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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Vintage Gleitzman,
By A voracious reader (Mars) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Other Facts of Life (Paperback)
The Other Facts of Life is the story of twelve-year old Aussie, Ben Guthrie. Ben is part of a well-off suburban family: his father, Ron, owns a chain of butcher's shops. His mother, Di, is a typical housewife - quietly passionate about her family, absorbed in tennis and cooking. A normal upper-middle class family, then.
Ben, though, is different from kids around him. He is waking up to the fact that the world beyond his town is in desperate trouble. Impressionable and passionate, he becomes obsessed with famines, crime, drought, poverty, disease and the threat of nuclear war. (Bear in mind this book was published in the 1980s, possibly during the Falklands War when the threat of nuclear conflict was very real.) His parents, absorbed in their little lives, pay no attention to their son's worries. Ben has to take desperate measures to (at least) get them to start worrying. This book is full of humour, some of it wonderfully insane (the scene with Ben and his mother in the shoe shop comes to mind; Ben is attired Gandhi-style in sandals, dhoti and shaven head, his mother is trying to pretend there's nothing going on)and a small part of it more subtle. For example, the chapter headings are all connected with meat (this isn't immediately obvious); there is some wonderful dialogue between Ben and an analyst; the chapter DRIPPING is full of dry Aussie wit; and lastly, there is some byplay between Di and her friend Jean that will have children puzzled, and adults and teenagers snickering. ("I caught [my son] Jason peeking at me in the shower the other day. I was furious. Well, I had this crummy old shower cap on, no makeup...") The book has a message. It is good to have passion, to be yourself - but you have to keep a balance between that and everyday life. Ben's action at the end shows that: he gets a girlfriend, but also acts positively about the world's situation. The only bad things about this book were a) the connection with sex (which seemed vulgar and unnecessary) and b) the fact that Ben's sister, who delivers a few caustic lines, doesn't get a larger role. I recommend you read the Rowena Batts series or other Morris Gleitzman books before reading this, to get used to the style.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Funny and keeping it real,
By Melissa Loh (Singapore) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Other Facts of Life (Paperback)
Ben Guthrie is 12 years old and he can't seem to get his parents, Ron and Di to care about the world's problems: how can they not care about the starving millions or the political tortured? Ron is more concerned about running his meat businesses and Di tries hard to keep her family normal. His older sister Claire is more concerned about trying to attract boys at the pizzeria & getting him out of her face. So Ben starts to take drastic measures... until he learns that sometimes it's the things closer to home that are more important.
The Other Facts of Life is a great read, flowing easily and looks at a passionate kid stuck in normality. Morris Gleitzman takes the reality of life and twists it into a funny and heartwarming piece.
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