I finished Spud, a book by John van de Ruit, earlier this evening. This is not the sort of book I’d pick out but a number of people who liked the legendary Youth in Revolt also liked this book. So I gave it a shot.
This book actually has some similarities to Youth In Revolt. It’s sort of pointless, which you might think is a bad thing, but it’s not. What is it? Funny. Absolutely hysterical. Not as funny as YIR, but not much is that funny.
As funny as it is — and I liked it so much I ordered the recently released sequel — I can’t recommend this to everyone. It’s set in South Africa which means there is racial commentary, though all the backwards ideas are definitely subjugated and/or mocked in some form. But that’s not why I am hesitant to recommend it either. It’s definitely written for an audience that is familiar with British customs as it’s set in a boarding school. I’m not sure if all of my readers here can handle the slang. The slang didn’t bother me, but I’m sure I lost some of the humour in the boarding school escapades.
The book is sexually charged, which is to be expected from a group of main characters that are teenagers in a boarding school environment. The fun begins, of course, when there’s a play and girls enter the picture. I won’t put spoilers here, but if you’ve got some time and want a laugh out loud funny book, this may fill the spot. I’d recommend this for anyone about 14/15 or older.
In other news, the Michael Yormark post (yesterday’s) is generating some serious traffic and I still encourage other disenfranchised Panther fans to share a link to that. Remember, this is a rare opportunity for change.
Shout out to Erin: Good luck with your operation tomorrow.