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Laura's Reviews > Starter for Ten
Starter for Ten
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When we were young -a long long time ago- a friend of mine and me joked about the continuous crises: the first-year-at-uni crisis, the mid-degree crisis and of course, the last-degree-year crisis. Hey, our life was so full!
This is a first-year-at-uni crisis novel, dissected by his protagonist and narrator, Brian. He presents himself as a working-class lad setting off on his big university journey, with all its appealing prospects: leaving home to live on your own -that is to say, in your shared accommodation-, meeting lots of attractive interesting girls, learning all sorts of important things and even becoming part of the University Challenge team!
Brian is a bit different in that he is the only one in his group of friends to have earned a grant to go to uni: the other lads are stuck in dreary underpaid jobs in the middle of a recession, as the book is set in the 1980´s. Of course, I couldn´t help comparing the situation of these funded students with today´s recession and the exhorbitant price of university fees. Being paid to study? It seems like the stuff of fairy tales now!
Predictably, as Brian tries to meet as many people as possible and to have as many experiences as possible, he neglects his mum and his friends: he doesn´t go back for weekends, doesn´t phone much and when his best friend comes to visit, he is unkind. So this is not entirely a campus-novel: it is also a novel about what is outside the campus, about the friends we have left behind and the families who are carrying on with their lives.
I gather that universities are the place where middle class and lower class undergraduates meet upper class undergraduates, the kind of students who went to public schools and have tons of cash, property and privileges. This was a topic in "One Day" too. It seems to happen for the first time, too. As I am not British, I was surprised by such a deep class division. Did they never go to the same pubs and clubs wherever they all came from? Here Brian falls for blonde posh girl Alice, and they strike up a sort of friendship that degenerates into farce at various points, notably when Brian spends a desultory Christmas holiday at Alice´s family´s country home. Well, there is a blond dream girl in every guy´s past, so we will not hold down any hard feelings against Brian. Who can blame him for trying? Not me, certainly.
I look forward to my kids enjoying university life, even if I haven´t got a clue how on earth we are going to be able to afford this. Well, my son has only just started Reception, so it may be a bit early to worry about it.
This is a first-year-at-uni crisis novel, dissected by his protagonist and narrator, Brian. He presents himself as a working-class lad setting off on his big university journey, with all its appealing prospects: leaving home to live on your own -that is to say, in your shared accommodation-, meeting lots of attractive interesting girls, learning all sorts of important things and even becoming part of the University Challenge team!
Brian is a bit different in that he is the only one in his group of friends to have earned a grant to go to uni: the other lads are stuck in dreary underpaid jobs in the middle of a recession, as the book is set in the 1980´s. Of course, I couldn´t help comparing the situation of these funded students with today´s recession and the exhorbitant price of university fees. Being paid to study? It seems like the stuff of fairy tales now!
Predictably, as Brian tries to meet as many people as possible and to have as many experiences as possible, he neglects his mum and his friends: he doesn´t go back for weekends, doesn´t phone much and when his best friend comes to visit, he is unkind. So this is not entirely a campus-novel: it is also a novel about what is outside the campus, about the friends we have left behind and the families who are carrying on with their lives.
I gather that universities are the place where middle class and lower class undergraduates meet upper class undergraduates, the kind of students who went to public schools and have tons of cash, property and privileges. This was a topic in "One Day" too. It seems to happen for the first time, too. As I am not British, I was surprised by such a deep class division. Did they never go to the same pubs and clubs wherever they all came from? Here Brian falls for blonde posh girl Alice, and they strike up a sort of friendship that degenerates into farce at various points, notably when Brian spends a desultory Christmas holiday at Alice´s family´s country home. Well, there is a blond dream girl in every guy´s past, so we will not hold down any hard feelings against Brian. Who can blame him for trying? Not me, certainly.
I look forward to my kids enjoying university life, even if I haven´t got a clue how on earth we are going to be able to afford this. Well, my son has only just started Reception, so it may be a bit early to worry about it.
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Finished Reading
September 24, 2011
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rated it 4 stars
Nov 07, 2011 05:42AM
Loved your review. I loved this book laughed out loud. My son had finished uni a couple of years before I read this book. Brian really came to life for me. My husband who was in the merchant navy took the book with him but never read it. He lent it to one of the guys on the ship who loved it. When he gave the book back to my husband he said he laughed out loud and could relate to some of the things when he was young. Two days later he went back to my husband and asked for the book back. Seemingly he had one two many drinks while reading the last two chapters and needed to read it again:)its a book to make you laugh,bit sad too.
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That's a good story! I found it very funny too, I quite liked the movie too, did you know there is one? We bought it online for about three pounds. They changed a few bits but it still worked OK. It is a bit sad, too. Starting university away from home is hard and you have to be quite brave to meet new people. Everybody else looked so confident!
Yes I do know about the film. I have the DVD.The first time I watched it To be honest I was a bit disappointed.There were so many of my favourite parts missed out. Just didnt live up to the book for me. Quite a while later I watched it again and enjoyed it! (even though I still prefer the book) The actor who took the part of Brian did a good job.So sorry for him when he was on University Challenge.He was doing so well too.
Regarding the class angle, this book is heavily autobiographical, and Nicholls was at Bristol University for two of the three years I was there. I didn't know him, but Bristol was (and is) infamous for having a particularly high proportion of "posh" students from public schools, and Oxbridge rejects with chips on their shoulders. That could make it hard for a shy working-class student to fit in.
That is very interesting, Cecily. I think sometimes there are some autobiographical details in Nicholls' novels, I felt like that about The Understudy.
Laura, readers, would any of you guys out there be able to recommend another first-year-at-uni crisis novel?I loved how you defined Starter for Ten, Laura! I was having a hard time pinning down how to ask for a read similar to this one =).
I also liked "The Marriage Plot" by Jeffrey Eugenides, and "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt.I will keep thinking of more titles. I am addicted to this type of novel!
Thank you, Laura! =) I will definitely check those out! And can recommend a few to you which you might enjoy given your interest in coming of age themes: Spud (by the South African John Van de Ruit), Prep (by Curtis Sittenfeld), The perks of being a wallflower (Stephen Chbosky)and many more...let me know if I can be of help to you.
Thanks, Paola. I have read Prep, but I will check out the others.
