A Roller-Coaster Through the Seventies

This novel is a must and will give listeners and readers great satisfaction and much pleasure. Coe sets his novel in the Birmingham of the 1970s. He captures the historical times, its social, cultural and political tapestry, and the mixed group of teenagers trying to make sense of themselves in the midst of it all nestled in their school for the elite. This has its limitations. Whilst Coe details social diversity in the world of work, it is largely absent in education save for there being one black student at his school and one the son of a trade union official. Those students from state schools less advantaged do not appear, even though using the same buses and bus stops that he refers to many times. Coe’s school world is, therefore, partial. Odd when it would have been exactly those who would have seen their parents’ working lives frequently disrupted by strikes and the family income hit. It is a point to be made, not to slate the book. That said, Coe writes with freedom, mixing his narrative styles. He surprises and delights, as well as managing a wonderful sensitivity relating to a terrorist outrage, yet pulling no punches. There are many, many laughs, things to wince at and to applaud. Do not feel that you have to know Birmingham or the details of what the ‘seventies’ were like; he gives you all you need to know without losing sight of his characters and their growth. You will find your reactions to the characters flexing through the novel, which for me makes for greater interest. You simply do not want to leave these characters. The book-ending sections (front and back) are more than intriguing and heralds rewards in the sequel – ‘The Closed Circle’. This is already listened to with the third novel in the run -‘Middle England’ - waiting to be listened to. As someone who grew up and worked in the exact areas in which the book is set, it all reads true (painfully at times) – from filing documents by the light of hurricane lamps in a bank in 1973 during the power cuts, to walking a girl home at night, under the gaze of one of the characters in this book keeping watch from a darkened front-room! This audio-book is convincingly performed and extremely well read. Listen to it and you will be committed to the wonderful trilogy.

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Funny and dark at the same time

I read this book many years ago and absolutely loved it.
Listening to it again it’s still a gem of wit.
One his best books in my opinion

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Brilliant!!

Transported me back to the 70s and the growing pains of teen-hood. Coe is a master of social commentary and his characters simply leap out of the page. Simply brilliant.

Can’t wait to read book2 and continue the journey.

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Brilliantly written, brilliantly narrated.

Can definitely recommend, thoughtfully structured and written. Funny, interesting, and animated characters. It’s a nice story, one you can look forward to and enjoy being involved in, and it describes a familiar and personal world.

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Superb from start to finish

A brilliant set of tales from people growing up in the 1970s. Full of emotion, humour and tragedy, this is a book that will live with you for years.

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1 person found this helpful

A funny-sad novel about growing up in 70s Birmingham

The characters are fully drawn and the change of narrative viewpoint is refreshing
There are so many resonances with the 70s and how different things were then
Just before punk and Thatcher
Music references that would quickly seem prehistoric. Other political and personal perspectives more contemporary

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A good romp, but...

I enjoyed this book overall, there were some terrific laugh out loud moments, plus some poignant ones. I think it was too long and some chapters just seemed to ramble uncontrollably and tediously (I realise this was part of the characterisation in some instances!) but it needed some severe editing. Enjoyable though and I will try some further Jonathan Coe novels.

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Superb! I don’t mind leaving a review..

Superb in every way. I love Jonathan Cow’s writing and this is my favourite. The reader was perfect so highly recommended

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Well observed

A well observed and poignant reflection on the seventies from the viewpoint of several young protagonists.

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brilliant book

superb characterisation and beautifully drawn plot that cleverly whisks you back to the 1970s in all that decade's excitement, squalor and hubris. a book that made me laugh out loud at some points and come close to tears at others.

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