public relations woman who is as wild as Marigold is sedate. He knows what he needs to do, and everyone else can see what he should be doing. But knowing and doing are separated by an ever-widening gap...
This story is told in diary fashion, with Mole writing in the first person. In many ways, it's like watching a reality TV show. Mole has a much more important view of himself than what really is the case, and it's a hoot watching the train wreck unfold. There are a number of current event themes running through the couple of years covered by the diary, mainly centered around the start of the Iraq war. I'm sure having a good grasp of British life would make a few of the things more clear to this American reader, but it really doesn't matter. It was all too funny and felt all too real...
My next step is to check out the first four Adrian Mole novels... If they are anything like this, I'll be losing a couple more weekends to these pages.
If you liked this review and found it helpful, please click on the Amazon book link in the review and click the Yes (Was This Review Helpful To You?) button at the bottom of my review. Thanks!
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend was one of those library books that attracted me due to the quirky title and unusual cover. Having no background with Townsend's work or any other Mole novels, I really didn't know what to expect. What I found was an incredibly funny English novel that I was unable to put down until I was finished.
Adrian Mole is a 34 year old single guy living with his parents and working in a second-hand bookstore. He has a couple kids by different women, but the relationships didn't work out in the long run. In order to live the style of life he envisions for himself, he buys a flat on Rat Wharf and proceeds to spend himself into an incredible crushing load of debt using credit cards. His life starts to spiral downhill when he dates a mousey "organic" lady by the name of Marigold Flowers. Her parents are into "natural living" to the extreme, and he quickly figures out that this is not the family and lady he wants. But he has a hard time saying no, and pretty soon he's engaged to be married to a woman he doesn't love and that is apparently with child. To complicate issues further (as if they weren't already warped), he's madly in love with Marigold's sister, a fashionable public relations woman who is as wild as Marigold is sedate. He knows what he needs to do, and everyone else can see what he should be doing. But knowing and doing are separated by an ever-widening gap...
This story is told in diary fashion, with Mole writing in the first person. In many ways, it's like watching a reality TV show. Mole has a much more important view of himself than what really is the case, and it's a hoot watching the train wreck unfold. There are a number of current event themes running through the couple of years covered by the diary, mainly centered around the start of the Iraq war. I'm sure having a good grasp of British life would make a few of the things more clear to this American reader, but it really doesn't matter. It was all too funny and felt all too real...
My next step is to check out the first four Adrian Mole novels... If they are anything like this, I'll be losing a couple more weekends to these pages.
If you liked this review and found it helpful, please click on the Amazon book link in the review and click the Yes (Was This Review Helpful To You?) button at the bottom of my review. Thanks!
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Comments
Posted by Duffbert At 02:43:18 On 15/10/2006 | - Website - |
Posted by Duffbert At 10:40:04 On 15/10/2006 | - Website - |
Posted by Adeleida At 00:33:27 On 15/10/2006 | - Website - |
Posted by Carl At 10:03:55 On 15/10/2006 | - Website - |
Posted by Ben Poole At 00:15:38 On 15/10/2006 | - Website - |
His teenage books were a hoot - painting his room black (everywhere) and his fascination with the love of his life. He is 34 now? God, now I *do* feel old.
P.
Posted by Paul Mooney At 04:19:45 On 18/10/2006 | - Website - |