Sex, coming of age and astute politics (The Rotters' Club - Jonathan Coe)

Member Name: KingHerrod

Product:	The Rotters' Club - Jonathan Coe
Date:	06/05/02 (735 review reads)
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The 1970s were a time of great change for the social and political fabric of the United Kingdom, out went socialism (in its more true form) and with the advent of the Thatcher government, in came capitalism of a particularly virulent nature. Trade unions, who had previously had the power to cripple an economy for sometimes petty and selfish reasons were to have their power and in some cases their dignity removed. In a way the 70s were a decade of conflicting extremes, anger, punk rock, violent picket lines, violent police and violent terrorism. The 70s were not just a decade of disco, bell bottoms and long collared shirts, this was a decade of real shifting sands, of the like that had not been seen for decades before or since.

It is to this backdrop of changing times and uncertainty that Jonathan Coe has written The Rotters' Club charting the coming of age of a group of young teenage adolescents. Coe is another new author for my palate to sample and a number of his previous novels have met with great critical acclaim, including this The Rotters' Club - which collected the Bollinger Everyman Woodhouse prize - not a well-known award, but an award nonetheless. Before the critical acclaim and award puts you off (as I know it does to some readers) this is not a book of impenetrable thought, it is one of those rare books that achieves the cross over of being intelligent and also populist in its style and appeal.

We begin in 2003, the teenagers have grown up and had their own offspring and it is these offspring that tell the tale somewhat retrospectively of their parent's youth - from 2003 we are transported to Birmingham, England, 1973. We have the middle class Trotters, cosy in their middle England existence - but in the case of Colin Trotter, the father, scared at the wind of change, that will at first threaten the status quo and then smash it. Benjamin, the middle of three children and the eldest son is the central character of th
e book, he like his siblings attends King William's school, a direct grant academy requiring a test for entry, but by virtue of the grant system, mixing the rich and poor of the intelligent youth of the area. The school and Benjamin's friend provide a tapestry of the diversity of England, both in class and cast. Steve Richards is the lone black boy attending the school; Doug Anderton comes from a working class background - with his father being a rather factious but realistic shop steward in the local British Leyland car plant (the recently famous Longbridge); Phillip Case's father drives a bus; and Clare Newman comes from a family of religious zealots. Through the school the different perspectives merge and the four youngsters end up as editors on the school magazine. From the magazine, we get the youthful perspective on the transition of the United Kingdom and Coe has cleverly written chapters of the book as extracts from the school magazine, featuring some hilarious fictitious letters from Arthur Pusey-Hamilton, penned by the school clown, Harding.

This is also one of those novels that charts the problems and uncertainty of that age of 17-19, not really a child, but not yet an adult. The world seems huge, at that age you are so unsure of your place in it and more importantly who you are. Benjamin is a solemn thoughtful young man, quiet and deeply artistic both with the pen and the guitar. However, it is the age of shifting sands, awakening sexuality and most of all rapid change in a youth's perspective. Benjamin and his friends find themselves on the rocky path towards adulthood and this leads to old ties becoming fractured and old certainties being smashed. But in the 70s Coe cleverly points out that it was the whole country going through a kind of adolescent crisis. Doug's father fights a losing battle on behalf of the assembly workers at Longbridge; Phillip's father fights a battle for his wife and her affections; Clar
e's sister Miriam fights the intolerance of her own father; and most sadly Benjamin's sister Lois has to cope with a huge personal tragedy foisted upon the innocent to make a political point. The Rotters' Club is a whole book of personal battles and insecurities, neatly matching the insecurity of the country at that time. The only person in the book sure of themselves is the younger Trotter, Paul, who seems to have come to terms with the fact that society changes and evolves and people have to go with the changes or be left behind in a confused vacuum.

Whilst picking out these big issues, the small personal trials of every school kid are featured, the forgotten P.E. kit, the crush on the school beauty, forays into girls' bras and boys' pants, the embarrassment of younger siblings and the desire to fight all in a position of authority.

Coe's teenage characters are beautifully drawn; the confusion, the ambition, the naivety and the trepidation of youth are all drawn out in subtle ways, leaving the reader with a real affection and possibly identification with the characters.

This is an easy book to read the narrative flows in an easy and relaxed manner and at a pace to suit all readers - it is not a slow lingering narrative and neither is it a wham bam thank you kind of read that solely centres on plot and story over any kind of delving into the characters in the book. Most of all it is witty, in an observant kind of way. Everybody in their lives gets themselves into amusing scrapes and so do all of Coe's characters; adult and teenage alike and the school clown Harding, is one that every adult must recognise and his astute comedy is a real lightening feature to the book.

The Rotters' Club is a wonderfully funny and moving story, which analyses the 70s with some real objective perspective, the narrative is told superbly and is very readable. I devoured the book in about three sittings, which is r
are for me. Similar in a way to Nick Hornby, but with far greater depth and ideas, it is a cleverly and some times painfully observed page-turner. This is a book that I will remember, it wouldn't make an all time top ten list and is missing that little something to elevate it to classic status - but it is a very enjoyable read and I for one am greatly looking forward to the sequel that will tie up some lose ends.

I will leave you with Paul Merton's verdict "Wonderful storytelling. It took me back to the 70s and left me there. Help."

Published by penguin: priced £6.99 in paper back (although still available for £3.49 from www.amazon.co.uk): 402 pages long: ISBN 0-140-29466-X.

Further details of all penguin published books can be found at www.penguin.com.

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