well i really enjoyed this poshwellies. I was about 4 or 5 at the time of the Falklands War and i have vivid memories of it all. I found the book totally absorbing (although i was confused about the old woman in the house for a bit, and the 'unborn twin' he kept referring to or having conversations with). I really enjoyed revisiting the 80's and turns of phrase that i had forgotten existed. "Wizzard" and "Skill" hahaha!

I found the bullying quite hard to read about, as I was bullied pretty badly at school and it made me appreciate again how school can be a dreadful place full of social rules and injustices - and remembering that feeling of sickness and dread about the upcoming day. We are thinking about Home Edding our DS - for many reasons (both DH and I are ex secondary school teachers) and this book has reminded me about how horrible school can be. (both DH and i worked at very 'nice' schools where it is easy to forget about your own experiences at a v rough comp (well, that only goes for me - DH went to a v posh boarding school))

Anyway - a lot to think about. I really identified with Jason, poor love. Im glad he is able to make a new start.

Note to self : fiction is NOT REAL you loon!

I read this book a while back and absolutley loved it - I loved the whole '80's setting and the story.

Loved it, but absolutely loathed Cloud Atlas

Hi Poshwellies. I have to apologise for not seeing this one through - I only got to about page 90. These days I always seem to read in 'waves' in that I'll read several books back-to-back and then just can't get interested in reading for a few weeks other than flicking through magazines. Unfortunately, your book arrived just in time for a dry spell!

It did take me right back to the 80's though (strangely a period I just don't feel that nostalgic about even though I was a teenager in the latter part of that decade) and reading the other posts on here I find myself quite intrigued about what went onto happen to Jason post page 90-something!

I've read this book quite recently. I was a teenager at the same time as Jason, so I read it with a huge amount of nostalgia.

I remember that I really enojoyed it, but when I read stickylittlefingers' review, I realise quite how bad my memory is - I don't remember the woods at all!

One thing that struck me when I read it was how well informed he was about current affairs. I remember the Falklands War, but I don't remember being so aware of it when it was actually happening (but I was a particularly self-absorbed teenager, to my shame!)

On the back of this, I bought Cloud Atlas, but it read like it was written by a different author. I didn't enjoy it at all.

I also really enjoyed this book.

I thought it read really well (apart from a few rather difficult phrases Jason was meant to think up, but perhaps that was deliberate - a poetry-loving teenager would come up with a few clangers?).

Sometimes I did feel a bit like I was reading a Judy Blume (which I would probably still enjoy!). The Hansel and Gretelly bit in the woods (it was good he didn't get put in the enormous oven) I thought didn't really work - was it meant to be again, the poetry-loving teenager would view episodes in his life in a literary way? I just found it slightly annoying! But then I find magical realism also rather annoying. I thought David Mitchell was being a bit self conscious at that point. I did, however, think that the part where he and Dean were off to find the tunnel through the Malverns did work - that more underlined how ordinary life can take on a weird aspect, rather than making up weird characters and settings and going "well, wasn't that weird?", as I felt he was in the Hansel and Gretel scene. I hope this might make some kind of sense!!

Overall, another book I really enjoyed and one I wouldn't have necessarily read otherwise. I do like this bookclub!!

Just 60 odd pages in. Am enjoying it a lot (not wanting my train to stop. If I keep getting good book clubs books I might have to move jobs to Edinburgh - or Aberdeen! - to give me enough reading time). I'm wondering will I get tired of the "voice of the 12 year old"? It is just how I remember it, and it is bringing back all kinds of personal school memories, just because I'd forgotten words like "flid" and "going ape"... tho that's probably as well!

Anyhow, will post more fully once I've read it through. Am having a great time so far!

Hi Poshwellies. I'd already read this book, but handily the arrival of DS has wiped most of it from my memory banks, so it's like reading it anew! I always meant to re-read it too. I loved Cloud Atlas by the same writer - this is sooooo different. However, I think the writer is amazing at giving a 'voice' to his characters in both books.

I'm about a third of the way through, so will keep posting my musings.

Do you think the author has made Jason too clever/erudite/funny though? Like how a grown up would imagine (or like to imagine) a 13 year old might sound? I always remember hating The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, because I felt it was so inauthentic - I was about the same age as the protagonist at the time, and thought there was no way it sounded real.

I love the book - funny and touching.

I bought this book a few years ago,the book was in the window of Waterstones and attracted me.I had not heard of the author before but thought 'Ooooh pretty cover' and bought it .

I throughly enjoyed reading it all (apart from the ending!).I enjoyed the nostalgia of the era in which it is based in.The awkwardness of the main character was fascinating (painful to read at certain points) as was dynamics of the family unit which surrounded him.

Anyway,discuss!