Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years

by Sue Townsend

Book Overview

'One of the greatest comic creations. I can't remember a more relentlessly funny book' Daily Mirror 'My comfort read. The best diaries ever written - with apologies to Samuel Pepys, Bridget Jones and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1569472475
• ISBN13: 9781569472477
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Soho Press
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.3" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Comedy at its Very Best

The major difference between British and American comedey is that the former is wry, full of self-loathing and very witty. This book takes you on a journey in the life of life's biggest losers. Someone, you know can't very will exist in this world, but also know that he may very well be your next door neighbor, your cousin or heck maybe you, yourself.Adrian Mole is every person's nightmare. A person you really want to pity, but can't very well waste your emotions on. He goes on with his life, with no motivation and no control but still manages to survive by the skin of his teeth. What is even more incredulous is the fact that he just keeps moving along as if nothing completely happened and there's nothing seriously wrong with things. It's his complete lack of insight that the reader can find quite funny indeed. He lives mainly on dreams of what he wished for himself, the way he thought life should be and the fact that life is completely giving him the backhand on his every endeavour. A lot of the mistakes he moves through seem never to leave a mark on him. He just never learns and continues to live in his fantasy life. This could be completely absurd, but through it all, it is THE most funniest thing anyone can set eyes and is rightfully enjoyful.With regard to the story telling. the book is in diary form and the reader gets to see life in the eyes of Adrian. The narration is simple, witty and at times thought provoking. You see how Adrian sees his life and how life actually sees him. The reader gets to experience different major events and how they affect Adrian's outlook on things. The election of Tony Blair as PM, the Diana tragedy and the funniest of them all, the Clinton scandal. Adrian is very vocal (it's his diary, you know) when it comes to these things and his opinions on them are really worth the whole read.The author, Sue Townsend, seems very capable of handling the life of a guy. At times, when Adrian's losing streak seems to be churning like a choo choo train ahead, a person might actually think, whether this is how women see men's lives. But is that sexism? I guess only a person who reads the book from cover to cover and truly finds the point of it all can answer that very question. Or maybe you're Sue Townsend and know the answer to that.This is quite a good book, with a number of laugh out loud comedey situations (I'm not a person who laughs when reading a book, but this one seemed to manage to get some out of me). It's well-written with good prose. The language has been edited, yet you never lose the essence of the story and its concept. The book is also a fast read, which you just can't put down. I savor my books, taste them when I read, but when it came to this one, I just couldn't get enough of it and truly wanted to know what was going to happen.The book leaves you with a very light heart and good feel in your soul. My finishing of it also coincided with the happy moment of a close relation of mine giving birth. I would like

The Blair Project seen from Ashby-de-la-Zouch

Sue Townsend is a marvelous writer. With this character, Adrian Mole, that she has been following since his puberty, we have a funny, and satirical, yet very kind vision of England over the last thirty years. In this volume Adrian Mole suffers a loss of profession, a debut on Cable TV, a debut, with a ghost writer, in publishing, a divorce, a case of DNA-decided new son, and many other adventures, including the burning of his brand-new gift house. But the naivete and the apparent silliness of the character covers a deeper vision of society. The vision is this time very satirical, even if most of the time at a third or fourth level. He witnesses the arrival of Tony Blair and the first year or so of this new English politician. The man is new, the party is not, the solutions are not, just the man and the language, including a certain dimension of sexual innuendo to capture attention and obedience. Through the many pages of this diary, all kinds of typical English traits are presented, always defended, or nearly, but in such a way that we know there must be at least five tongues in ten cheeks. And that is probably the best aspect of this book. It is the tone of Laurence Sterne and his Sentimental Journey, though in this latter case France was at stake. But we have the same style and the same treatment of the matter. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Paris Universities II and IX.

Adrian, the very fortunate

Americans may find Adrian hard to take. He has 'loser' writtenlarge across him, he doesn't learn from his mistakes, and he alwaysseems to turn down every opportunity that comes his way. It can befrustrating to read his diary, willing him for once to make the rightdecision ... about a girl, about a business transaction, or indealings with his family. But nearly every time, Adrian takes the lowroad...There are lots of nice little jokes here, and many digs atBlairite Britain. It's a fun read, but don't expect to get much morefrom a second read than you did from the first...

Amazing, Fantatastic!

Adrian's last outing ("The Lost Years", or "The Wilderness Years", depending on your geographic location and luck with bargain bins) was quite good, but seemed a bit disjointed and not alltogether familiar, unlike the first two books. Such was the nature of the subject, following Adrian through his college-age years and into early adulthood. It was an encouraging new beginning from Sue Townsend, but not completely satisfying.The new book, "Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years" captures the spirit of the old Mole books perfectly. The reader will feel at home (albeit a completely disfunctional one) with the love(low)life shenanigans of Adrian's parents, his sister, and grandparents, as well as his many weird and wonderful friends.Townsend's knack for identifying trends and pop-culture has been re-invigorated. For example: The appearance of another well-known diarist and its affect on Adrian and his writing is absolutely hilarious.Adrian still does not "get it" all the time, and he is completely inept with his love-life. At some points you might get so mad at the characters that you want to scream at them. However the disarming, underlying sweetness of it all will catch you off-guard. You will soon find yourself laughing at it instead. It is over much to fast, leaving the reader begging for more (hear that Ms. Townsend...more!)This is a wonderful book. If you are new to the series, I would suggest, that you read the other 3 books first, because it will make this one all-the-more enjoyable.

Another mountain for Mole

Sequels rarely live up to expectations. This is the 6th book in the series and they are getting better. This book, like the others is in diary form and it follows Adrian through his thirties as he becomes more insecure and his family become more dysfunctional on a daily basis. The book is simply witten and that is it's attraction. Their is no hidden agenda here just the diary of an angst ridden man who is divorced from his Nigerian wife, accidentally becomes a celebrity chef, and his real love Pandora is on her way to becoming an MP. You finish every page wanting to know what happens the following day, but when the book is finished there is a feeling of sadness, as if a friend has gone away and your not sure of their return. Adrian Mole is a true English hero. Buy it but don't read it on the train....you'll miss your stop.