What I Was - Meg Rosoff

...Was Like'''

What I Was is a short novel about a young boy at public school in the 1960s. He doesn’t get on well with his father and this is the third school that he’s been sent to after being kicked out of the previous ones. From the first or second page I was instantly put in mind of J.D. Slinger’s classic Catcher in the Rye. Our lead character is suitably sceptical and the full embodiment of a confused, angst-filled, hormonal 16-year-old.
...know quite how to finish what they’d started.

'''Overall'''

I wouldn’t necessarily class this as a teenager’s book. I enjoyed it and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be an adults book and read on the same level as other books that have made it to our book club list. Interestingly I think I liked the book more than most other people in our group (apart from the person who chose it) , but people did agree with the JD Salinger ... more

Introduction

This isn’t a book that I chose to read of my own accord – it’s actually one that someone else chose for our book club. This in mind, it’s worth knowing that it’s usually grouped in with the teenage book section and isn’t really seen as so much of an adults book. Unless there’s a lot of hype about a book (Harry Potter, Northern Lights, etc) it’s not often that I venture in to this section and I think it’s highly unlikely that I would have picked this up without a firm recommendation. That said, the person who chose this book had never actually read it… so I was a bit dubious as to how good it would be when I took it away on holiday with me as one of my books to read by the pool.

What It Was Like

What I Was is a short novel about a young boy at public school in the 1960s. He doesn’t get on well with his father and this is the third school that he’s been sent to after being kicked out of the previous ones. From the first or second page I was instantly put in mind of J.D. Slinger’s classic Catcher in the Rye. Our lead character is suitably sceptical and the full embodiment of a confused, angst-filled, hormonal 16-year-old.

However, a few chapters in and the introduction of another character, Finn, actually made me think more of Stig of the Dump. It’s a long time since I read it, but any book where the youngster has crafted their own rag-tag world from a desperate situation seemed to link pretty closely to this plot. It wasn’t a unique story, but this isn’t to say that Rosoff hasn’t come up with something special.

Finn lives in a beaten up old hut on the beach and slowly over the course of the story our protagonist starts to explore Finn’s world. We hear about how Finn lives now and the history of how his grandmother live in the hut before him – separating themselves from the rest of society and sustaining themselves by self sufficient methods such as fishing in the sea, selling catches to local restaurants and mending the dilapidated hut. This is much more interesting than it sounds and the pace at which Rosoff extends the details of their story to the reader is as fast and passionate as a teenager’s desires and interests.

Compelling

Although it felt a bit like familiar territory, I really looked forward to the next time I knew I’d have a bit of time to read this. Being on holiday (and miles from anywhere without a car!) I had quite a few chances to get some reading done and I got through this fairly short novel quite quickly.

The lead character was believable and the plot was very well devised – culminating in a twist which I certainly hadn’t foreseen. The rag-tag world of this teenager and their friend Finn actually felt pretty magical and reading about their experiences was quite an intimate experience.

Reservations

Aside from the main character I think there weren’t many other fully developed characters. The most we hear about if Finn, but even they are misty and lack full shape. This is certainly part of the author’s intention and fits well with the feel of the story, but the book reads more as a teenager’s diary than a novel. This may appeal to some readers, but I felt slightly frustrated that the other potentially interesting characters in the book weren’t really explored. Perhaps the physical limitations of the size of the book that Rosoff’s publishers were expecting her to produce limited this, but it certainly hasn’t stopped JK Rowling and others in the past!

The ending is of course something I can’t discuss in this review without completely running the novel, but I have to say I wasn’t keen on the VERY end. After the twist it was all just a bit disappointing and felt like the author didn’t know quite how to finish what they’d started.

Overall

I wouldn’t necessarily class this as a teenager’s book. I enjoyed it and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be an adults book and read on the same level as other books that have made it to our book club list. Interestingly I think I liked the book more than most other people in our group (apart from the person who chose it) , but people did agree with the JD Salinger reference and its certain similarity.

It’s not a book that does anything amazingly new or different, but it explores lots of different avenues and it is an interesting insight into an all boys 1960s public school if nothing else. I would recommend getting this out at the library, but perhaps this isn’t one to buy. If you’re interested though you can find it on Amazon for £5.24.

Thanks for reading!

©tac20 

...less