The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole

After surprising myself by liking the first in the Adrian Mole series, I started working my way through the rest of the series, starting with this one, "The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole".

There are some great lines here (opening the book at a random, the first line I see is "The nearest Barry Kent has been to Japanese culture is sitting on the pillion of a stolen Honda"), and deep thoughts mixed in with a statement showing he still doesn't quite understand much of the world.

The Adrian Mole series becomes more depressing as he ages so this one is still humorous without being tempered by feelings of mortality.

I liked the diary format of The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole because the voice often sounded like what a 15-year-old boy might have written in 1984, but saying that, there were times Adrian sounded older and surprisingly responsible, while at other moments he seemed much younger and completely clueless about things he probably should have understood at his age.

The family tensions and Adrian’s relationship with his neighbour and girlfriend added another layer to the diary and helped show the awkwardness of teenage life.

There were also some genuinely funny moments. A few lines actually made me laugh out loud, and I had to read them to my husband. It was a quick, easy read, but it didn't grab me.

It wasn’t a page-turner, and the story show more didn’t seem to build toward an ending. Of course, it is a diary, so maybe I’m wrong in looking for a clear plot or message. Still, it felt like not much had changed from the beginning of the book to the end.

The ending also felt abrupt to me. It almost felt as if someone had ripped out the last few pages of the book. There was no lesson or closure.

For me, this was a solid 3-star read. There were enjoyable parts, and it was at times funny, but it didn’t quite pull me in the way my favourite books do. I’m glad I read it, but it wasn’t a book I felt eager to recommend to others. show less

After reading the first Adrian Mole book a while ago, I couldn't resist when I saw this one, the second one, for a few cents in a second hand shop. In the case of this series, I think if you like the first, you'll like the rest, and if you don't you won't.
This book comes right after the first one ended. His parents are trying it together again, he is with his girlfriend Pandora, he is hitting puberty. For a seemingly smart boy he can be pretty far from the real world sometimes. He always tries his best, but the assumptions he makes are not quite real. This leads to some humorous and cringe-worthy situations. I really likes the first book, and liked this one too. Four out of five stars.

The second volume in the series of Adrian Mole books, another re-read from my youth. This covers the period from the Falklands War in April 1982 to the eve of the general election in June 1983, when Adrian is just about to sit his O levels (as was I). These first two books were really good, and the humour is laugh out loud funny. The early 1980s do feel like a different world in many ways, a world without the internet and mobile phones. I was shyer than Adrian, but my family background was a lot more stable.

The second installment of diary entries of Adrian Mole, a naive teenager who believes himself to be an intellectual. I read this as a child and found it funny then and even funnier now that I understand Adrian's misinterpretations of the event in his life even better. The audiobook narrator, Nicholas Barnes, does a really great job with Adrian's voice.

This book is so much like the one which preceeds it that I find it difficult to write an entirely separate review. This is (most of) what I had to say about The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4: "Adrian Mole, precocious British teenager, self-professed intellectual, and diarist tells us of his trials and tribulations. His musings are funny, sweet, and ultimately poignant.
Adrian is such a real and believable character that it's hard to believe he sprung from the mind of a middle-aged woman, who herself has never, presumably, been a 13 and 3/4 year old boy. Of course, neither have I. I am also not British, and not well-acquainted with early 1980's Britain and know nothing of British politics. I often find it difficult to read show more literature from countries I have not visited or studied extensively, but the colloquialisms herein are not as mystifying or unable to be understood from context in this work as others I have read.
I would recommend this book to any American Anglophile or any young adult who would in any way identify with the engaging character of Adrian Mole."
The only thing I have to add about this edition of the series is that I find it a little hard to believe that a 15-year-old as well-read and 'intellectual' as Adrian is completely oblivious to certain things. It's rather annoying and makes him a bit less believable of a character. However, this book is still literally laugh out loud funny. show less

Adrian Mole is funny without trying. That is my favourite kind of humour: when someone can make you laugh without necessarily telling a joke. I'll definitely be reading more of his diaries.