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Jonathan Durden's Novel: Essex, Drugs, & Rock 'n' Roll
blackrock
Posts: 3,873 Forum Member
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Has anybody read it?
http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/entertainment/books/2008/06/19/review-essex-drugs-rock-n-roll-by-jonathan-durden-89520-20613935/
I remember him saying on live feed "I just want to sell my book," so this is not unexpected, I suppose.
I'd love a review if anybody has looked into it.
Summary from Amazon:
Product Description
Mark Cohen is a 40-year-old family man, with all of the designer evidence to pass any Essex surface-wealth audit. He returns home after a business trip to find that his wife is close to death and his daughter has just attempted suicide. All fear of consequences now lost, Mark writes a list of reasons why he would come back to haunt this world if he were to die, and sets out to explore them. In one amazing year, Mark gets to discover the best and the worst life to offers. By Jonathan Durden, the Big Brother 8 contestant who walked out after the death of his 104-year-old grandmother.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/entertainment/books/2008/06/19/review-essex-drugs-rock-n-roll-by-jonathan-durden-89520-20613935/
I remember him saying on live feed "I just want to sell my book," so this is not unexpected, I suppose.
I'd love a review if anybody has looked into it.
Summary from Amazon:
Product Description
Mark Cohen is a 40-year-old family man, with all of the designer evidence to pass any Essex surface-wealth audit. He returns home after a business trip to find that his wife is close to death and his daughter has just attempted suicide. All fear of consequences now lost, Mark writes a list of reasons why he would come back to haunt this world if he were to die, and sets out to explore them. In one amazing year, Mark gets to discover the best and the worst life to offers. By Jonathan Durden, the Big Brother 8 contestant who walked out after the death of his 104-year-old grandmother.
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What are you two on about, he was a BB8 contestant.
Thanks, mikieboston. Jonathan seemed like an intelligent man, and I'm curious about his writing talent. I'll just go check it out now!:)
I just read the first chapter online. This is not literature as I know it. In fact, the writing in that chapter is pretty dire. Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, and Will Self won't be losing any sleep over this one.
I'm disappointed, actually.
Check what's written at the top of the thread
Big Brother For discussion of UK and international versions of Big Brother, as well as past series.
Talking of Will Self (very cheekily and before it get's noticed) .. how did you get on with 'The Book of Dave' ... it hurt my brain trying to work out that dialogue (and I didn't notice for ages there was a dictionary at the back).
uhm, I'm sure Jonathan's effort is good .. for a first effort ... don't give up the day job tho' (it's not his day job is it?)
I doubt he was hoping to be compared to that lot.
I absolutely loved The Book of Dave! The language in the future portions ("Mokni") becomes more and more familiar as you read, and the "Mokni" contains many clever references to the characters and events of the present-day portions. All the parts of the book are beautifully interconnected.
Here's Will Self chatting about the original idea behind the book to the Guardian last year:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/jun/16/willself
That said, I did recommend The Book of Daveto my sister, and she just couldn't get into it the way I did.
Jonathan's fiction debut is quite amateurish, but maybe he just wanted to get his ideas across and didn't care about style at all.
Edit: I'm an American, and even for me the "Mockni" was familiar from years of reading books and watching movies and TV shows set in London. If you're English, you might catch on even more quickly to the Cockney-based future dialect. You should give it another shot!
He left early because his Mum died.
He was very witty and a great games-player. He had all the housemates going with his promises of employment, use of a holiday villa, plastic surgery, and capital for a new business. He was playing them all.
Once he even said "I hate you all and will nominate you all in turn," or wtte, and everyone laughed!:D