Customer Reviews

Adrian Mole: The Lost Years

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The only reason that I am giving this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because I feel that only the original Secret Diary, being a cult classic, is worthy of that honor. With that said, I would urge anyone reading this review to read the Lost Years, particularly if they are familiar with the original Secret Diary. I grew up in the United Kingdom at about the same time period as the original diaries were set, and being a teenager myself then, I found the original work inspiring and insightful. Moreover, when read years later, one sees humor revealed that would have been unappreciated when originally read as a teenager. Having moved to the United States and having gone through high school and college, I lost touch with the works of Sue Townsend, and it was only by chance that I happened to spot the Lost Years at a bookstore, and decided to give it a read. The character Adrian Mole, now a single 20-something struggling with his role in society and his own personal failures and quirks, has grown up with me, remaining a reflection on my hopes and dreams as well as that of other "Gen X-ers." In the Lost Years, there is certainly a darker tone than in the Secret Diary or the Growing Pains, but this is more an accurate reflection of the character growing up. Throughout the novel, Adrian Mole struggles with his past, unrealistic expectations of himself, as well as the constantly shifting and evolving relationships he has with characters from his teenage years, such as Pandora, Barry Kent, and his parents. Throughout, Adrian's Peter Pan complex, where he refuses to let go of this past and refuses to grow and change, is the source of virtually all the conflict and tension in the book. The ending was in effect the symbolic death of Adrian's past, and was genuinely moving and hopeful. My only (very minor) complaint is with the ending, since it is Adrian's personality which gives the book its humor as well as its conflict, and it will thus be interesting to see if future Diaries will be able to maintain this humor while allowing Adrian Mole to grow as a person in light of the apparant, final change at the end. Still, a smashing novel.

The wry youth who sometimes signs his diary "Adrian Albert Mole, Unpublished novelist and pedestrian" is back. Those who laughed with this pubescent British philosopher in the 80s will be delighted; those who are meeting him for the first time will find that chuckles abound.

At 16 Adrian is still the miserable victim of unrequited love, at odds with his parents, and celebrating Christmas night with "a desultory game of cards."

Four years later, although still living at home, he has found employment in his local library, and companionship with a girl both bovine and boring. After his manuscripts are rejected by every literary agent and publisher on either side of the Thames, Adrian finds shelter at Oxford and a job studying newts and badgers.

In his spare time Adrian has penned a novel that he believes should be adapted for the stage. However, no one is waiting in line to bring life to his 700 page epic with 144 characters and six live deer.

A new love and a writer's workshop on a Greek island eventually brighten Adrian's life. Reading his eccentrically comic adventures brightened mine.

- Gail Cooke

Adrian Mole is a misfit, a loser, under-employed when he works at all, fancies himself a great novelist, and is working on a totally inane master-piece which contains no vowels. His family is wildly dysfunctional, his relationships are disastrous, his therapist gives up, his luck is forever running out. And, when it seems that things couldn't possibly get any worse, well, you guessed it.

Author Sue Townsend is a brilliant comedic writer, but in this work, the comedy is darkly satirical. The hero (or anti-hero) Mole was first introduced in her earlier work, The Secret Diaries, when he was not quite fourteen. Hilarious it was, then, to see him percieve the inconsistencies of the adult world without ever really understanding what was happening. Now that he is older, the humor is darker, with a biting edge. For this young man is now moving into his mid-twenties, without apparently growing or learning anything of value. So, is there hope for poor Mole? Will he ever grow up? Will he ever get a girlfriend? You will just have to read the book and see.

While other reviewers expressed disappointment in the book, I enjoyed it immensely. It is different from the Secret Diaries with a different type of humor. Take it on its own terms and you will laugh yourself silly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

This is a sad and disturbing book, and maybe it's meant to be that way, but it's certainly not as much fun as the earlier Mole books.

Adrian Mole as a teenager is often pathetic, but funny, and as The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole ends he's showing more maturity. As a teenager, there's hope for him, because he may grow out of it all.

Adrian Mole 10 years later is mostly pathetic and disturbing. He hasn't grown much -- he's lost those insights he was starting to gain at the end of Growing Pains -- and he's a sad, misanthropic jerk. And maybe that's part of Townsend's point -- reading it I hated it because I could see bits of Mole in myself. But it's certainly a jarring shift from the earlier books.

And by the end of this book Adrian's showing some maturity again. But will the next book wipe that out again? Will he be a pathetic jerk again, pushing the rock up the hill again?

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.

What can I say everytime I hear the name Adrian Mole a big smile comes across my face, the diaries have to be one of the funniest sets of books I have ever read. I have read The Lost years a few times now and althought I dont think that it is the best in the collection it is definetley funny and is a very important part of the series and I would recommend all Adrian Mole fans to read it. Anybody out there curious about the Adrian Mole books must pick up a copy of the Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4 and read it now!

Continuing on with my obsession on the Adrian Mole series, I just finished Adrian Mole: The Lost Years by Sue Townsend. I will say that this is the first one I found a bit wanting...

This one covers the years from Christmas 1984 through April 1992. He's now in his 20's, and he's totally convinced he's a loser who will never experience the love of a woman again (after being dumped by Pandora). He can't master the art of driving a car, he's madly obsessed and in love with his therapist, and he has a dead-end job working for the government managing newt tracking and habitat. His mother has dumped his father and is now living with (and married to) someone about half her age, and he's moved out to live in a room with Pandora, her "husband", and a third member of the odd trio. That soon comes to an end when he meets and eventually falls in love with a news agent girl by the name of Bianca. That's a mad passionate affair until she runs off with his mother's young new husband. And then there's Jo Jo...

Told in diary fashion like the other books, it still is a lot of fun to peer into his life from his perspective (as warped as it is). But this installment seemed to drag out too much. His efforts to finally finish his book were somewhat repetitive after awhile, and there's just far too much whining about how bad he has it. This one didn't seem to have the "magic" of the earlier ones. Maybe it's because he's growing up and dealing with problems that are too close to home on occasion. I don't regret spending the time reading it, nor is it enough to put me off of the series. But I'm holding out hope that this was an aberration.

An interesting journey into the angst ridden world of the peter pan like Adrian Mole. Those who have followed Adrian throughout adolecense will enoy this read. It is best to have read the previous companions to this episode to have an understaning of his obsession with Pandora, his strange family and the frienship with Bert Baxter. I found this latest update as addictive as the previous novels and could not put it down (I finishedit in a day). It will be interesting to visit Adrian again in his middle ages.

When I read the first book: "The Secret Diaries of Adrian Mole" I was hooked and couldn't wait to read the sequel. The poor lad -- you couldn't help but take a liking to him and really hope that he becomes the intellectual he aspires to be or that he moves on to bigger and better things in life. "The Lost Years", while still quite humourous, makes you feel a little frustrated with Adrian--how he is so blind to the things that go on around him. He is SO wrapped up in himself and writing his novel that he ceases to grow -- socially, personally and in his career. Nonetheless, the book is an easy read and a must if you are a follower of the Mole. The end gives us Mole-lites hope in a new beginning for him in the next book: The Cappucino Years, which I am looking forward to reading.

What can I say everytime I hear the name Adrian Mole a big smile comes across my face, the diaries have to be one of the funniest sets of books I have ever read. I have read The Lost years a few times now and althought I dont think that it is the best in the collection it is definetley funny and is a very important part of the series and I would recommend all Adrian Mole fans to read it. Anybody out there curious about the Adrian Mole books must pick up a copy of the Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4 and read it now!