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Product Description
Review
“When Tom Sharpe turns his attention to a very minor public school…the result is predictably savage. Hoaxes, chases, car crashes, shootings, and general mayhem. Wicked, riotous humour.”
—Daily Telegraph
“Excellently funny.”
—Auberon Waugh, Daily Mail
—Daily Telegraph
“Excellently funny.”
—Auberon Waugh, Daily Mail
Book Description
Peregrine Roderick Clyde-Brown is a bumbling, naive and savagely dim-witted teenager, who, as his name reveals, cannot possibly be exposed to the evils of a comprehensive school. However, with his penchant for taking even the most innocent command literally, no reputable school will accept the boy who, when told that he must turn over a new leaf, begins fondling the foliage. His parents, with high hopes and a considerable amount of bribery money, search for anywhere that will take their 'late developer.' In a school where time forgot, Peregrine's 'talents' for taking orders and having no discernible individual thought seem perfect for a promising career in the upper ranks of the British Army.It is at Groxbourne that Peregrine meets Mr Gladstone, a man whose teaching style extends as far as using lashings to teach arithmetic. After Gladstone whisks the unquestioning boy off on a hysterical mystery, Peregrine ends up storming a French castle, where he unwaveringly commits mischief, mayhem and even murder!
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Below par slapstick. Pointless.,
By
This review is from: Vintage Stuff (Paperback)
I hadn't read a Tom Sharpe book in maybe ten years, but what I remember were absurd but still gruesomely funny, bawdy adventures in the world of slapstick (the episode in The Throwback with the prophylactic, the oven cleaner and the cheese grater remains one of the funniest things I've ever read). Well, I stumbled upon Vintage Stuff in an charity shop the other day and thought I'd give it a go for old times' sake. I wish I hadn't bothered. Tom Sharpe's literary star has waned of late (having reached its zenith in the early Eighties), and reading this book it isn't hard to see why. The thing about slapstick - and Sharpe should know this, as he's a (past) master at it - is to exaggerate and caricature; extrapolate and inflate, but never so as to totally break the bounds of credibility. There need to be scenes and situations which any of us might find ourselves in, and only the unusual confluence of all of them at once suggests this could never really happen in real life. In Vintage Stuff, this simply isn't the case. Even the premise is ridiculous, and the decisions, behaviour and reactions of all the characters are plainly silly, without ever hinting at being funny. Sharpe's writing style, usually so light, is leaden; the dialogue isn't credible and the denouement is both unpleasant and anticlimactic. You may spy also a rather spiteful, laboured, resentment of the public school system. This has all the hallmarks of an empty barrel being scraped. Avoid.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent example of the author's work,
By andrewjens@hotmail.com (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Vintage Stuff (Paperback)
I have read all of Tom Sharpe's books and Vintage Stuff is one of his best. The comic style in which he normally handles language, plot and characters is probably at its best in this book. The book lends heavily on the English public school system (as do some of his other books). The plot concerns the adventures of a school master and one of his students as they are induced on a crazy journey through England and France - all due to the schemes of another school master seeking revenge. Like all Sharpe's books, the journey is the reward as most endings tend to be a little anti-climactic. This is mainly due to the fast pace of the work, both in plot and language. If you like a well-written comic adventure, you can't go wrong with this book.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews) 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent example of the author's work,
By andrewjens@hotmail.com - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Vintage Stuff (Paperback)
I have read all of Tom Sharpe's books and Vintage Stuff is one of his best. The comic style in which he normally handles language, plot and characters is probably at its best in this book. The book lends heavily on the English public school system (as do some of his other books). The plot concerns the adventures of a school master and one of his students as they are induced on a crazy journey through England and France - all due to the schemes of another school master seeking revenge. Like all Sharpe's books, the journey is the reward as most endings tend to be a little anti-climactic. This is mainly due to the fast pace of the work, both in plot and language. If you like a well-written comic adventure, you can't go wrong with this book.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A perl of English comedy,
By Borisovich "BL" - Published on Amazon.com
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This review is from: Vintage Stuff (Paperback)
Another great example of Tom Sharpe's mockery of the Old Albion's old ways. As long as there are senile boarding school teachers and overzealous moron students getting paired up - a great comedic adventure is guaranteed.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another great book by Tom Sharpe,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This book was almost as good as Wilt, Blott and The Great Pursuit. It was a bit slow in the beginning and the ending was a bit premature. Otherwise it was very funny. Definitely recommended.
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