Grantchester Grind: A Porterhouse Chronicle

Porterhouse College (hint hint wink wink to Cambridge University's Peterhouse College...), a dubious institution those staff performances range from idiotic incompetence to pure craziness, just got itself a new professor. The Sir, also in need of serious therapy, is far more than a teacher, though, but, endowed with a mission: find out who murdered one of his predecessors. Add to all that a gang of criminals keen on TV documentaries, crooked lawyers, a lot of sexual frustrations, a few financial issues, and great food and wines, and you'll end up here with a thriller as only Tom Sharpe could deliver: English dynamite, completely let loose!

The plot loses itself a tat towards the end, dragging it longer than it should, but, all in all, show more such madness charged with a dark, caricatural, over-the-top humour is just a pure jewel of fun! show less

Whilst I enjoyed re-reading Porterhouse Blue, I didn't find this sequel, written some 21 years later, much fun. The satire has turned into old man’s state-of-England bitterness, the plot is rather clumsily stuck together, with all sorts of lines that don't go anywhere, and there are relatively few good jokes. If you insist on Cambridge backstabbing and deviant sexual practices, you're much better off reading Simon Raven, who at least manages to be amusing when he’s old and bitter.

The usual Tom Sharpe, but rather more satisfying than usual.
The story is just as funny, but more sophisticated and, thank god, does not end with buildings exploding

While I found Jonathan Cecil's narration excellent, this sequel to Sharpe's "Porterhouse Blue" was less hilarious especially towards the end.

Being its sequel, Grantchester Grind follows on straight from where Porterhouse Blue finished. It is neither as amusing or as clever as the earlier book, though it is recognisably of the same ilk. For someone who read and enjoyed the earlier book it might be worth reading, however other readers would be better avoiding this and choosing the earlier book instead.

3.5*

While I found Jonathan Cecil's narration excellent, this sequel to Sharpe's "Porterhouse Blue" was less hilarious especially towards the end.

The sequel to "Porterhouse Blue". With a new master, Scullion, now in charge and doubts still surrounding the death of the late Master, more unspeakably awful goings-on are inevitable at Cambridge's most disreputable college.