The final book of the three. Similar to Black Swan Green. Its about a lad growing up in Swansea. Parents having marital problems. Kid is unusually mature in his intellect and command of language. Coming of age story. Things end reasonably positively. I found it quite hard to sympathise with the main character. I think the incident with the seven year old and the warmer/colder game is a tricky one to get past. It seems to me that the hype and publicity around the book (and the trailers i've seen for the film that has been made) don't really give you a sense of what the book is really like. Nick Hornby this is not. Not a great deal of 'everyman' crossover potential. I struggled with the sociopath bits colliding with the humorous bits. Seems like its written by a cynical adult who is trying to write the lad as how he would have liked to have been himself, knowing what he now does rather than someone more naive. A quick page turner though, and that's got to mean it must have a lot going for it. So. 7 out of 10?
[How's this text justifying working for you Al? (and what did you make of the book?)]
How I love a bit of justification. *doffs cap*. I will post up a reply type thing tomorrow dear boy.
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