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The Sopranos
 
 
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The Sopranos (Paperback)

by Alan Warner (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Frequently Bought Together

The Sopranos + These Demented Lands + Morvern Callar
Price For All Three: £17.97

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Product details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; New edition edition (3 May 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099268744
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099268741
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.4 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 19,844 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #3 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > W > Warner, Alan

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Product Description

Product Description
The choir from our Lady of Perpetual Succour School for Girls is being bussed to the national finals in the big, big city. And it's an important day for the Sopranos - Orla, Kylah, (Ra)Chell, Amanda Konky and Fionnula (the Cooler) - pub-crawling, shoplifting and body-piercing being the top priorities. Then it's time to lose that competition - lose, because a nuclear sub has just anchored in the bay and, tonight, the Man Trap disco will be full of submariners on shore-leave. There is no time for delays...But after the fifth bottle of alco-pop up the back of the bus it's clear that all is not going to plan, for anyone. The Sopranos are never going to be the same.

From the Publisher
'Compassionate and rioutously funny. It is a long time since I read a novel which had me rocking with laughter' The Times

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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews
5 star:
 (12)
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 (1)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (1)
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Touching but hilarious, 27 Oct 1999
By A Customer
'Morvern Callar', Alan Warner's first book was bleak but beautiful, yet the sequel, 'These Demented Lands' was over ambitious and difficult to read, despite some crafted writing and original ideas. 'The Sopranos' restores Warner's place as one of Scotland's finest contemporary writers, telling the story of a day trip to Edinburgh for a school choir competition from the perspective of half a dozen teenage girls - the sopranos. Warner identifies with and writes authentically from the perspective of the six girls; the description, language and dialogue is vivid. Whilst the girls are rebellious and hilarious, we are also exposed to their hopes, fears and insecurities in what is a humane and delicate story. The level of detail brings out every facet of each of the girls' personalities, and Warner shows an exceptional understanding of his subjects' emotions and inhibitions. This is one of my books of the year - highly recommended.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Tale of Moral Vandalism, 1 Mar 2003
Like a lot of People , I was introduced to Alan Warner`s work by Lynne Ramsey`s film adaptation of Morvern callar. Having never read a book quite like Morvern Callar before, I was almost reluctant to throw myself in to the slightly twisted world of Alan Warner once again. Thankfully, The Sopranos exhibits everything that made Morvern Callar so great and then some!

Warners Third novel spans a day in the life of six school girl sopranos on a trip to a national singing contest in the city. Freed from the conservatism of a small port community, the girls embark on a subversive trail of moral vandalism, self discovery and drunken shopping.

As with his two previous novels, Warner combines working class slang with a touch of the great Beat writers. The result is that Warner`s style is often hard to focus on. The reader spends the first few pages trying to comprehend just what Warner is telling us. However, slowly the reader is pulled in to a compelling narrative and the novel becomes surprisingly easy to read and impossible to put down.

The beauty of The Sopranos is that Warner is able to understand the nature of teenage relationships. Warner highlights how even the strongest group of friends are divided to some extent by their own personal and social insecurites. Some times funny, sad and moving, Warner examins, but never judges, the motives of a directionless generation who after the failure of socialism in the 80`s and the triumph of consumer culture during the 90s feel they have no real future. The Sopranos of the title serve as a mirror to highlight the issues that occupy all teenage minds, yet through their own destruction of convervative moral standards, the girls are able to achieve liberation, no matter how short lived this maybe.

The Sopranos is a wonderful read and everything a novel should be.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Strangely warming, 24 Oct 2002
By Mr. Paul J. Bradshaw (Midlands, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This is a difficult book to describe. Following a school choir as they travel to Edinburgh for a contest, this does take a while to get going. Initially the characters are unsympathetic, there is little event to capture interest, and the school cliques are stifling.

As the girls take in the city, however, their masks drop, and we see a more human, vulnerable side to their characters. Events take a turn for the worse, and secrets come out.

Even so, it is only with the return to their hometown and a night on the tiles that we have some true tension and the various stories come to a close.

You finish the book with a subtle affection for the characters, and a hope that things will be alright no matter what. Strangely affirming, in that way.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Recommended
Having read all the 5 star reviews, I was begining to think I was missing the point of this book, but on a closer inspection I see 4 reviews are from the same person "A Customer"... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Ken Woodmixer

2.0 out of 5 stars Dirty old man
This book gets off to a strong start. The chapters that introduce us to the characters (particularly Orla) are wonderfully written. Read more
Published on 17 Jun 2007 by Al

5.0 out of 5 stars how did he do it!
warner has written a book with so much knowlegde on small town scottish school girls it worries me how he did it. Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2002 by littlecherubwings@yahoo.co.uk

5.0 out of 5 stars Humane eye, nice attitude
I was recommended to Alan Warner by Michael Moorcock who was enthusiastic about his quirky mindset and if you like that strange mix of surrealism and down-to-earth common sense... Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving and funny
Warner is back on form with this one. An esemble piece rather than the single voice of his previous books, yet again he exactly captures small town Scotland (or... Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars girls at the end of civilization the cooler
this is a wonderfully crafted and written book. (i dont normally do criticism). my favorite aspect of Warner's writing is his usage of the scottish way of speaking, his books have... Read more
Published on 13 Nov 2000

3.0 out of 5 stars well written, engrossing, but badly flawed
The basic flaw of this book is that it never convinced me that the characters are female. The characters largely acted like teenaged boys. The feminity seemed tacked on. Read more
Published on 25 Mar 2000 by S. Clark

5.0 out of 5 stars Book of the year?
This book is simply wonderful. Everything about it is perfect, from the charcterisation, to the dialogue, to the inch perfect evocation of small-towners going to the big... Read more
Published on 17 Dec 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book but you need to bo Scottish
I bought this expecting sensible catholic girls find fun in the city. But I got harderned Scottish lasses outon the pull and drinking anything thing with over 10% proof. Read more
Published on 17 Oct 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Book of the year
A wonderful novel taking the a day in the life of six teenage girls and leaving you caring and revelling in each of them. Read more
Published on 4 Sep 1999

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