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A review by kats05
Us by David Nicholls
4.0
3.5 stars but rounding up because it's so bloomin' "readable", ha!
Just as mainstream/commercial and chick-litty as ONE DAY (watch out for the movie adaptation of US in 2016, I suspect Nicholls is writing the screenplay whilst he's on his book tour right now) and just as engaging and heart-warming.
Nicholls addresses the questions that occupy everyone's minds.... Why do we fall in love? How can we make relationships work and last? When has a marriage run its course? How do we best communicate with our children?
There are many situations, within the Petersen family dynamics as well as some of their encounters with other people on the European grand tour, that are comical and had me chuckling or groaning with discomfort. I certainly hope that my sons won't turn into teenage grumpsters of Albie Petersen's ilk. In fact, all the characters in "Us" are quite clichéed and two-dimensional which may be testimony to Nicholls' propensity to write for the screen (even whilst writing a book). Douglas Petersen, our narrator and jilted husband, is a scientist, and therefore virtually all his human interactions are driven by a rational analysis with a cut and dried delivery. His wife, Connie, is an artist and behaves the way you would expect a bohemian "free spirit" to behave; an all arty-farty dippy fun mum who most likely breastfed her son until he entered reception class. What she actually thinks we don't know as the entire novel is written from Douglas' perspective. Even the Australian (actually Kiwi) nightmare, Kat, they meet on their travels reads like an extra from "Home and Away". That impression may have been exacerbated by the audio book narrator, Justin Salinger, who reads Kat's voice with exactly the right twangy, annoying accent that she'd have. Unfortunately, that is the only accent Salinger can do convincingly; anyone Douglas meets on his trip around Europe has the same antipodean lilt, whether it's a Danish tourist or a Dutch hooker, all of them come with an Aussie or a flat South African twang. Incidentally, his voice is also a bit too young for a 52 year old narrator - why not have Nicholls himself read the book then, he sounds almost the same?!
It's no exaggeration to say that there were many eyebrows raised in surprise at seeing David Nicholls' name on the Man Booker longlist. A Man Booker nomination led me to expect something different, more complex, certainly more literary from him, but "Us" is exactly what you'd expect from David Nicholls: a well written, fairly predictable story with likeable characters everyone can relate to, or at least recognise. Fast food but with organic ingredients.... I certainly liked it.
Just as mainstream/commercial and chick-litty as ONE DAY (watch out for the movie adaptation of US in 2016, I suspect Nicholls is writing the screenplay whilst he's on his book tour right now) and just as engaging and heart-warming.
Nicholls addresses the questions that occupy everyone's minds.... Why do we fall in love? How can we make relationships work and last? When has a marriage run its course? How do we best communicate with our children?
There are many situations, within the Petersen family dynamics as well as some of their encounters with other people on the European grand tour, that are comical and had me chuckling or groaning with discomfort. I certainly hope that my sons won't turn into teenage grumpsters of Albie Petersen's ilk. In fact, all the characters in "Us" are quite clichéed and two-dimensional which may be testimony to Nicholls' propensity to write for the screen (even whilst writing a book). Douglas Petersen, our narrator and jilted husband, is a scientist, and therefore virtually all his human interactions are driven by a rational analysis with a cut and dried delivery. His wife, Connie, is an artist and behaves the way you would expect a bohemian "free spirit" to behave; an all arty-farty dippy fun mum who most likely breastfed her son until he entered reception class. What she actually thinks we don't know as the entire novel is written from Douglas' perspective. Even the Australian (actually Kiwi) nightmare, Kat, they meet on their travels reads like an extra from "Home and Away". That impression may have been exacerbated by the audio book narrator, Justin Salinger, who reads Kat's voice with exactly the right twangy, annoying accent that she'd have. Unfortunately, that is the only accent Salinger can do convincingly; anyone Douglas meets on his trip around Europe has the same antipodean lilt, whether it's a Danish tourist or a Dutch hooker, all of them come with an Aussie or a flat South African twang. Incidentally, his voice is also a bit too young for a 52 year old narrator - why not have Nicholls himself read the book then, he sounds almost the same?!
It's no exaggeration to say that there were many eyebrows raised in surprise at seeing David Nicholls' name on the Man Booker longlist. A Man Booker nomination led me to expect something different, more complex, certainly more literary from him, but "Us" is exactly what you'd expect from David Nicholls: a well written, fairly predictable story with likeable characters everyone can relate to, or at least recognise. Fast food but with organic ingredients.... I certainly liked it.