[.ca] Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 (ISBN 0141010835)

The 20th Century's Samuel Pepys:
It's 1981 : Margaret Thatcher is Prime Minister, Prince Charles is preparing for his wedding to Lady Diana Spencer and nobody in England has ever heard of the Falkland Islands. Meanwhile Adrian Mole, a spotty kid from Leicester, has a new diary. Adrian is an only child and is only a few months short of his fourteenth birthday. Somewhat pretentious, occasionally insensitive and just a little dim, he has somehow managed to convince himself that he is an intellectual. (He claims to have read "War and Peace" within 24 hours - he thought it was `quite good' - while "Animal Farm" has led him to consider being a vet when he grows up). Almost inevitably, he's started writing poetry, which he occasionally sends to the BBC. Mr and Mrs Lucas, who live next door, cause something of a scandal when they become the first couple on his street to get divorced. (In fact, he's nearly delighted with the fallout, until his own family get caught up in it). These aren't his only problems, of course - he suffers from acne, his O-Levels and CSEs are looming and he's routinely menaced by Barry Kent at school. As a member of the Good Samaritans, a charity group he's joined, he misses his maths lessons on a Monday. The downside is that he has to help out an eighty-one year old war-veteran called Bert Baxter. Bert's drinking and smoking are bad enough, but the fact that Bert reads the Morning Star has led Adrian to suspect the pensioner is actually a communist. However, it's not all doom and gloom : Adrian is in love with Pandora Braithwaite . This is a very funny book - it's always been one of my brother's favourites and I'm sure he wouldn't be alone in viewing it a modern classic. It is written as a diary, rather than a novel - each day is presented as a journal entry, with some days being given more detail than others. While it may be a little more accessible to those who grew up in the UK and Ireland in the 1980s, it's still very funny and is hugely recommended.