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Junk (Puffin Modern Classics) (Paperback)

by Julia Eccleshare (Author), Melvin Burgess (Author) "A boy and a girl were spending the night together in the back seat of a Volvo estate car ..." (more)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (115 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
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Junk (Puffin Modern Classics) + Voices in the Park + Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Puffin Teenage Fiction)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Puffin Classics; New Ed edition (6 Mar 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141315938
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141315935
  • Product Dimensions: 19 x 12.8 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (115 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 69,122 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Junk is an extraordinary book, and walks a terrain that is at once terrifying and totally compelling.

Tar and Gemma are in love. Tar has reasons for running away from home that run deep and sour, whereas Gemma, with her middle-class roots firmly on show, has a deep-rooted lust for adventure. Together they explore the dark world of the streets as, together, they explore the dark world of drugs, moving quickly on from the first hit of heroin that takes them towards bliss, to the next hit that ultimately leads to despair.

Melvyn Burgess packs one hell of a punch in Junk, a book that is certainly unnerving in its honesty about two teenagers and their very different reasons for wanting to flee their families and their lives.

The narrative is simple and to the point, adding fire to the characterisation of the two main protagonists as they dive deeper into their love affair with heroin and each other. Burgess hits hard with his convincing handling of controversial subjects ranging from alcohol abuse, prostitution, teenage pregnancy and child abuse, skilfully moving the plot and the characters forward with a pace that mirrors Tar and Gemma's spiralling relationship.

Junk is a must-read for any teenager who enjoys gritty realism and a gutsy, honest approach to the books they read. But be warned, this book is not for the faint-hearted: the language is realistic, the situations are occasionally terrifying, and Burgess certainly does not glamorise any aspect of Tar and Gemma's lifestyle. Parents of teenagers should take a close look too. Age 12 and over--Susan Harrison --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.



Product Description

An uncompromising, compelling and true-to-life story of two teenagers drawn into the dangerous and destructive world of heroin addiction. This tour de force by an acclaimed and provocative writer should become a definitive teenage novel on this subject.
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Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
A boy and a girl were spending the night together in the back seat of a Volvo estate car. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

115 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (115 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, unflinching and never patronising , 16 Jun 2007
By quippe (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
This review is from: Junk (Puffin Teenage Fiction) (Paperback)
There's a reason why this book won both the Guardian Fiction Award and the Carnegie Medal and that's because it's simply brilliant - a Trainspotting for teenagers. Told in the first person mainly by teens Tar and Gemma and set in Bristol in the early 1980s, it's a very believable look at how two teenagers descend into drugs and whilst it doesn't hide from how drugs make the characters feel, it's also very good at showing what comes along with that high.

What particularly impressed me is the way that Burgess plays with the reader's sympathies. At the beginning of the book, you find yourself really sympathising with the hapless Tar who is running away from two alocholic parents - one of whom emotionally abuses him, the other physically abuses him. Gemma by contrast is shown as being quite selfish - her biggest concern is to get away from two parents whose love is suffocating and she's happy to use Tar as a means of getting away, giving him sex even though she knows that she doesn't love him. As the book progresses however, you see how drugs affect both characters and as Tar steals to fund his habit and Gemma sells her body to fund hers, you become aware of how selfish and hard Tar is becoming and how Gemma is starting to realise that she can't lie to herself much longer. It's particularly interesting to see Gemma become the stronger character towards the end of the book - she's given something to get clean for and she's determined to do it, even though it means having to return to everything she gave up. There's a good contrast here between Gemma and the apparently glamorous Lily who is unable and unwilling to make the same choices and who is revealed to be living in a pathetic state of self-delusion.

Burgess gives other characters, including Lily, her boyfriend Rob, anarchists and squatters Vonny and Richard and tobacco shop owner Skolly to give an additional perspective on Tar and Gemma's story and also to flesh out the attitudes to and affects of taking heroin. The effect is to reinforce the drastic nature of Gemma and Tar's decline and Burgess is not afraid to pull his punches - his look at Gemma, Sally's and Lily's descent into prostitution is chilling. Neither does Burgess pull his punches when it comes to showing how difficult it is to come off heroin - Tar in particular is used to reinforce what an ordeal it is and Burgess doesn't shy away from describing the physical as well as the mental affects and also how the temptation to use is always there, even when the characters have come off the junk.

It's difficult to find anything to criticise about the book - Burgess keeps his character's voices distinct, the story is always kept moving and he doesn't preach to the reader - leaving them to come to their own conclusions. The only possible nitpick that I could think to make relates to the chapters recounted by Tar's father, which draw an interesting parallel between addiction to alcohol and its effects and addiction to smack to show that father and son are closer than Tar wants to think. For me, the reference to alochol, whilst perfectly valid, seemed a little too much like laying it on although that said, the characterisation of Tar's father was very well handled.

Anyone who thinks that their children will find drugs attractive as a result of reading this book is a fool. It's genuinely horrifying and chilling and I don't think that any teenager with half a brain would come away thinking that heroin is a great life choice.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling, a great read., 8 Jan 2006
This review is from: Junk (Puffin Teenage Fiction) (Paperback)
As a teenager I believe that this book is extremely prevalent to the issues that people of my age have come accustomed to. This is a brilliant book if you are looking for a good step between young adult and adult. As with a few of Burgess's books the middle gets slightly sluggish however by the end you will feel assured that it was worth it. Unlike many teenage novels the characters are easily related to; Burgess has achieved a good understang into a teenage drug addicts mind. An exceptional book.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating, 17 Aug 2005
By Sweary "Sweary" (Cork, Ireland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Junk (Puffin Teenage Fiction) (Paperback)
I 1st read this book as a fifteen year old and was astounded by it; many other young adult books I'd read seemed twee, but this one got me right between the eyes. What is still powerful about this book is how Burgess makes no judgements, no excuses, and often gives no reasons for his characters to behave the way they do. This is something sorely lacking in many young adult books: the idea that not everything happens for a reason. Burgess allows himself no easy ways out. He doesn't make it easy for the reader to like his characters, and yet by switching viewpoints throughout the tale he makes sure we different glimpses of their lives as we read. Gemma, for example, has a very particular view of herself, Vonny has a constrasting opinion on her!
What is astounding is how the characters change so drastically while still remaining "themselves" at heart, and that Burgess can manage this in a realistic way proves his prowess as a writer. At the start of the book, we are encouraged to feel sorry for Tar, and it is to Burgess' credit that he holds the reader's sympathy while showing the character's moral breakdown.
A wonderful book, bleak, tough to read, but utterly essential.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Great read but poor condition
This is a great read - I first read it when I was 14, and 14 years later still enjoyed it just as much. Thought provoking and touching. Read more
Published 19 days ago by Lauren Nixon

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read
This is one of those must read books. One of those books you won't want to put down.
I'm finding with a lot of books they are getting boring, and very similar to each to... Read more
Published 1 month ago by R. R. Peters

5.0 out of 5 stars So gripping.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Junk
It is no surprise that Junk won the 1996 Carnegie Medal. It is a fascinating and thought provoking novel, by a brilliant author. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Lia M. Slater

5.0 out of 5 stars Brutally honest, beautiful and desperately saddening
I first read Junk shortly after its initial release, when I was 16, and it took my breath away with its stark portrayal of teenage lives which had been touched by appalling... Read more
Published 11 months ago by David Stavros

5.0 out of 5 stars juunk
i'm 16, and i read alot of books & this was honestly the best book i have ever come across in my whole life, i could not put it down, its gripping and amazing, honestly read it,... Read more
Published 12 months ago by carrie

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest books of all time...
I never read Junk until i was in my late teens/early twenties and it is still my favourite book now.
I love the story of Tar and Gemma. Read more
Published 16 months ago by h

3.0 out of 5 stars Great but completely overrated
When I first read this I thought it was wonderful. I marvelled at the character relationship development and it completely sucked me into the world of drugs and prostitution. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Bookworm

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly incredibly book!
When I first purchased this book, I didn't know what to expect. Upon the first few chapters, for me the book was a little slow to pick up, but I preserved. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Spite

5.0 out of 5 stars JUNK
JUNK

Junk is an extraordinary book, and walks a terrain that is at once terrifying and totally compelling. Read more
Published on 13 Jul 2007 by The Muscle Man

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