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Review for Abridged CD (6CDs, 8hrs).

At 860 pages, this is not a book I'd have chosen to read but in its abridged verion it made for quite enjoyable listening.

The plot centres around the struggling Larks Comprehensive School, facing closure due to falling pupil numbers and battling against members of the local heierachy who stand to benefit from its demise.
The headmaster of neighbouring Bagley Hall, a private school that will get tax concessions if seen to be helping the community, approaches the new headmistress of Larks to arrange mutually beneficial activities.
The heads of the two schools are attracted to one another, as are several of the pupils and staff, with obvious complications.

The central character was Janna Curtis, the new head of Larks. Well drawn and dedicated to her school, she was surrounded by lesser characters and so on down to the cast of thousands which eventually became so confusing that I wasn't sure which pupils were in which school, or even which staff.

But my main reservations about the book were the visit from the Queen which seemed unnecessary and tagged on, and the scene at the end of the story that was just gratuitous. I don't want to give too much away but for me this dropped my star rating down from 4 to 3 stars.

Don't buy the book - listen to the CD!

Your Tags: schools ( )

My favourite Jilly Cooper novel to date her sense of humour and naughtiness are irresistible I can't wait to see what subject she will tackle next. ( )

http://nylusmilk.wordpress.com/2007/0... ( )

TWO excesses mark Jilly Cooper’s books: use of puns, and graphic sex scenes. Wicked! is no exception unfortunately because, but for the above factors, this book should be required reading for all South Africans over the age of 12.

Wicked! is subtitled “a tale of two schools” but it is actually an examination of the English school system and society, both of which bear remarkable parallels to our own situation.

In England, like here, there appear to be three levels of schooling: the equivalent of the “private” school, followed by their version of “Model C” and, lastly, the state or “sink” schools.

The story is more about the expensive Bagley Hall, and the dead-end Larks, than about the people, who, engaging though they may be, are the usual Jilly caricatures.

The Larks children have problems with literacy, transport, motivation and teenage pregnancy, and are likely to engage in underage sex, smoking, and drug and alcohol abuse.

Sexual and substance abuse is no less rife at the other end of the scale and, despite their material advantages, pupils at the elite Bagley Hall have a lot in common with their Larks contemporaries.

The book deals with serious issues, the bare bones of which could be rendered as dry as an academic thesis, but Cooper carries it off with her usual insouciance, to the extent of sending herself up in the novel as a plump, jolly novelist with a shiny face.

Despite paedophilia, poverty and perversion being described in detail, and the plethora of puns, Wicked! is a wonderful read, which should resonate with South African parents and pupils alike. ( )

The usual mix of dreadful puns and caricatures. She used to be able to write 'good trash' - great beach reads, bubblegum books - this is just trash, and you will feel bored and insulted for having bothered to struggle to the (even worse) end. ( )