- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Serpent's Tail (19 Jun 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1852429941
- ISBN-13: 978-1852429942
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 670,007 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
"'A tender portrait of a feisty little girl lost... honest and intelligent... funny and poignant' Observer 'This is one of those rare novels that manages to be sparkling and funny as well as intelligently thoughtful. A young woman coming of age is trying to expand her mind and live inside her body both at once: her difficulties are imagined with comedy and delicate sympathetic insight' Tessa Hadley 'Intelligently written and engaging, A Girl's Guide to Modern European Philosophy brilliantly evokes 1970s university culture, with descriptions of Brighton so vivid that you can almost taste her every sea-air-laden breath' Scarlet 'A funny, provocative coming of age novel' Sainsbury's Magazine 'This is a solid, enjoyable debut... memorable and engaging' New Statesman"
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`[A] charming, funny book'
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
I WOKE UP LATE THAT MORNING. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
I WOKE UP LATE THAT MORNING. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Susannah Jones, our heroine, is about as egocentric as you can get. Sure, she is a keen observer of her fellow students at Sussex University, but her first person narrative demonstrates that she is even more interested in herself. And that, perhaps, is how it should be if you are an attractive twenty-year-old, with a well-heeled boyfriend, as well as a fast developing relationship with fellow student. Susannah's frankness with the reader about some of the details of her affair contrasts with her efforts to keep her lovers in the dark about each other!
The first person approach has its charm and the author provides lively and amusing narrative. We have to take Susie as we find her, and to see the world from her own perspective. I would guess that if she were a real person many men would find her very attractive but perhaps not the most comfortable of potential partners.
As her life becomes more complicated and the choices she faces become more problematical Nietzsche is followed by Heidegger and then Kierkegaard in her studies and as philosophical guides. But do not worry! You don't need a degree in philosophy to follow the trajectory of the text.
If you are looking for similar novelists Elaine Dundy and Jean Rhys spring to mind. Charlotte Greig is clearly talented and possibly this novel may have a greater relevance and appeal to young women than to men of my age. I suspect that this novel aims higher than much popular fiction, but to be fair I have little to go by as I do not read a great deal of that genre!
And despite the emotional problems that the heroine confronts she retains her amusing style and maintains the readers involvement to the end.
The first person approach has its charm and the author provides lively and amusing narrative. We have to take Susie as we find her, and to see the world from her own perspective. I would guess that if she were a real person many men would find her very attractive but perhaps not the most comfortable of potential partners.
As her life becomes more complicated and the choices she faces become more problematical Nietzsche is followed by Heidegger and then Kierkegaard in her studies and as philosophical guides. But do not worry! You don't need a degree in philosophy to follow the trajectory of the text.
If you are looking for similar novelists Elaine Dundy and Jean Rhys spring to mind. Charlotte Greig is clearly talented and possibly this novel may have a greater relevance and appeal to young women than to men of my age. I suspect that this novel aims higher than much popular fiction, but to be fair I have little to go by as I do not read a great deal of that genre!
And despite the emotional problems that the heroine confronts she retains her amusing style and maintains the readers involvement to the end.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A bit slow to start and but eventually totally fantatic and thought provoking. I kept on considering the scenarios thrown up in the book and relating them to real life for a while after I had finished it. In fact, it was marvelous and I learnt a bit about European philosophers too.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A light-hearted and funny book, even if the subject matter could be heavy: young philosophy student Susanna has an older antique dealing boyfriend and sleeps with a hippie on her course. She gets pregnant and doesn't know who the father is. The first half of the book deals with what guy she should go for. The second half of the book deals with whether to have an abortion or not. Susanna is using the philosophers Nietzsche, Heidegger and Kierkegaard to help her make a decision.
It was an enjoyable read, but it probably won't stay in my mind. I was hoping for a deeper philosophical analysis. The minor characters like Susanna's friends could've been developed more. The same goes to say for the setting: Brighton in the 70's - I could've done with some more description.
It was an enjoyable read, but it probably won't stay in my mind. I was hoping for a deeper philosophical analysis. The minor characters like Susanna's friends could've been developed more. The same goes to say for the setting: Brighton in the 70's - I could've done with some more description.
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