- Paperback: 480 pages
- Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (1 Sep 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0141015888
- ISBN-13: 978-0141015880
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 28,556 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Adrian Mole and The Weapons of Mass Destruction
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Trade in Adrian Mole and The Weapons of Mass Destruction for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
|
There is a newer edition of this item:
|
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Adrian Mole’s pen is scribbling for the twenty-first century. Working as a bookseller and living in Leicester’s Rat Wharf; finding time to write letters of advice to Tim Henman and Tony Blair; locked in mortal combat with a vicious swan called Gielgud; measuring his expanding bald spot; and trying to escape the clutches of Marigold and win over her voluptuous sister Daisy… Adrian still yearns for a better, more meaningful world. And he’s not ready to surrender his pen yet…
About the Author
Sue Townsend is on of Britain’s bestselling authors. Her hugely successful novels include five Adrian Mole books, The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (Aged 553/4) and Number Ten. She is also well known as a playwright. She lives in Leicester.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
51 of 51 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The latest episode in the Adrian Mole story has arrived, and it is amazing how Sue Townsend manages to keep the story fresh and hilariously funny. This is not a book to read on a train or other public venue and I for one found myself laughing aloud and giggling with amusement as the twists and turns of this diary unfold. Mole's potential for disaster and embarrassment continue unabated and the whole sage of his engagement to the awful Marigold plays out throughout the book.
Alongside Adrian's story we also catch up with his children and his parents, and of course the lovely Pandora, now a junior government Minister. These books are nothing if not topical and reading it is also a political history of the last two years, as Tony Blair stumbles deeper into the morass of Iraq, stretching the loyalty even of Adrian and ultimately Pandora. Other contemporary themes occuring in the book include the property improvement fad, credit card debt, the impact of ethnic cultures on the face of Britain and the animal rights movement.
There are some wonderful new characters in the book too - Adrian's employer, Marigold's sister, and of course the awful potential-father in-law Mr Flowers. While Sue Townsend of course encourages to laugh at Adrian's escapades, she also manages to make us sympathise with him and to identify with some of the problems he experiences. A wonderfully warm and human book, very easy to read, and well worth catching up with.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Honestly, I have probably never laughed so much reading a book. Isn't that a terrible cliche? But true. Sue Townsend seems to have a direct tap to my funny bone. I'm so glad she continued to write Adrian Mole - the early books get funnier each time I read them now that I know more about the history and politics of the early 80s, but it's such a treat to have her give the 2000s the Adrian Mole treatment. Credit card debt, doing up old wrecks in the hope of making a fortune, old factories turned into overhyped apartment developments, Iraq... and her usual social themes.
Sue Townsend is the only satirist I can think of who has such fondness for her characters and their pathetic little world. Adrian himself is a prime example - how, how does she make such an idiot so very sympathetic? - and his boss Mr. Carlton-Hayes is nothing less than adorable - but when she wants to stick the knife in to a character, she really can; witness one Michael Flowers. Flowers is a sort of satire of the typically pompous fifty/sixty-something man devoid of all self-awareness, her in the guise of a New Age madrigal-singing despot. His daughter Marigold Flowers, too, is hilariously awful, once she's sucked Adrian in with her fragile wrists. Anyone who finds it hard to say 'no' will laugh with total recognition of how it is being dragged around by somebody they have nothing but ridicule for yet find strangley intimidating. I love the lines Pauline Mole puts into her son's mouth: "Ever since I was a little boy, I have preferred to live in the world of fiction. I have found the real world to be a harsh place. I avoid confrontation and am easily manipulated by people who have a strong sense of themselves". I love Pauline Mole, full stop, and she's on form in this book! The hapless, loyal Glenn and poor old Sharon are also as likeable and hilarious as ever - in the hands of another writer, Sharon would be all that is wrong with England and 'chav culture', whereas in Townsend's sympathetic hands, she springs off the page as a sort of ill-educated, well-meaning victim of circumstance as well as a very amusingly observed Miss Piggy type.
Also hilarious are the Leicestershire and Rutland Creative Writing Group scenes - Ken Blunt's hideously vulgar anti-Americana and Gladys' cat poems. I love when Sue Townsend puts poetry in her character's hands - I remember Barry Kent's privet hedge poem well!
My only criticism is that unlike any of the previous books, a serious happy ending and new start is given to Adrian, as Townsend rounds off the saga. No more yearning for Pandora. The Iraq part also gets more serious and ranty, which disturbs the comic tone; I'm not heartless, but I didn't think it fit with the tone of the rest of the book. I guess Adrian is finally allowed to grow up, and it's not in the reader's interest for him to do so.
Still, I feel silly even criticising Sue Townsend because I consider her an absolute master and satirical genius at what she does, and seemingly a very nice person too who writes with such heart. I firmly believe that if more people read Adrian Mole, the world would be a much better place!
Sue Townsend is the only satirist I can think of who has such fondness for her characters and their pathetic little world. Adrian himself is a prime example - how, how does she make such an idiot so very sympathetic? - and his boss Mr. Carlton-Hayes is nothing less than adorable - but when she wants to stick the knife in to a character, she really can; witness one Michael Flowers. Flowers is a sort of satire of the typically pompous fifty/sixty-something man devoid of all self-awareness, her in the guise of a New Age madrigal-singing despot. His daughter Marigold Flowers, too, is hilariously awful, once she's sucked Adrian in with her fragile wrists. Anyone who finds it hard to say 'no' will laugh with total recognition of how it is being dragged around by somebody they have nothing but ridicule for yet find strangley intimidating. I love the lines Pauline Mole puts into her son's mouth: "Ever since I was a little boy, I have preferred to live in the world of fiction. I have found the real world to be a harsh place. I avoid confrontation and am easily manipulated by people who have a strong sense of themselves". I love Pauline Mole, full stop, and she's on form in this book! The hapless, loyal Glenn and poor old Sharon are also as likeable and hilarious as ever - in the hands of another writer, Sharon would be all that is wrong with England and 'chav culture', whereas in Townsend's sympathetic hands, she springs off the page as a sort of ill-educated, well-meaning victim of circumstance as well as a very amusingly observed Miss Piggy type.
Also hilarious are the Leicestershire and Rutland Creative Writing Group scenes - Ken Blunt's hideously vulgar anti-Americana and Gladys' cat poems. I love when Sue Townsend puts poetry in her character's hands - I remember Barry Kent's privet hedge poem well!
My only criticism is that unlike any of the previous books, a serious happy ending and new start is given to Adrian, as Townsend rounds off the saga. No more yearning for Pandora. The Iraq part also gets more serious and ranty, which disturbs the comic tone; I'm not heartless, but I didn't think it fit with the tone of the rest of the book. I guess Adrian is finally allowed to grow up, and it's not in the reader's interest for him to do so.
Still, I feel silly even criticising Sue Townsend because I consider her an absolute master and satirical genius at what she does, and seemingly a very nice person too who writes with such heart. I firmly believe that if more people read Adrian Mole, the world would be a much better place!
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book while on holiday and I couldn't put it down. One of the funniest books I have read in a long while. A truly enjoyable read and very well written. It was funny, moving and poignant.
If you want a book that will make the train/tube/bus journey that little bit more bearable when travelling to and from work, this is the book to read.
If you want a book that will make the train/tube/bus journey that little bit more bearable when travelling to and from work, this is the book to read.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Still the same Adrian
A welcome revisit to Adrian Mole - now in his thirties but still reaping the results of his lack of assertiveness and naivety. Read more
Published 4 days ago by JoTownhead
More Mole hills to climb
The fourth of Adrian Mole's diaries sees Leicestershire's most unfortunate son in his thirties and contemplating life with the same misplaced optimism as followers of these books... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Scaroth, Last of the Jagaroth
Good Fun if You like Adrian Mole
To be honest you would have a job to pick this up and enjoy it if you had not read the whole set of books. Read more
Published 17 months ago by lazycows
Diary of a Somebody
Adrian Mole was the Harry Potter of the Eighties...a publishing phenomenen, written for children but read by everyone, entering the national consciousness, engendering a successful... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Rotgut
The Book of Mass Enjoyment
Adrian Mole is a serial loser in the game of life. His diaries are a catalogue of his sexual frustrations, feelings of infinite loneliness and despair that his life will remain... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Eladjouf
One to read again and again
Having read all but one of Adrian Mole's diaries, I can confidently say that this is by far the best.
It is very funny and, in parts, moving. Read more
It is very funny and, in parts, moving. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Missy
There should be a public warning not to read this book on a bus!
Buy this book. The best and most hilarious installment in Townsend's saga. She surely has an ability to tune directly into your laughter ducts ( I don't know if "duct" is an... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Alison Todd
A worthy addition to the Adrian Mole series.
A very funny book that highlighted current life styles and news stories. A worthy addition to the series by Sue Townsend.
Published on 6 Mar 2010 by Shigura
Almost as good as the early books...
I was expecting this to be disappointing. i don't know why, so i was relieved and happy to find that the same old lovable loser i remembered from the first few books. Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2010 by Lozza
Good, but not as good as the earlier books
**SOME LITTLE SPOILERS**
As a fan of Adrian Mole - in fact I began reading the very first book in 1996 when I was 13 myself - I was eager to read this latest instalment... Read more
As a fan of Adrian Mole - in fact I began reading the very first book in 1996 when I was 13 myself - I was eager to read this latest instalment... Read more
Published on 4 Aug 2009 by DD11
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
