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Available
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Series
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Collection
Publication
Michael Joseph Ltd (2004), 480 pages
Description
He's back. Mole, now an angst-ridden 38, is still coping with life in middle-England as a single parent to Glen and William, and battling his own particular weapon of mass destruction. Marigold and I quarrelled last night as to which of us has the most monstrous mother and only stopped when Marigold screamed, "You couldn't find my clitoris if you were led there by Sir Ranulph Fiennes." After she'd slammed out I consulted 'The Joy of Sex' and discovered that I'd probably been playing too much attention to relevantly unimportant bits of her genitalia whilst ignoring the clitoris, yet it had been staring me in the face for the last eighteen months. Glenn rang at 2 am from somewhere in Iraq to say that his standard issue army boots had melted in the desert heat and could I get Parcel Force to rush him some size ten Timberlands.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member jennyo
Adrian's 34 years old now, but still just as big a git as he was at 13 and 3/4. And still writing his diaries. And still absolutely hilarious. And I bet if I were British (especially from the Midlands), it'd be even funnier.
I don't know how to describe Adrian to you. You just have to experience
He said, 'Flowers used to be the vice-chairman of the Literary and Philosophical Society here in town. We had a vehement disagreement about Tolkien. I said that the opening paragraphs of The Fellowship of the Ring were enough to make a strong man retch. I'm afraid we came to blows in the car park of the Central Lending Library.'
I said, 'I hope you came off best.'
He said almost dreamily, 'I rather think I did.'
. . .
When he had gone in the back I took a copy of The Fellowship of the Ring and read the opening paragraphs. I couldn't see what the fuss had been about. It certainly wasn't worth coming to blows over, though perhaps 'eleventy' was an invented word too far.
If you haven't read these books, start with The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 and read them in order. I think you'll get a kick out of them.
I don't know how to describe Adrian to you. You just have to experience
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him. I will post this section of October 18th's entry because it cracked me up:He said, 'Flowers used to be the vice-chairman of the Literary and Philosophical Society here in town. We had a vehement disagreement about Tolkien. I said that the opening paragraphs of The Fellowship of the Ring were enough to make a strong man retch. I'm afraid we came to blows in the car park of the Central Lending Library.'
I said, 'I hope you came off best.'
He said almost dreamily, 'I rather think I did.'
. . .
When he had gone in the back I took a copy of The Fellowship of the Ring and read the opening paragraphs. I couldn't see what the fuss had been about. It certainly wasn't worth coming to blows over, though perhaps 'eleventy' was an invented word too far.
If you haven't read these books, start with The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 and read them in order. I think you'll get a kick out of them.
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LibraryThing member name99
Adrian Mole is as much a twit (and as funny) as ever.
But Sue Townsend either feels sorry for him or wants to put the series to bed. Unlike all the previous books, this one has almost a happy ending. After so much self-delusion, stupidity, and cocking up his life, our Mr Mole finally acquires, if
But Sue Townsend either feels sorry for him or wants to put the series to bed. Unlike all the previous books, this one has almost a happy ending. After so much self-delusion, stupidity, and cocking up his life, our Mr Mole finally acquires, if
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not wisdom, at least a very small measure of maturity. Show Less
LibraryThing member nessreendiana
All throughout the book, I was nagged by the thought that the writer was female, and that maybe she tried a little too hard to be masculine. I didn't like the cheap shots at sexism, like when she mentioned how Adrian wondered why women have so many shoes. Cliche, etc. But it was generally funny.
LibraryThing member EmScape
A fitting wrap-up of the life of Adrian Mole, British Diarist. One could almost believe he may become happy at some time in the future. The problems plaguing Mr. Mole in this volume are slightly more age-appropriate and believable. The book is heavier than previous editions, owing to the fact that
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Adrian's son, Glenn is in the British armed forces, stationed in Iraq. This is a true weight on Adrian, one that was not caused by his own bumbling ineffectualness, but that of someone much more culpable. To pit her anti-hero against those who began an ill-fated war is brilliance on the part of Ms. Townsend. Show Less
LibraryThing member estellen
Another funny glimpse at Adrian Mole's disastrous life. I enjoyed it - even though it took me a while to appreciate it.
LibraryThing member cerievans1
A quick read, laugh out loud at points, even poignant at times...... not a profound read obviously ... just ok I suppose
LibraryThing member kanata
Not as fun as the earlier novels featuring Adrian Mole but still a good read. There were lots of references that I didn't get completely as they seemed to be more British culturally based but I can say the same for the previous books by [author: Sue Townsend]. These books always make me smile and
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this one fulfilled that need. The ending left me a tad sad and wistful. An interesting weaving in of Iraq wars thread as well. Show Less
LibraryThing member isabelx
An elderly woman wearing a rabbit's paw brooch came in and complained that I had sold her Trainspotting by Irving Welsh as a Christmas present for her 76-year-old railway enthusiast husband.
She said, 'It's nothing but filth and Scottish words. My husband had to double his blood pressure tablets
I swapped it for Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.
Much more enjoyable than the last couple of Adrian Mole books. Adrian is now 34, working in a bookshop and no longer encumbered by children as Glen has joined the army and William is living in Nigeria with his mother. As usual his life is full of worries, starting with the fact that Glen has joined the army just as the second Gulf War is approaching. He gets entangled with the dreadful Flowers family, going out with badly-dressed, dollshouse-building Marigold while lusting after her sultry sister Daisy, and buying a loft apartment in Leicester's Rat quay doesn't go well either, as he is troubled by noise-sensitive neighbours, menacing swans, a rat infestation, and spiralling debts.
The funniest bits were when Adrian turned to his father for help in compiling a list of all the varieties of Mr Kipling's cakes, the letters Adrian writes to celebrities asking to interview them for the book he is writing, and a running gag about swans. But what am I saying? It's all funny (except the serious parts) and it even has a happy ending!
She said, 'It's nothing but filth and Scottish words. My husband had to double his blood pressure tablets
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after reading it.'I swapped it for Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.
Much more enjoyable than the last couple of Adrian Mole books. Adrian is now 34, working in a bookshop and no longer encumbered by children as Glen has joined the army and William is living in Nigeria with his mother. As usual his life is full of worries, starting with the fact that Glen has joined the army just as the second Gulf War is approaching. He gets entangled with the dreadful Flowers family, going out with badly-dressed, dollshouse-building Marigold while lusting after her sultry sister Daisy, and buying a loft apartment in Leicester's Rat quay doesn't go well either, as he is troubled by noise-sensitive neighbours, menacing swans, a rat infestation, and spiralling debts.
The funniest bits were when Adrian turned to his father for help in compiling a list of all the varieties of Mr Kipling's cakes, the letters Adrian writes to celebrities asking to interview them for the book he is writing, and a running gag about swans. But what am I saying? It's all funny (except the serious parts) and it even has a happy ending!
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LibraryThing member chicjohn
Fun with social and political bite
LibraryThing member everfresh1
I heard sad news of Sue Townsend passing and realized that I haven't read two last books of Adrian Mole series that I love. I think this one (the one before last) is great. It's changed from earlier novels - it's more dark but the same British humor is still there. It's both sad and funny, which
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how great books always are. Show Less
LibraryThing member bibleblaster
A beautiful addition to the series. I find I'm relating more strongly to Adrian as he grows older I(imagine that!). Not ashamed to say that I teared up at the end of this one. Long live Adrian Mole!
LibraryThing member IonaS
This is yet another laugh-out-loud Adrian Mole diary. This time he begins the diary at the age of 34, but he is still the same earnest, pedantic, letter-writing Adrian.
He has moved away from his flaky parents’ home into a pricey loft apartment on Rat Wharf, not realizing that there’s a reason
Adrian is a great admirer of Tony Blair and a staunch believer in the existence of Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction, and is thus a supporter of Britain going to war.
He is a would-be published writer but hasn’t as yet achieved any success in that field; he is working on a book to be entitled “Celebrity and madness” but neither has he yet persuaded any celebrity to allow him to interview him or her on that subject, not surprisingly, considering the title.
Adrian is the arranger of a creative writing group that meets regularly though he does not wholly appreciate the literary efforts of the others. One of the members is the elderly Gladys, who keeps writing soppy poems about cats, such as:
“Poor Blackie’s up in Heaven,
God took her life away,
He said, you’ll go to Devon,
And have a holiday.”
Unfortunately, he has little success in persuading celebrities to visit the group and give a talk; as far as I recall, Cherie Blair doesn't even deign to reply to his letter. Thus, the group rapidly dwindles to only two.
Adrian has two sons, Glenn, 17, who is in basic training in the army, and in danger of being sent off to war in Iraq, and a younger son, William, who now lives with his mother in Nigeria.
Glenn writes frequent letters to Adrian, but unlike his verbally proficient father, Glenn is rather lacking in basic grammar and spelling skills.
Adrian is still madly in love with his childhood sweetheart, Pandora, who is now a junior minister and a household name. He somehow becomes involved with a woman called Marigold and then with her sister, Daisy, even though Marigold is insisting that he marry her. There are numerous complications.
He furnishes his loft apartment with stylish new furniture not to mention curtains for his glass lavatory, whose see-through walls are extremely irritating for the prudish Adrian; but he does so through the kind services of MasterCard and Barclaycard who insist on forcing him to accept thousands of pounds in credit and sending him blank cheques; this, of course, leads to poor Adrian getting into a pretty pickle as far as his finances are concerned.
It now only remains to mention the aggressive swans that inhabit the canal adjacent to Adrian’s abode. The leader of the pack, Gielgud, is “particularly vicious” and takes an instant dislike to Adrian. The town council member to whom Adrian complains fails to understand the problem; they won’t help him get rid of the swans but will grant him help with conflict resolution work with his supposed neighbour, Mr. Swan, whom they understand to be the source of the problem.
There are many more complications and convolutions in Adrian’s story, including the problems of his parents who can’t find out which romantic partners they wish to have, and those of his gay, blind friend, Nigel.
The book is brilliantly written and uproarious and reminds us of what was going on in Britain and the world in 2002 and 2003. The main theme concerns, of course, Adrian’s obsession with the weapons of mass destruction and the war in Iraq.
He has moved away from his flaky parents’ home into a pricey loft apartment on Rat Wharf, not realizing that there’s a reason
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for the “rat” appellation. It could also have been called “Aggressive Swan Wharf” for that matter, but we’ll get back to that later.Adrian is a great admirer of Tony Blair and a staunch believer in the existence of Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction, and is thus a supporter of Britain going to war.
He is a would-be published writer but hasn’t as yet achieved any success in that field; he is working on a book to be entitled “Celebrity and madness” but neither has he yet persuaded any celebrity to allow him to interview him or her on that subject, not surprisingly, considering the title.
Adrian is the arranger of a creative writing group that meets regularly though he does not wholly appreciate the literary efforts of the others. One of the members is the elderly Gladys, who keeps writing soppy poems about cats, such as:
“Poor Blackie’s up in Heaven,
God took her life away,
He said, you’ll go to Devon,
And have a holiday.”
Unfortunately, he has little success in persuading celebrities to visit the group and give a talk; as far as I recall, Cherie Blair doesn't even deign to reply to his letter. Thus, the group rapidly dwindles to only two.
Adrian has two sons, Glenn, 17, who is in basic training in the army, and in danger of being sent off to war in Iraq, and a younger son, William, who now lives with his mother in Nigeria.
Glenn writes frequent letters to Adrian, but unlike his verbally proficient father, Glenn is rather lacking in basic grammar and spelling skills.
Adrian is still madly in love with his childhood sweetheart, Pandora, who is now a junior minister and a household name. He somehow becomes involved with a woman called Marigold and then with her sister, Daisy, even though Marigold is insisting that he marry her. There are numerous complications.
He furnishes his loft apartment with stylish new furniture not to mention curtains for his glass lavatory, whose see-through walls are extremely irritating for the prudish Adrian; but he does so through the kind services of MasterCard and Barclaycard who insist on forcing him to accept thousands of pounds in credit and sending him blank cheques; this, of course, leads to poor Adrian getting into a pretty pickle as far as his finances are concerned.
It now only remains to mention the aggressive swans that inhabit the canal adjacent to Adrian’s abode. The leader of the pack, Gielgud, is “particularly vicious” and takes an instant dislike to Adrian. The town council member to whom Adrian complains fails to understand the problem; they won’t help him get rid of the swans but will grant him help with conflict resolution work with his supposed neighbour, Mr. Swan, whom they understand to be the source of the problem.
There are many more complications and convolutions in Adrian’s story, including the problems of his parents who can’t find out which romantic partners they wish to have, and those of his gay, blind friend, Nigel.
The book is brilliantly written and uproarious and reminds us of what was going on in Britain and the world in 2002 and 2003. The main theme concerns, of course, Adrian’s obsession with the weapons of mass destruction and the war in Iraq.
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LibraryThing member elahrairah
This might be the bleakest of the Adrian Mole novels, and possibly the best. Adrian is his usual loathsome cowardly self, but the effects of this are saddening rather than maddening. His emotional neglect of his children is heartbreaking; forgetting William's birthday and telling squaddie Glenn
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that he should trust Tony Blair are two of Adrian's low points - the latter leading Glenn to Iraq and trauma. The Marigold storyline is pretty grim too - and I am not certain whether or not having Adrian palm her off to his friend represents Adrian's misogyny or society's misogyny, or perhaps was just the easiest way to get her out the way and get Adrian to her wedding to ruin it. What Daisy sees in him I couldn't say... But by the end of it we know he hasn't changed, yes he no longer believes Tony Blair is a decent and honourable man, but that's the end of it... unlike most of the earlier novels the ending suggests personal development, but here its just a happy ending for him and that's it, and that itself if pretty bleak... Show Less
LibraryThing member dowsabella
If you want to make a total shambles of your life, read this wonderful book. It's hard to imagine how Adrian could have done worse than he did - and all with such good, sound reasons!
LibraryThing member thorold
The framework for this book is Adrian's futile campaign to get his deposit back for a holiday on Cyprus that he has cancelled due to the threat to the island from Saddam's famous weapons. The travel agent refuses to believe that there are any such weapons, and Adrian's letters to Tony Blair asking
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for evidence he can use in his case remain unanswered. Meanwhile, Adrian becomes a victim of the consumer credit boom, buying things he can't afford on his salary as an assistant in a secondhand bookshop: not least his studio flat in the prestigious Rat Wharf development, where he is terrorised by a swan that looks like Sir John Gielgud. And Glenn is sent off to "somewhere sandy" by the army. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2004
Physical description
480 p.; 5.83 inches
ISBN
0718146891 / 9780718146894