48 Shades of Brown
by Nick Earls
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While his parents are in Geneva, sixteen-year-old Dan spends his last year of high school living with his twenty-two-year-old bass-playing aunt, Jacq, and her beautiful friend Naomi, whose active lovelife is audible through the wall between their bedrooms.Tags
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Member Reviews
I was thinking that I wasn't getting too much out of this story about an Australian high-school lad Dan whose parents were spending a year working in Europe so he had to live with his aunt Jacq, a uni (university) student and her roommate Naomi. Dan has a crush on Naomi and is trying to figure out how to act at a party his roommates host at their house when he encounters Imogen, a party guest with a Chuppa-Chup (lollipop). I practically fell on the floor laughing at this party scene. I'm glad I stuck with this book at least for all of the belly laughs just that one chapter gave me. Dan perseverates a lot, and we readers still hear about Naomi even as this book ends, but it concludes on a happy and realistic note. It turned out to be a show more fine read after all. show less
At about 60 pp in to this LFL find I'm checking others' reviews. Apparently things are going to get livelier after a long rambly start. Not sure if that's a good thing, tbh. I mean, I'm kinda bored atm, but I also don't think the point is that Dan is going to have adventures or comic excitement. I guess I'll keep reading and see.
The thing is, it's told in present tense. Which I didn't realize at first because of two other things. First, there are no quotation marks for dialogue; if more than two people are talking, or if Dan is talking and also thinking, there's no way to be sure exactly who or what. Second, it's rather mature content; in the US, this book would not be written about a 16 yo, even if he is already a senior.
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Done. Yeah, show more it took awhile to get more interesting, but, thankfully, once it did, it didn't get too silly or intense or anything. I quite liked it. Not sure about the title, though. I mean, it does have a referent & it does make sense. But also it could have been called *The Fish Tank Scene* and I think that would have been more graceful, given its referent. show less
The thing is, it's told in present tense. Which I didn't realize at first because of two other things. First, there are no quotation marks for dialogue; if more than two people are talking, or if Dan is talking and also thinking, there's no way to be sure exactly who or what. Second, it's rather mature content; in the US, this book would not be written about a 16 yo, even if he is already a senior.
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Done. Yeah, show more it took awhile to get more interesting, but, thankfully, once it did, it didn't get too silly or intense or anything. I quite liked it. Not sure about the title, though. I mean, it does have a referent & it does make sense. But also it could have been called *The Fish Tank Scene* and I think that would have been more graceful, given its referent. show less
I read the book ’48 Shades of Brown’ because I heard it was a very good book. I hadn’t seen the movie, but planned on watching after I’d read the book, which I did, and was thoroughly disappointed. The movie is no comparison. It does the book absolutely no justice. So if you’ve watched the movie and either been put off reading the book because of it, or believe that since you’ve seen the movie there’s no need for you to read the book, think again. Nick Earls’ talent means that he makes something out of nothing, something the filmmakers failed to do.
My favourite thing about this book is Dan. He is a great character who every reader will love. He tackles every situation thrown at him with courage and manages to turn even show more the dullest of situations into comical ones. ’48 Shades of Brown’ is a very funny book. The name has a little to do with one of the book’s more comical situations- Dan memorises every shade of brown that a bird could be in order to impress Naomi- all 48 of them. The characters that surround Dan are also very memorable- his eccentric aunt, Jacq; Naomi, and his annoying friend Chris.
As I said, Nick Earls does manage to make something out of nothing. You get so caught up in what’s going on in Dan’s brain that you lose track of what’s going on in the actual story. You don’t really get to know much about Dan at school, or his parents being away. After a few postcards, you find they’re coming back again, and the books over, and when you look back on it, you realise nothing much has actually happened. Dan, however, has matured and developed, and it is his personal journey that the book is really about.
‘48 Shades of Brown’, despite a lack of real plot or structure, and despite Nick Earls’ attempting to squash almost and entire 365 day period into 288 days, is a very good book that I enjoyed immensely. Despite the movie giving it a bad name, the book really lives up to it’s reputation. It would appeal mostly to anyone, boy or girl, in their teen years. show less
My favourite thing about this book is Dan. He is a great character who every reader will love. He tackles every situation thrown at him with courage and manages to turn even show more the dullest of situations into comical ones. ’48 Shades of Brown’ is a very funny book. The name has a little to do with one of the book’s more comical situations- Dan memorises every shade of brown that a bird could be in order to impress Naomi- all 48 of them. The characters that surround Dan are also very memorable- his eccentric aunt, Jacq; Naomi, and his annoying friend Chris.
As I said, Nick Earls does manage to make something out of nothing. You get so caught up in what’s going on in Dan’s brain that you lose track of what’s going on in the actual story. You don’t really get to know much about Dan at school, or his parents being away. After a few postcards, you find they’re coming back again, and the books over, and when you look back on it, you realise nothing much has actually happened. Dan, however, has matured and developed, and it is his personal journey that the book is really about.
‘48 Shades of Brown’, despite a lack of real plot or structure, and despite Nick Earls’ attempting to squash almost and entire 365 day period into 288 days, is a very good book that I enjoyed immensely. Despite the movie giving it a bad name, the book really lives up to it’s reputation. It would appeal mostly to anyone, boy or girl, in their teen years. show less
Reviewed by Andrew S. Cohen for TeensReadToo.com
In 48 SHADES OF BROWN, Australian author Nick Earls comically portrays Dan in this coming-of-age story.
Dan, a high school student, boards with his crazy band-playing Aunt Jacq, 22, and her roommate, Naomi, an attractive pysch major at the Uni. Through his social and emotional innocence, Dan becomes infatuated with Naomi and her every movement, including her frequent sexual run-ins with her 'jerk' boyfriend, in turn devastating Dan.
Dan is very innocent, yet his sensitive and intellectual demeanor allows the reader to easily identify with him. He has intense social reflection throughout the novel, and only seems to be disrupted by his friend, Chris Burns, another inexperienced, yet show more porn-obsessed, friend.
The realness of the novel and the hilarious conclusion of the party allow for true connection into the complex character of Dan, along with providing for an entertaining read.
All those who have had to grow up will be able to relate. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, despite some of it being a bit slow at times. My only other gripe was the unfamiliar textual presentation, as the entire book consisted of Dan's introspection or what seemed to be him hearing others talk, which was put in italics, which I felt was a bit irritable at times throughout.
However, I'd recommend this one to anyone who has risen up in the sex-obsessed world we know and love. show less
In 48 SHADES OF BROWN, Australian author Nick Earls comically portrays Dan in this coming-of-age story.
Dan, a high school student, boards with his crazy band-playing Aunt Jacq, 22, and her roommate, Naomi, an attractive pysch major at the Uni. Through his social and emotional innocence, Dan becomes infatuated with Naomi and her every movement, including her frequent sexual run-ins with her 'jerk' boyfriend, in turn devastating Dan.
Dan is very innocent, yet his sensitive and intellectual demeanor allows the reader to easily identify with him. He has intense social reflection throughout the novel, and only seems to be disrupted by his friend, Chris Burns, another inexperienced, yet show more porn-obsessed, friend.
The realness of the novel and the hilarious conclusion of the party allow for true connection into the complex character of Dan, along with providing for an entertaining read.
All those who have had to grow up will be able to relate. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, despite some of it being a bit slow at times. My only other gripe was the unfamiliar textual presentation, as the entire book consisted of Dan's introspection or what seemed to be him hearing others talk, which was put in italics, which I felt was a bit irritable at times throughout.
However, I'd recommend this one to anyone who has risen up in the sex-obsessed world we know and love. show less
This is a really funny book about Dan spending his last year of school sharing a house with his musician cousin Jacq and the gorgeous Naomi, a uni student. He falls for Naomi and is a bit over his head trying to keep up with the social life he'd like to have and his studies - which include an essay about Romeo and Juliet that we hear quite a bit about on the way through.
I really didn't care for this book. The main character thought too much. I was wondering why students hadn't been reading it...I was hoping it was just a bad cover...but I can't think of anyone to recommend this book to.
Dan is quite out of his depth when he chooses to spend his last year of school riooming with a very young cousin and her roommate rather than accompanying his parents to their new home in Switzerland.
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43+ Works 1,787 Members
Nick Earls was born on October 8, 1963 in Newtownards, Northern Ireland. His family moved to Australia when he was nine. He earned a medical degree at the University of Queensland and practiced medicine before becoming a writer. He has written over 16 novels and short stories, along with poetry and articles for major newspapers. His most recent show more novel is Analogue Men. Word Hunter's trilogy is his first children's series. Wisdom Tree is his novella series which features one new novella a month for five months (May-September 2016). His awards include the Betty Trask Award in 1998 for his novel Zigzag. His young adult novel 48 Shades of Brown won the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year for older readers in 2000 and was adapted into a film. Perfect Skin was also adapted into a film. Five of his novels were adapted into plays. He won the 2016 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award, Eight to 10 years for his book New Boy. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Awards
Work Relationships
Has the adaptation
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1999
- People/Characters
- Dan; Jacq; Naomi; Imogen; Phillip John Borthwick; Chris Burns
- Important places
- Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Queensland, Australia
- Related movies
- 48 Shades (2006 | IMDb)
- Dedication
- I'd like to thank Sarah for calling this one her favourite so far, and Fiona for calling me as soon as she read it, and laughing. And Sandy for calling me all those times with ideas for making it better.
I'd also like to thank Imogen for lending me her name and for her rigorous insistence on Damascus Black; the Australia Council; and Baz Luhrmann for taking a 400-year-old play and coming up with something totally new. - First words
- So how was Geneva? Jacq says, pretending that the wheel isn't shuddering in her hand as she sends her old mustard-coloured Peugeot up to a hundred.
- Quotations
- It's all about telling her I'm okay.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And in an act of some kindness, she still doesn't ask.
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 228
- Popularity
- 143,206
- Reviews
- 7
- Rating
- (3.46)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 24
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 4
