The overall rating of a review is different from a simple average of all individual ratings.
Advantages:
It will brighten up your day without a doubt . You'll never look at the Queen mum in the same way again . You can just imagine her in her council bungalow, savings 50ps for the gas meter .
Disadvantages:
The poor ending . It actually seems as if Townsend had ran out of time at the end and just think of something at the last minute .
Hi. My name's Marcus and I'm a student in Liverpool. I'm new here so I'm still learning, but I hope ...
Hi. My name's Marcus and I'm a student in Liverpool. I'm new here so I'm still learning, but I hope to make some friends, help people out and not buy any more stuff that I don't need or want!
Member since:28.06.2001
Reviews:42
Members who trust:4
First of all, I love Sue Townsend. She has the sharpest wit I have ever came accross, and has had the world in stiches for over 25 years. The Queen and I is a fab example of her clever and observational work, but with one fatal let down.
Not trying to give the ending away, when I was at school my English teacher forever told me not to end a good story in the way Townsend did in this book. Now I can understand why he said that.
But the rest of the plot is blinding - who would of thought to base a book on something most other people would find boring. To cut a longish story short, a new political party sweeps to power after TV makers brainwashed the country into voting for the anti-monachy party. The Queen is thrown out the 1st day in power, with the brainwashed public screaming for joy. The goverment immediatly make public transport free, give more benifits out and spend spend spend the money saved by giving the Queen and her family a council house in Hell Close. But with the vaults empty after the goverment's massive spending spree, will the UK have to be taken over by Japan...
After nearly dying of laughter and occasionally having to get up and get some fresh air for all the quips in this best-selling book, you can imagine by disappointment when at the end, just as your going to find out what happens to the Queen after the public have been brainwashed by televisons to rig the election, the monachy thrown out and the country decended into cahos, that Sue has ended it so abruptly and so un-imaginably. She really could do better than that.
An anti-climax to what mostly is a classic Townsend novel (a nice break from the funny, but stale diary format), with a good message hidden in their for luck.
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Jun 30th, 2001
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