I recently revisited Adrian Mole...
A few days ago I realised that during a couple of house moves and clear outs I had lost most of my Adrian Mole books. This was a tragedy. So, I popped on eBay and Amazon and bought all the ones I needed.
The other day, this package arrived.
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| Adrian Mole Books |
Needless to say, I have not moved much from the sofa since the books arrived, except to occasionally feed myself and perform necessary bodily functions. I've dedicated as much time as I can to reading them.
Having said that, I did have to take occasional breaks from Adrian. He'd become too clueless, too apathetic or sanctimonious and I'd have to leave him alone for a bit as I felt myself getting increasingly frustrated with him. But that's the beauty of Sue Townsend's creation; a lot of the time you want to slap him, yet even when he becomes unbearable, you still route for him.
I've got to say, I much prefer the younger diaries of Adrian Mole to the later ones. I feel more warmth towards him at thirteen and three quarters; his over-inflated sense of self, coupled with his inbuilt apathy, sits better on a teenager than it does on a thirty year old. I found myself wanting to tell him to grow up and pull himself together, but then if he did that there would be nothing to read.
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| The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 |
The first Adrian Mole book is really perfect, Sue Townsend captures teenage awkwardness and family dynamics so well. Plus, it's Mole's naivety that drives the book; the reader knows what's happening with his mum and the next-door neighbour, even if he doesn't.
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| Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years |
The last book, The Prostrate Years, left so many questions unanswered; will Adrian beat his illness, will he ever get together with Pandora, where the hell is his son William? Will there be another book? Sue Townsend is now blind. She used to write with a large marker pen but now she can't see a thing. So it's unlikely that we'll hear any more of Adrian. And maybe that's the best way.
If you've never read Adrian Mole, go and do it now. If you have, then revisit him, he hasn't changed.
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