Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lost Diaries - excellent!, 22 Jan 2009
I think the cricitism here is far too harsh. Yes, it's a shame about the continuity errors, but this IS a work of fiction. What is evident is that Sue Townsend's social/political satire remains spot-on. There are many laugh-out-loud moments. It's not a masterpiece ('Adrian Mole and the Weapons Of Mass Destruction' may well be, however), but it's a worthy addition to the Mole story. As for repeated plotlines, surely that's part of the point: Mole's life seems doomed to repeat itself (i.e. often ending up caring for elderly people, often falling for inappropriate women, taking on bizarre short-lived jobs, and so on). This is where much of the comedy comes from.
My only real criticism is Sue Townsend's annoying trick of inserting herself into the story. This looks like she's trying to be 'clever' for its own sake but it really falls flat. It's pointless and only undermines the brilliant creation that is Adrian Mole. Otherwise, this book is well worth a few happy hours of your life. If you have enjoyed the previous volumes you will like this one, too.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Funny, though not the best, 3 Dec 2008
The Adrian Mole books are some of the funniest written, and are among the very few that can actually make me laugh out loud. 'The Lost Diaries' is set in between the 'Cappuchino Years' and 'the Weapons of Mass Destruction', Townsend's two most recent novels featuring the Midlands diarist. Adrian is a single father, living on a council estate with his two sons.
All of the familiar elements are there; the endless antics of his irresponsible parents, Adrian's doomed attempts to write fiction, and his unrequited love for Pandora. It's still funny, but not all that fresh and I missed the inventiveness of 'Weapons of Mass Destruction', which managed to find new angles and material as well as the typical Adrian-angst we know and love.
In fact, all of this book seemed to be going over old ground and had a feeling of recycling material from the other books. It still has its laugh out loud moments - Townsend is a great writer and always funny - but it is not in the same league as the past two Adrian Mole books. It's also shorter and the minor characters and subplots suffer for it - with old favourites like Nigel and Rosie getting barely more than a name check. Because it's shorter and less layered than the other novels, there isn't the element of pathos and genuine emotion that the others have.
As usual, Adrian combines the telling of the events of his own life with commentary on current affairs of the period (1999-2001 Britain) and so this will strike a chord with many who will remember these events. Thus it provides plenty of recent-past nostalgia, full of happenings which suddenly seem a surprisingly long time ago - the Millenium dome saga, the petrol crisis, the FMD outbreak.
My favourite character is Glenn, Adrian's long-suffering teenage son, and he provides some of the best comic moments. Most of the other characters don't really get enough page time to make an impact, even Pandora is reduced to a few cameos. Overall, the story comes across as rushed. Some threads seem to disappear without much explanation, others are skipped through in a few pages (for instance, the visit of Adrian's brother Brett, of which much more could be made). This lack of detail can make the story seem less plausible as there is less of the day-to-day ordinariness to balance the rather extraordinary events that Adrian inevitably finds himself caught up in.
All the same, criticism aside, it's still the funniest thing I've read all year and I'd recommend it to anyone who has read and enjoyed the other Adrian Mole books, but with the warning that it's not as good as some of the others.
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8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worst of a Very Good Bunch, 25 Nov 2008
I have to say, after reading this yesterday, that a) it is too short and b) it is full of recycled material, which dilutes my opinion of the book somewhat. This has the feeling of a contractual obligation-piece to it, and as has been mentioned above, the continuity errors are quite unbelievable at times. it's odd when a readership knows characters better then their creator!
having said all this, it still has laugh-out-loud moments aplenty and still contains the same anal, pedantic Adrian. Put aside the errors and you still have a very entertaining novel.
It may be the worst of the Mole books in my opinion, but it is still a Mole book. Enough said.
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