- Hardcover: 208 pages
- Publisher: Puffin; First Impression edition (30 Aug 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0141383437
- ISBN-13: 978-0141383439
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14.2 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 89,231 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
What I Was
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Product Description
Review
Rosoff's latest and perhaps most perfect novel ...it's already a classic --The Sunday Times
Review
'Praise for What I Was: 'already a classic' -- Sunday Times 'mesmerizing' - Daily Telegraph 'mordantly funny and searingly well written' - The Times'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a luminous, lucid, brilliant book - which is ironic, as in some ways it's a book about what isn't said or seen. Told in a subtle, witty, intelligent voice, this is funny, thoughtful and ultimately very moving - so complex and skilful that the "love story" or "coming-of-age story" labels simply don't do justice to it.
In the mundane, bleak world of a sixties boarding school next to the sinking East Anglian coastline, the narrator stumbles on the hut where a boy, Finn, lives alone, fending for himself. Entranced by Finn's beauty, strength, and freedom, he observes and then shares the idyll, escaping from a background of mediocrity and duplicity before inadvertently acting as the catalyst for the destruction of Finn's life. The relationship is perfectly judged - subtle, understated, described with a warmth and honesty that is laudable - and Rosoff encapsulates the feeling of attraction that is less I-want-you than I-want-to-be-you perfectly. The book acknowledges the self-absorption and naivety of the narrator without his losing our sympathy, and while his love for Finn is ambiguous at least it remains one of the most recognisable portrayals of desire I've ever read. In terms of action, it's fairly slow - don't anticipate wars, shootings, plane crashes, car crashes... and yet I found it the most compelling of Rosoff's books, utterly absorbing and truthful. It is also, of course, very funny.
I notice that the new cover is utterly romantic fiction - but don't be put off. This is far more gripping and interesting than it looks. It is probably more of a women's book than a men's one - I found the narrator perfectly male, but then I'm female, and my male friends have expressed some doubts - but it is sharper, more austere and has more integrity than that soft-focus seascape would seem to imply. So buy it anyway. Buy the kids' edition. Or buy one of each.
In the mundane, bleak world of a sixties boarding school next to the sinking East Anglian coastline, the narrator stumbles on the hut where a boy, Finn, lives alone, fending for himself. Entranced by Finn's beauty, strength, and freedom, he observes and then shares the idyll, escaping from a background of mediocrity and duplicity before inadvertently acting as the catalyst for the destruction of Finn's life. The relationship is perfectly judged - subtle, understated, described with a warmth and honesty that is laudable - and Rosoff encapsulates the feeling of attraction that is less I-want-you than I-want-to-be-you perfectly. The book acknowledges the self-absorption and naivety of the narrator without his losing our sympathy, and while his love for Finn is ambiguous at least it remains one of the most recognisable portrayals of desire I've ever read. In terms of action, it's fairly slow - don't anticipate wars, shootings, plane crashes, car crashes... and yet I found it the most compelling of Rosoff's books, utterly absorbing and truthful. It is also, of course, very funny.
I notice that the new cover is utterly romantic fiction - but don't be put off. This is far more gripping and interesting than it looks. It is probably more of a women's book than a men's one - I found the narrator perfectly male, but then I'm female, and my male friends have expressed some doubts - but it is sharper, more austere and has more integrity than that soft-focus seascape would seem to imply. So buy it anyway. Buy the kids' edition. Or buy one of each.
27 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is another wonderful book from Meg Rosoff. As she demonstrated in her previous novels How I Live Now and Just In Case, Ms Rosoff has a gift for getting inside the adolescent mind. What I Was is a story of friendship and love, recounted by Hilary in his old age when the coast of East Anglia, where his story unfolds, has slipped into the sea.
It is 1962 and Hilary, a difficult and unhappy 16 year old at a boarding school in Suffolk meets Finn, a boy of his own age who lives alone in a fisherman's cottage and whose enviable existence has somehow escaped the education authorities. The story of their relationship is sensitively and intelligently told, there is a tragedy, a twist and a scandal, and an ending which had this reader in tears.
It is 1962 and Hilary, a difficult and unhappy 16 year old at a boarding school in Suffolk meets Finn, a boy of his own age who lives alone in a fisherman's cottage and whose enviable existence has somehow escaped the education authorities. The story of their relationship is sensitively and intelligently told, there is a tragedy, a twist and a scandal, and an ending which had this reader in tears.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book conjures up the same heart warming, life-questioning emotions as How I Live Now did, something that I felt Just In Case did not.
I just wish Rosoff's books were longer, with such intriguing writing methods she constantly keeps us hooked to the story. Some how I have come to believe that Rosoff works best when describing the long and often harrowing journies of a person and the architecture of the buildings they come across, as both How I Live Now and What I Was contained these features, something that made the books stand out to me.
With Hilary describing his journey from St.Oswald school to the life he wishes he has in Finn's hut, both factors of architecture and journey are opened up and gives us a vivid imagination of what the journey is like. The emotion between two people, I believe, has never failed to be written well by Rosoff and at times can bring on laughter and tears with just one line.
I hope Rosoff will continue to write such amazing books as this.
I just wish Rosoff's books were longer, with such intriguing writing methods she constantly keeps us hooked to the story. Some how I have come to believe that Rosoff works best when describing the long and often harrowing journies of a person and the architecture of the buildings they come across, as both How I Live Now and What I Was contained these features, something that made the books stand out to me.
With Hilary describing his journey from St.Oswald school to the life he wishes he has in Finn's hut, both factors of architecture and journey are opened up and gives us a vivid imagination of what the journey is like. The emotion between two people, I believe, has never failed to be written well by Rosoff and at times can bring on laughter and tears with just one line.
I hope Rosoff will continue to write such amazing books as this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
For young and old alike
The minute I'd finished reading this book I recommended it to my teenage son.
This a painful story about growing up, fitting in, and not fitting in. Read more
This a painful story about growing up, fitting in, and not fitting in. Read more
Published 28 days ago by SallyJ
Atmospheric but unconvincing
This really is a difficult one - the descriptions of the awful boarding school with its equally nasty food are really very good, and funny with it. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Lou79
Haunting and magical
As a grown-up I love this book, but I imagine that it will also capture the heart of much younger readers. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Scarmoge
So amazing. Wanted to give it 5 stars but...
... it simply wasn't as good as How I Live Now.
But I fell head over heels into this book~ the utterly simple things in this book manage to twist themselves into more... Read more
But I fell head over heels into this book~ the utterly simple things in this book manage to twist themselves into more... Read more
Published 17 months ago
Achingly sad
The memories of a Hilary, a man in old age remembering events in 1962 when he met and fell in love with Finn, a boy his own age living alone in a tiny hut on an island near by his... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Jo Bennie
Wanted to give it one star, but...
Meg Rosoff had a good premise with this book; the storyline itself is interesting and engaging, as is the setting. Read more
Published on 13 May 2010 by E. Elizabeth
A fantastic book !!
'What I was' is a story about Hilary, the main character. He's sixteen years old and gets expelled. He arrives at St. Read more
Published on 20 April 2010 by Daphne Vercruysse
Beautifully written but ultimately flawed
WHAT I WAS is narrated by an unnamed old man, looking back on what happened to him as a schoolboy when he was sent to St Oswald's boarding school in East Anglia in 1962. Read more
Published on 29 Dec 2009 by quippe
Nice read but quite boring and shallow story line
It was a nice read with an ok story line, but really easy to put down and not go back to it as it hardly has a gripping story line! I recommend borrowing from a library.
Published on 28 July 2009 by Jess
A dissapointment
After reading "How I live now" I was eager to read more of Meg Rosoff's work. This book is not nearly as captivating. Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2009 by T. Jensen
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