Format: Paperback
Language: English
ISBN: 9780007274673
Price: 269 INR
There are six things very wrong with my life:
1. I have one of those under-the-skin spots that will never come to a
head but lurk in a red way for the next two years.
2. It is on my nose.
3. I have a three-year-old sister who may have peed somewhere in
my room.
4. In fourteen days the summer hols will be over and then it will be
back to Stalag 14 and Oberführer Frau Simpson and her bunch of
sadistic ‘teachers’.
5. I am very ugly and need to go into an ugly home.
6. I went to a party dressed as a stuffed olive.
Again, a book/series read (and completed, for evident reasons) in my mid-teens but I review this series and author in pure homage to its comedic genius although, perhaps the only way to do any true justice to reviewing a book/series such as this would be to bombard you with excerpts.
‘Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging‘ is the first book in the series by comedian and author Louise Rennison, narrated through the (immensely hilarious) journal of a teenage British girl named Georgia Nicholson who grows up in England with a assorted set of peculiar girlfriends known as the ‘Ace Gang’. Her family (profligate mother, embarrassing father, ludicrous baby sister and vicious pet cat) are also a recurring source of humour throughout the book and series. The greater part of the plotlines in the series follows Georgia and her friends’ relationships with boys and Georgia’s confusion in choosing her initial boyfriend Robbie, ‘the Italian
Masimo’ and her closest guy friend Dave and the impact the antagonist Lindsay, described as having a beastly, sticky-up nose and being disreputably wet in appearance, has on these relationships.
Louise Rennison presents Georgia’s growing sexuality as ordinary and innate to any teenage girl in a lighthearted surreal way reminiscent of all of our growing years. Who hasn’t stalked the boy they are crushing on (virtually or even in a non-creepy shall-stare-at-with-puppy-dog-eyes way)? Who hasn’t come across some evil, conniving, better looking older girl trying to take over a relationship? Rennison doesn’t tactfully deal with growing pains but does it directly, which is a lot more commendable than covering the truth up under the covers. The books also come with an enjoyably detailed glossary of the British euphemisms (sometimes even just Georgia-isms) while help a first-time readers understand Brit culture and lingo much better, bordering between being deliciously funny and downright helpful. Some examples:
• “Thongs: Stupid underwear. What’s the point of them, anyway? They just go up your bum, as far as I can tell.”
• “Roll neck: Turtleneck”
• “Naff: Unbearably and embarrassingly out of fashion and nerdy. Naff things are: Parents dancing to ‘modern’ music, blue eye shadow, blokes who wear socks with sandals, pigtails. You know what I mean.”
• “milky pops: a soothing hot milk drink, when you are a little person. (No, not an elf, I mean a child).
Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yes, when you are a child, people give words endings to make them more cozy. Chocolate is therefore obviously choccy woccy doo dah. Blanket is blankin’. Tooth is tushy
peg. Easy is easy peasey lemon squeasey. If grown-ups ever talk like this, do not hesitate to kill them.”
There’s even a comical and very proficient 1 to 10 scale for rating your sexual experience, ranging from ‘Hand Holding‘ to ‘Full Monty‘. Georgia’s school escapades are slightly on the theatrical side, but that’s part of what makes her character and story so thoroughly refreshing and delightful. Something is always going wrong (didn’t we feel like that growing up??) but she has the right attitude about things – having more fun than the grown-ups around her is imperative. Now isn’t that every teenager’s axiom?
A must read for any girl growing up post 90s. Not to mention a good dollop of cheerful wittiness.
Overall Rating: 9/10
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