MICHAEL CAINE TAKE OFF. (One For My Baby - Tony Parsons)

Member Name: thingywhatsit

Product:	One For My Baby - Tony Parsons
Date:	12/06/06 (110 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good dark humour in places.

Disadvantages: Characters weak.

“The same combination of self-deprecating humour and well intentioned bafflement that endeared “Man and Boy” to millions of readers.... A kind, affectionate book”.

Observer.

When I bought this book, I had no preconception about the author or knowledge of his former works. Tony Parsons has quite a history in journalism, and has been labelled as a “lad-lit” writer that is sometimes targetted by feminists. Former works include “Man and Boy”, “Wife and Man”, although I have not read these.

The story

Man, fed up with teaching in the UK, goes to Hong Kong, meets love of his life, loses love of his life, goes back to UK. Does life go on ? Perhaps.

Well of course, the story is more complex than that outline, but it almost went nowhere for me, because in the first chapter, the repetition that greeted me almost made me close the book and give up. Yes, the writer was trying to make a point about a saying said to him by a man who was very wise, teaching him how to make the most of what life had to offer. Parsons has this “overstated” way of writing that repeats everything as if the reader is stupid, although I gave the book a chance, and to a certain extent am glad that I did, although from reading up on his other books, would imagine this not to be his best.

I liked the description of the difference that Rose, his wife in Hong Kong, made to the way in which he viewed the place. It is insightful, and touches upon how the British see the surface things, but rarely delve beneath the surface. Rose takes him to places he has never been and explains significance with enthusiasm which shines through. The relationship between the main character, Alfie who narrates the book in first person style, and the people that surround him is weak in places, though his fictional emotions for Rose are very well described, as is the loss of her in his life.

Coming back to the UK, the explanation of differences between the UK before he left, and the UK that should be “home” now are pretty realistic. Having lived abroad, you do get that feeling of not belonging and of facets of life not fitting when returning to the UK, and I could easily understand and nod my head at this part of the book. Changes not only take place in society, though in the people near and dear to you, and here the writing painted a fairly accurate picture, going through the separation of his parents and illness of his grandmother with some sense of order and morale.

The characters within the book were a mixed bag of convincing and contrived and didn't work as well as his geographical explanations, which leads me to thinking that perhaps the writer was better suited to his journalistic past. His choice of friends for example was a little baffling, and his best friend was portrayed as pompous and stiff upper lip, although you get the definite impression from reading the book that the character of Alfie was not quite as endearing as you are lead to believe.

Upon his return to the UK, his family circumstances change, and here, the book is funny, sad and nostalgic all at the same time, though again, this writer has a bad habit of drumming the history of characters into the reader in an attempt to make them real, but fails miserably in many instances. His parents, the au pair, the cleaning lady, etc., are all overplayed like a bad television plot, or at best a black comedy. He characterizes the difference between his father's generation and that of his grandfather's by their choice in music, which I can understand, though what I feel a good writer should have done is to rely upon his words, rather than the knowledge of well known songs to create the characteristics that make people seem real. Here, his descriptive abilities were weak.

The relationship between the hero of the story and his students back in the UK, and the Chinese people that he so easily relates to after his stay in Hong Kong are funny and almost nostalgic in parts and it's a fair read, although not one that I believe merits the “best seller” label that it got, because the writing style is hardly a good example of literature, and I really am not sure that a book of this nature would have stood its' ground, had the man not been a well known television personality.

At one stage in the book, I was convinced that the man was a stand up comic. I knew nothing about him at all, and have only looked at who he is since reading the book. The reason for saying this is the man's use of “punch” lines, and here it works to a certain extent, though you need to wade through too much foreplay before getting to the punchline itself which is a shame, as that last line says a million times more than the words that lead up to it.

Another thing that struck me in the story was the inappropriate choices of names for his characters, and here the hero himself is called “Alfie” and is supposed to be in his thirties. Perhaps there are Alfie's out there of this age, but it was almost as if the writer has an obsession for Michael Caine, as not only does the lead character have a well-known Michael Caine part, but the story goes on to recount the rebuilding of Alfie's life in a manner that has been done before in a Michael Caine movie. In fact, the movie did it better.

It's a funny book. I couldn't say I disliked it that much, though as I say it really is not what I would class as literature. There is a dark humour veined within the words of the book that makes it endearing, although I feel the author lost the plot and ran out of ideas. Having said that, I would certainly read his other books because his humour is undeniable, and the other books are more publicised and better established than this one.

Readability : 7/10 and that's generous.
Writing Style : 6/10 too repetitive.
Buy it or Borrow : Borrow it. It's not worth the 5.59 GBP new.




Paperback 384 pages (May 7, 2002)
Publisher: HarperCollins
Language: English
ISBN: 0006514812
Category(ies): Fiction
Other Editions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette

Summary: Good humorous book, but not my idea of literature.