 "Strongly recommended 2001 novel about growing up in 1970s Birmingham, England" | 2008-06-30 |
| - Reviewed By kws2323 |
| Comic and tragic, charming and haunting, this 2001 novel tells of schoolmates in mid to late 1970s Birmingham, England. The book begins with a chance 2003 Berlin meeting between two unrelated descendants of some main characters. A series of third person narratives, personal letters and school newspaper articles ensues. Coe's story entertains while deftly exploring themes of faith, romance, music, economics and nationalism. The primary setting is the sixth form at the highly competitive King William's school. Two key families are the Trotters and the Athertons. The respective elder sons Benjamin and Doug are close friends and classmates, but at the factory, Mr. Trotter is a manager while Mr. Atherton is a shop steward. I was drawn to this after reading Coe's excellent "The Winshaw Legacy". As with any enjoyable book, I was sorry to reach the end of this and eagerly anticipate reading Coe's sequel, "The Closed Circle", which continues the story in the 1990s. |
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| "another great novel by a truly gifted writer" | 2007-12-20 |
| - Reviewed By __marty__ |
| Insanely great novel by Jonathan Coe. At turns harrowing, funny, poignant, but always exceptionally readable. As someone who grew up and went to school in England during the '80s, I found so much in Coe's portrayal of a posh Birmingham grammar school that rung true. Different decade indeed, different kind of establishment compared to my no-nonsense secondary school, but the parallels were there, from children's cruelty, unrequited loves and lusts, growing up and discovering girls, and most importantly, trying to find a place for yourself in the world. The Rotter's Club is a great rollercoaster ride of emotions, full of moving moments and great humor. Coe's prose is fresh and precise as usual, but what makes his work stand out is his incredible ability to capture insightful moments so perfectly, something which many novelists struggle to do over hundreds of pages, but which Coe sometimes manages in a few mere sentences. Be sure to check out the follow-up 'The Closed Circle' too. |
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 "The Very Maws of Doom" | 2007-09-24 |
| - Reviewed By cluricaune |
"The Rotters' Club" was first published in 2001, and went on to win Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize. It's set in 1970s Birmingham, and incorporates a number of real-life people, places and events into the back-story - including the Birmingham Pub Bombing (which led to the imprisonment of the Birmingham Six), the infamous British Leyland plant, the Unions and the inevitable strikes, Enoch Powell, the National Front and various other similar factions and the changes in musical fashion - most notably, from prog to punk rock.
The book tells the story of Ben Trotter's life at secondary achool, and opens in 1973. Ben has one older sister, Lois, and a younger brother, Paul and all three attend King Williams School - quite a prestigious establishment, though seen as a school for "toffs" by the city's working class. Of Ben's two siblings, Lois is much more likeable - and, as it turns out, a great deal more unfortunate. She starts dating Malcolm - generally just referred to as 'Hairy Guy' - shortly after the book opens. (Hairy Guy proves to be a big influence on Ben's musical taste). Paul, Ben's younger brother, generally tends to be a poisonous, spiteful brat. Among Ben's friends at school are Philip Chase, Duggie Anderton and Sean Harding. Like Ben's father, Duggie's father also works at British Leyland. However, where Ben's father is management, Duggie's father is a shop steward for the Union and a committed socialist. Ben, like every other boy at school, is hopelessly in love with Cicely Boyd. It's a pity, really, as he would have been much better off with the very likeable Claire Newman. (Meanwhile, Claire's sister - Miriam - is having an affair with Duggie's dad as the book opens).
The story is mostly told by Sophie - Ben's niece and Lois' daughter - looking back to the 1970s. Occasionally, some of the characters tell part of the story in their own words - a short story by Ben himself, a speech given by Duggie, sections of Lois' diary, the editorials of the school newspaper - even, at one point, a letter written to Ben by another character. On the whole it is a very readable, very enjoyable book - the only sections that didn't work for me were the introduction and the conclusion - featuring Sophie and Patrick. (In fact, the introduction was so bad I nearly didn't bother with the rest of the book). The book also, apparently holds the record for the longest sentence in English literature - Coe would've been better off just using punctuation, and forgetting about the record books, but it's not really that big a deal. Good enough for me to keep an eye out for its sequel - "The Closed Circle", which was released in 2004 and picks up the story in 1990s. |
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| "The Great British Novel" | 2006-10-27 |
| - Reviewed By infoed |
The funny thing is that I almost didn't get past the fourth page of "The Rotter's Club." I felt the the prologue was a little clumsy and I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue, afraid the rest of the book would be written that way; I kept the book in my bag anyhow. Fate intervened in the form of jury duty. For two days, I did nothing but read this novel while I waited to see if my number would be called (reader, it was) and found myself falling deeper and deeper in love with this novel. I forgave the prologue as well, it was just a case of a bad first impression. Had I not continued with this book, I would have denied myself one of the best reads of the year. So, despite jury duty being a pain, I'll always remember the shabby downtown municipal buildings fondly because it was the means of uniting me and this novel.
One thing I loved about the book is that it's absolutely, undeniably British. This isn't a book that will explain things to you (and there's a lot in here from 70s politics to labour unions to the punk movement), you either roll with it or you don't. I found myself going to Wikipedia many times for further information on many of the events that form Coe's tapestry. Much like Rohinton Mistry's India-set "A Fine Balance", these characters exist in a specific historic period in history (more specifically Birmingham, England) and play active roles.
One true-life situation that made my heart stop came at the end of the first section. Throughout the first part of the novel, Coe carefully gives us dates and situations that anticipate a late 1974 event at a pub in Birmingham. For those well attuned to contemporary (post-WW2) English history, (and those who are Brits themselves), they'll see exactly where Coe is going. As a North American whose grasp of English history grows fuzzy after the Blitz, I was taken aback by what happens and kept rereading that section to make sure I really did read that correctly; I felt sick for the next few minutes. (The only Birmingham event many Americans know of is Alabama in 1963.)
And if that stunning moment is Coe's best trick, it's a good one, but he doesn't stop there. Through multiple narratives, points of view, school newspaper articles, etc., Coe creates a complex and heartbreaking world in an uncertain era. And sheesh, Coe can write some of the funniest scenes possible; part of the glory is how he doesn't set you up for anything, you'll be reading along and then come upon unexpected hilarity. It's been a while since a book really made me laugh out loud and this was welcome, especially in a dreary, overheated jury room.
I'm looking forward to reading more of Coe's work and am surprised that it's taken me this long to discover him. "The Rotter's Club" is my recommendation for the Fall. Winter's coming, buy your copy now and save it for when you're snowbound or experiencing ennui- once you start this novel, you won't be bored much longer. Just a word to the wise: you may find it helpful to write down the names and relationships of the characters as you meet them as they variously go by both their first and last names. Happy reading. |
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| "A moving look at the recent past" | 2006-07-31 |
| - Reviewed By zugenia |
| Coe is better than most at telling a story, particularly a story set in a particular moment in history not long enough ago to have been memorialized as part of humanity's collective experience, but too long ago to stir immediate feelings of allegiance and identification--in this case, the politically fraught Birmingham of the 1970s. But he is transcendent when he is funny. I was sitting in a bar, no longer pretending to watch the World Cup, when I arrived at a scene in which a married couple are sitting around the living room studying, respectively, the daily crossword and a secret love letter, passing the dictionary back and forth, and I was giggling aloud as if I were drunker than I actually was, when I knew that I had passed from being entertained by Coe to being owned by him. |
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| "SUPERB BOOK" | 2006-04-02 |
| - Reviewed By User: AQK6E1B87OWU9 |
Coe is a superb writer who really gets to the heart of the matter. He presses all the right buttons and in the right order. This book is equally as good as Born to be Mild - probably the best English book on the 70s and unlikely to ever be surpassed. But Coe comes mighty close and he's proving a force to be reckoned with in the same bracket of top novelists such as Nick Hornby and Tony Parsons.
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