Books we like ... and books we're not too fussed about
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Joe Dunthorne
Penguin 2008
By chance this came along just after Jampot Smith, and it’s a nice contrast to it. Joe Dunthorne’s account of growing up in Swansea in the 1990s shows how the world has changed since the Llandudno of the 1940s. Then it was all weak cider, party games, and holding hands. Now it’s sex and drugs – but disappointingly no rock”n”roll. That said, Oliver, the hero, still has a lot in common with old Jampot: he’s a bit mixed up, his parents are apparently going through a bad patch, he has the usual difficulties with girls.
When I started I feared it was going to be another Apples - a warts and all account of depressing teenage low life – but actually it’s much better than that. It’s touching and funny and there are some great descriptions of the Gower. Despite some self-referential nods to Adrian Mole, this is an original and well-written novel which, bit of the now obligatory modern wackiness notwithstanding, is well worth a look. It’s easy to forget that its author is just 26.
22nd February 2009
http://www.joedunthorne.com/
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