The Season Ticket

Apparently this book has been made into a film, and I'm not surprised because all the way through I was thinking it would probably be twice as funny done visually. It was amusing to read, but not laugh-out-loud. Several amusing scenarios were created - not least the two Newcastle fans finding themselves in the home end at the Stadium of Light.

I was generally more impressed by the story's more serious side, and the depressing but bleak vision of Gateshead through the four seasons, a land of overcrowded hospitals, schools full of delinquents, and housing estates full of lager-swilling mums and tab-smoking primary school children. Amazing, really, that it managed to be funny, but it did.

Liked the North-East dialect throughout ("Ha'way show more man, divven't piss aboot"), and the book introduced new verb 'to twoc' (well it was new to me, anyway). Dated somewhat by its reference, at one point, to 'The Toon' being at the top of the league - when has that happened recently, unless you're talking about the Championship? - but otherwise a very readable and thought-provoking statement on modern life at the wrong end of the economic scale. show less

Can't really compare it to the film as only a couple of things happen in both, the ending in the book is completely different from the film, as is the last 'main' part. The book really takes in the geography of the Heed and the way things are described you feel like you're there, I know and have been to every place described in the book.