Noughties

Noughties

2012 • 288 pages

Ok to pretty good. Book told from the point of view of narrator Eliot of his last night at university and the ensuing pub crawl. In three sections, we move from Pub to Bar to Club. During this we meet his friends, Jack (his bestie), Sanjay, Scott, Megan, Ali, and Ella (the object of his desires). Through flashbacks we learn of the key moments of his three years at Oxford Uni and of Lucy, his hometown girlfriend that he struggles to deal with as he grows up at home.
The privileged upbringings are all pretty obvious throughout so if you can deal with those, you'll enjoy the text mostly. There's plenty of poetry diatribe to get through though (Eliot is studying English) and you have to wonder why it's necessary to the book. The writer often indulges himself in long witterings that I'm sure he thinks help describe the situation but often confuse matters entirely. Throughout you eventually end up hating Eliot as he is mostly a complete dick, unable to communicate with others properly without losing the plot and ends up causing fights with all and sundry. He also has a disturbing habit of lapsing into very weird daydreams and you wonder for his sanity.
However, it is a good read and for those who attended University you'll see plenty of yourself in it. Coming to terms with being away from home, the tear between those you left and the new people you find yourself with, and then the worry of what to do when it all ends.

May 12, 2014Report this review