Customer Reviews

Grantchester Grind

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

 

 

Although this book is the sequel to Porterhouse Blue, I liked it better. Not as good as Wilt or Blott on the Landscape, but still pretty good. My other favorites are Ancestral Vices and The Great Pursuit.

Unfortunately Tom Sharpe is not the most prolific author, consequently it is exciting whenever he chooses to grace the marketplace with another offering. Grantchester Grind is a sequel to the Porterhouse series, and is yet another wickedly irreverent satire from the master.

Sharpe is living on his reputation with this one. I suggest you avoid buying it and read Porterhouse Blue or the Throwback to see Sharpe at his very best.

Sorry Tom, but you need to keep your writing sharp!

Okay, Sharpe does write funny material. The dialogue, complete with cute double entendres, is especially hilarious. And Grantchester Grind, a farce concerning the shenanigans at a stodgy old Cambridge (UK) college, has all that. The author makes great fun of both Americans (loud, vulgar, stupid) and British (snobbish, prudish, self-righteous). However after the first couple hundred pages it all starts to feel repetitive, as if the author doesn't know where to go with the story. In the end I was glad to be done with it!


Bottom line: the author has written better. Not recommended.

The arrival of a new Tom Sharpe novel used to guarantee the reader hours of helpless laughter. The ribald storylines that poked fun of stuffed-shirt and jack-booted authority figures was unique, the humour often growing naturally out of the outlandish conversations between shifty characters. His humour was delightfully literary and concurrently vulgar, but translated poorly to other media as in the television series based on "Blott on the Landscape," or the woefully unfunny film based on "Wilt." After waiting nearly a decade for a new novel from Sharpe, even the dedicated fan will be very disappointed by "Grantchester Grind." I was moved only to one minor chuckle near the beginning and the remainder of the book seemed more a chore than a pleasure. The title in this case is all too indicitive of what awaits the hapless reader. There are simply too many characters, their motivations or even personalities are not clearly defined and the hijinks are not up to snuff. This is bad enough, but stretches of the book are also badly written with lots of repetitive phraseology such as "said the older man." The ending is far from satisfactory and it seems only an attempt to congeal a convoluted mess. Groucho Marx said that "outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend, inside of a dog it's too dark to read." Unfortunately I have to suggest to the author of such cherished masterpieces as "The Great Pursuit," "Riotous Assembly," and "Wilt" that there is too little difference between his latest book and man's best friend.

Typical Sharpe fare-but reveals more about Sharpe himself than his usual. A Sharpe fan will find his understanding of the author considerably deepened. Henry Wilt and Commandant Van Heerden could have collaborated on this book. I was grateful for this, but some reviewers seem to be disappointed. Funnier than average. As many uncontrollable laughter moments as Indecent Exposure. Logical development of Porterhouse Blue. I will never forget how to make a Dog's Nose. Sharpe's understanding of American business practice may leave a lot to be desired, but I don't see why this bothers some people so much.

Although not his best, Sharpe still tickles the correct ribs with this, his longest book. Porterhouse Blues was Sharpe's first venture into the academic humor that Kingsley Amiss exploited so well in Lucky Jim, and in Grantchester Grind Sharpe takes the reader deeper into the daffy world of Cambridge. For one who missed Sharpe's 10-year hiatus, Grantchester Grind and his latest book, The Midden, was a welcome return for the reigning king of British humor. Let's just hope he doesn't keep us waiting that long again for his next work.