Hello. I'm Oliver Tate, the protagonist. I am likely to use words like protagonist and, moments later, words like twonk. My ambitions are as follows: 1) To find out why my father sometimes stays in bed for days at a time 2) To find out why my mother's getting surfing lessons – and probably more – from a hippy-looking twonk 3) To lose my virginity before it becomes legal – in just over a year I am monitoring my parent's intimacy via the dimmer switch in their bedroom. My parents have not had sex in two months which, my research suggests, points toward impending marital breakdown. There are other, lesser characters in the book: Jordana, who is my love interest, despite her eczema. Zoe, whose only real schoolfriend is a dinner lady. I feel sorry for Zoe which, in turn, makes me feel better about my own life. Then there's my friend Chips, an outstanding bully. He made our Religious Education teacher cry. This book might not change my life. But there is no telling how you will react.
Submarine
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"[Submarine] has a poignant undertow, along with [a] wealth of excruciatingly funny incidents and cracking gags...a richly amusing tale of mock GCSEs, sex, death and challenging vocabulary" -- Time Out
"Joe Dunthorne's cheerfully peculiar 15-year old narrator is a worthy successor to Adrian Mole...Funny, in a deadpan way. This feels like an authentic portrait of someone floundering around in an attempt to discover his own identity as he grows up" -- The Guardian
"Oliver's anxieties are so well observed as to make you wince...Dunthorne commands wordplay like a mature poet and imagines foreplay like a teenage boy" -- Financial Times
"This first novel by a young Welsh poet is the sharpest, funniest, rudest account of a periodically troubled teenager's coming-of-age since The Catcher in the Rye... This brilliant novel is laugh-out-loud enjoyable" -- The Independent
"This is a brilliant first novel, by a young man of ferocious comic talent -- Oliver is the finest teenage narrator since Adrian Mole"
-- The Times
"Joe Dunthorne's cheerfully peculiar 15-year old narrator is a worthy successor to Adrian Mole...Funny, in a deadpan way. This feels like an authentic portrait of someone floundering around in an attempt to discover his own identity as he grows up" -- The Guardian
"Oliver's anxieties are so well observed as to make you wince...Dunthorne commands wordplay like a mature poet and imagines foreplay like a teenage boy" -- Financial Times
"This first novel by a young Welsh poet is the sharpest, funniest, rudest account of a periodically troubled teenager's coming-of-age since The Catcher in the Rye... This brilliant novel is laugh-out-loud enjoyable" -- The Independent
"This is a brilliant first novel, by a young man of ferocious comic talent -- Oliver is the finest teenage narrator since Adrian Mole"
-- The Times
Review
'Brilliant...The sharpest, funniest, rudest account of a periodically troubled teenager's coming-of-age since The Catcher in the Rye'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
It is Sunday morning. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
It is Sunday morning. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By O. Mansell
Format:Paperback
It may have been because I was reading this alongside the headspinning, quantum theory-heavy "The End Of Mr Y' by Scarlett Thomas, that I found this a bit of a slight, frothy, inconsequential read at first. On reflection, however, there are many brilliantly observed set-pieces that capture the excruciating nature of adolescence and the literal, one-track pubescent mind of its precocious narrator, Oliver, perfectly. It is set in 1997-8, possibly no accident, as this arguably represents the point at which the Internet went truly mass-market: there followed a generation for whom sexuality suddenly became "learnt" via the readily available, highly fantastical imagery of online porn. While this has arguably made today's youth less repressed than their predecessors, Joe Dunthorne rightly poses the pertinent question of at what cost this has taken place. Oliver is erudite, witty, and verbose - and for those who are bothered by verisimilitude, like in the film "Juno", it is sometimes hard to reconcile such a sharp narration with our own memories of what we and our peers were like as 15-year-olds. For those happy to wallow in the fiction, however, there are moments of anti-heroism so startling that Oliver seems to be tipping into autistic territory, a la "The Curious Incident Of The Dog At Night-time". Dunthorne's poetic background - and the inevitable metaphor and simile-heavy effects it has on its writing - started to grate a little towards the end. That said, this is an engaging, mostly well-paced story with hidden depths. One suspects - or hopes - that Dunthorne's best work is yet to come however.
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Finally! A book that can stand shoulder to shoulder with Martin Amis's the Rachel Papers (which, if you loved Submarine, you must also read). Joe Dunthorne, who is, I understand, also a well regarded poet, has created, in Oliver Tate, a compelling and loveable hero; if you have teenaged boys in your life you will wince, cry and applaud - often all at the same time - and if you've recently been one I suspect you might offer up thanks that you no longer are.
This is a book with a clear sense of purpose; to document - unflinchingly (again, Amis springs to mind here) every detail of the business of being a teenager; the emotional, the physical, the metaphysical, the sexual. All set against a backdrop of a lovingly described Gower, peopled with characters who also resonate with truth, and situations (first love, sexual exploration, the anxiety of seeing cracks form in the security of his parents' marriage) that have universal relevance. I can't believe Dunthorne's parents (who MUST have been partly distilled to form Oliver's - if he denys it, I won't believe him) aren't still cringing, rictus grins in place, at the acuity with which their middle-aged peccadillos have been observed.
Don't, however, just expect humour (though there is much). This is a book with a dark side, and plenty of poignant and upsetting moments; darker, definitely, than Adrian Mole. A different animal altogether, to my mind.
It's also written in prose that manages to be that rare thing; beuatifully poetic without ever feeling pompous or overworked.
I can't wait to see what Joe Dunthorne does next.
This is a book with a clear sense of purpose; to document - unflinchingly (again, Amis springs to mind here) every detail of the business of being a teenager; the emotional, the physical, the metaphysical, the sexual. All set against a backdrop of a lovingly described Gower, peopled with characters who also resonate with truth, and situations (first love, sexual exploration, the anxiety of seeing cracks form in the security of his parents' marriage) that have universal relevance. I can't believe Dunthorne's parents (who MUST have been partly distilled to form Oliver's - if he denys it, I won't believe him) aren't still cringing, rictus grins in place, at the acuity with which their middle-aged peccadillos have been observed.
Don't, however, just expect humour (though there is much). This is a book with a dark side, and plenty of poignant and upsetting moments; darker, definitely, than Adrian Mole. A different animal altogether, to my mind.
It's also written in prose that manages to be that rare thing; beuatifully poetic without ever feeling pompous or overworked.
I can't wait to see what Joe Dunthorne does next.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Monk
Format:Paperback
I read this about a year ago whilst on holiday in a log cabin high in the Czech mountains.
It is a stunning first tome from a talented and imaginative writer. So why only four stars I hear you cry,well,moderation in all things is the key to a fulfilling life!
Forget Harry Potter, Adrian Mole, et al,get involved in the teenage mind set of 15 year old 'virgin' Oliver Tate and his pretty much dysfunctional parents, throw in his fire starter girlfriend Jordana and you have a reading experience that is seriously incendiary, to say the least.
I guess Joe Dunthorne, being, I think, 26 when he wrote the book didn't have too much of a problem homing in on male adolescent angst but he does it with serious panache and anyone who can should read this book, I could not put it down, and it is seriously laugh out loud.Luckily I was in the mountains so no one could hear me.
I also learned about the mysteries, to me at least, of the female menstrual cycle and the delightful real life invention that is 'The Moon Cup'!There is so much more between the covers of this book. Give yourself a treat and grab it now.
It is a stunning first tome from a talented and imaginative writer. So why only four stars I hear you cry,well,moderation in all things is the key to a fulfilling life!
Forget Harry Potter, Adrian Mole, et al,get involved in the teenage mind set of 15 year old 'virgin' Oliver Tate and his pretty much dysfunctional parents, throw in his fire starter girlfriend Jordana and you have a reading experience that is seriously incendiary, to say the least.
I guess Joe Dunthorne, being, I think, 26 when he wrote the book didn't have too much of a problem homing in on male adolescent angst but he does it with serious panache and anyone who can should read this book, I could not put it down, and it is seriously laugh out loud.Luckily I was in the mountains so no one could hear me.
I also learned about the mysteries, to me at least, of the female menstrual cycle and the delightful real life invention that is 'The Moon Cup'!There is so much more between the covers of this book. Give yourself a treat and grab it now.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast delivery, great item
The book was dispatched very quickly, the item was in great condition. It was a great read, couldn't put it down, and worth reading to compare the story's differences with the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Elouise Malin
5.0 out of 5 stars
Submarine
Excellent book! I saw the film and was quite disappointed it wasn't as good as I had been told. Finally read the book and it is so much more clever and a fantastic read!
Published 3 months ago by Sam Benham
4.0 out of 5 stars
Unusual. Different. Excellent.
Submarine by Joe Dunthorne is a very unusual book.
I loved the main character: he totally made this book for me. He's witty, strange and interesting. Read more
I loved the main character: he totally made this book for me. He's witty, strange and interesting. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Wendybell
1.0 out of 5 stars
Utterly depressing
How can a book which describes a fifteen year old boy tricking a seven year old into performing a sex act on him be a comedy? Read more
Published 15 months ago by Middle aged person
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very enjoyable; full of humour.
What a great coming-of-age novel. Reminded me of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and It's Kind of a Funny Story in the fact that the narrator, a typical teenager, is a bit cynical... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Joe L
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant
This film was like watching a young teenager from the inside, with all the brilliant and terrible things that would entail. Read more
Published 19 months ago by S. Robinson
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not up to expectation
I really had high hopes of this book. Having read Veron God Little I thought it would be of same quality but it wasn't. I wanted to like it. It was set in Wales - I love Wales. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Miss K. Wilshaw
5.0 out of 5 stars
if you enjoyed the film, you will love this book
After watching the film several times, and loving it, i decided i had to read the book it was based on. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Brown Review
5.0 out of 5 stars
Submarine
My non-reading sixteen year old has not put this down even after watching the recent film.
He has really enjoyed the book and has shared lines from it with me, reading and... Read more
He has really enjoyed the book and has shared lines from it with me, reading and... Read more
Published 20 months ago by D. L. T. Hallows
3.0 out of 5 stars
Enter the mind of a 15-year-old boy
Oliver Tate loves using obscure words. He's worried about his parents' sex life, his girlfriends skin condition, why a schoolmate gets bullied and the possibility of developing a... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Ian Barker
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