Adrian Mole, the wilderness years

by Sue Townsend

Book Overview

'A classic. The Adrian Mole diaries are thoroughly subversive. A true hero for our time' Richard Ingrams 'My comfort read. The best diaries ever written - with apologies to Samuel Pepys, Bridget Jones... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0413650103
• ISBN13: 9780413650108
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Methuen
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.57 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Best Book in the Series

Honestly, in my opinion, this is the best book in the series. Townsend is at her biting, satirical best here, and because Adrian is older, I feel that what he goes through is more relatable to most readers. Townsend paints a perfect picture of the 90s through our naive, disenchanted hero-through his eyes, we get a hilarious, sometimes troubling account of how angsty life was in the pre-millenium-the fear of AIDS, the introduction of political correctness, the Gulf War, fall of the Berlin Wall, etc. etc. I remember that period vividly-that was when I was growing up-so it resonated with me much more than the first two books (which was set in Thatcherite 80s) did. The stories are HILARIOUS!!! My favorite is when Adrian goes on a "cruise" to Moscow and finds out that he actually has to canoe through treacherous gales, lol! Also love his accounts with his stunning shrink Leonara, meeting his extremely PC landlord's wife, Cassandra (who corrects him when he calls someone fat, saying he's 'vetically challenged'), and his book "Lo-the FlatLands of the Hills" which seems to lack "narrative thrust" (it does Adrian). Absolutely loved this book, have read it often, and can't wait to read her last installment, which I ordered today!

Great series.

Firstly I wanted to clarify for people that might want to know, exactly how this series runs. I have bought and read all the books in the Adrian Mole series and I was dissappointed not to find anywhere to tell me which ones to get. So as a result I have them all. US Versions The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole Adrian Mole: The Lost Years Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction British Versions The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole Adrian Mole: From Minor To Major Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction So, as for the review these books are great. I love the entire series and I just couldn't stop reading them all the way to the end. The one thing I might suggest is to keep in mind that with most series of books the first is always the best, which is probably the case here too, but if you like it and are a fan of Adrian Mole, there is no reason why you wouldn't want to read the rest. I like the fact that is it written in diary form for easy reading and it is very clever how the story is told from the point of view of Adrian himself but you can see things about his life that he cannot. Overall an excellent read for all ages from teen to adult.

About a boy growing up.

The book I read and couldn't put down was Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years by Sue Townsend. This book is about a person called Adrian Mole who writes down all his depressions, affairs, hopes and problems. In this book Adrian Mole has grown-up and is 23 and 3/4. He lives in a box room in Pandora's house. Adrian is trying very hard to sell a novel called "Lo! the flathills of my homeland." He keeps getting lots of rejections from the BBC. Adrian lost his first love Pandora and she's now having an affair with his boss. Adrian's boss works for a nature magazine and Adrian has a paragraph about amphibians. But seeing there is hardly any staff he gets a lot of paperwork. Adrian is very depressed that Pandora doesn't want to marry him. He starts to see a psychiatrist, her name is Leonora and he falls in love with her. Adrian doesn't realise but a girl called Bianca fancies him at the corner shop. He soon finds a new job at a restaurant called Savages. Leonora isn't interested in him because she's already married and suggests they stop their sessions together. But Bianca still fancies him a lot. Adrian and Bianca start having an affair. He moves into her flat and they're both really happy. Soon though they split up because Bianca goes off with another man so Adrian is left on his own. He begs Pandora to let him back in her box room, reluctantly she agrees. Adrian is still working at the restaurant Savages and there is now a new girl working Savages called Jo- Jo. Adrian decides to take a holiday, which he thinks is an exotic holiday with hot sunny weather. It turns out to be a cold rainy adventure holiday! The holiday is a diaster, but when Adrian gets back Jo- Jo was waiting, and he drops his luggage and they embrace. The story Adrian Mole: the Wilderness Years was a fantastic book. I think the best chracter and star role was Adrian, because he was so funny! There was no chracter I didn't like because they were all cleverly made up and different. I really enjoyed this book it was interesting and funny, I couldn't put it down! Everything in it was detailed and outrageous! Sue Townsend couldn't have made it any better. I hope there will be a follow up to this fictional diary soon. I don't see how anyone can pick it up and not enjoy it, it's impossinle not to! Bye! The story Adrian Mole :The Wilderness Years was fantastic book. I think the best chracter and star role was Adrian,

A good book, but lacking the usual something.

Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years is a good book but it seems to have lost the underlying realism of the earlier diaries. The humour just dosen't seem quite as good and Adrian just does too badly. Having said that he has to grow up and the book is very much an Adrian Mole diary. If you are addicted to the previous diaries then I would definetly buy this book.

A British naif grows up in the 90s

Adrian Mole: the Wilderness Years, joins Adrian, who readers first met when he was 13 3/4 years old, a 24-year-old wanna be writer living in Oxford and still helplessly in love with his childhood sweetheart, Pandora. To see what's going on, readers have to go deep in this book, beyond Townsend's admirable wit, to see the growth of Adrian into a writer and adult. The stages are measured in the women Adrian loves and the excerpts of his writing, which end when he begins a novel with no language. At times The Wilderness Years, which is written in diary form, becomes almost irritating; it is hard to believe that anyone could be as naive as Adrian. By the end, however, Adrian is wiser and likeable, and the last entry, only two sentences long, is as moving as anything in modern literature.