Author: David Nicholls
Starter for Ten was the first novel David Nicholls wrote. Incidentally, when deciding to re-read all his books and write blogs, this one was left for last, which was not intended, but it worked out well. I say this about every Nicholls’ book, but now I think that Starter for Ten might be my favorite lol
Starter for Ten, as with all Nicholls’ books, is a class story of a coming-of-age. It is a story of a working-class boy who goes to the University and finds himself in a middle-class environment, which he struggles to navigate. This is not the only struggle, though. Brian also struggles with his mates back home who see him as already middle class, saying that his mother could have sent him to work in a coal mine, and he would have still come out as middle class because of how he thinks, what he reads, and how he conducts himself. So, it is also a story of a working-class boy trying to climb the social ladder, and struggling to do so, whilst also facing alienation from his working-class community. This is all too well known in sociology, with many studies showing that this struggle is real. The description of Brian above is not the only one; he gets called a t**t because he does not come home often enough and does not keep in touch with his mates or his mother. When Spencer comes to visit him, after facing a struggle with law enforcement due to benefits fraud, he also does not come across as particularly supportive, thinking that Spencer is embarrassing him, whilst not seeing his own behavior in college. His behavior is portrayed well, a struggle to fit in, snobbery he faces, as well as falling in love with a middle-class girl, drinking too much, and pretty much acting like a dog that has been let off the leash. The only issue is that Brian’s mother was not controlling or abusive, and thus, he had no reason to act this way, which further exacerbates the working-class alienation with middle-class environments.
I don’t know if David Nicholls is a working-class guy who made it, so he writes all these stories about working-class boys from his own experience (remember Sweet Sorrow?) of coming of age and attempting to go to the university and climb the social ladder. Or perhaps Nicholls is just a genius who really gets it. In either case, reading his books feels real. This is particularly the case with dialogues and banter. I know that some of the dialogues would happen in real life exactly as they are portrayed in this book.
What I particularly like about Nicholls’ writing is the combination of characters’ point of view in writing, and rich dialogues, the latter likely due to his background in theatre and television. But the writing is certainly outstanding, the character’s point of view feels real when Brian describes his life and how he tried to navigate University, and dialogues also feel real, both with middle-class students, as well as with mates back home. I also enjoyed b****y dialogues and writing about middle-class people, which were hysterical.
I haven’t watched the film, but HBO adapted the book. Based on the trailer, it looks as if they faithfully followed the book, and there is an excellent cast, with James McAvoy as Brian, which speaks for itself, as McAvoy cannot do anything wrong. I would have chosen him for the role of Brian myself, too.
Another outstanding book. I am now eagerly waiting for new books by David Nicholls because I recently re-read everything. He does not write books quickly, which is sad but also good because the kind of writing Nicholls does requires time and talent. David Nicholls is my favorite author for a reason. Read his books!
Thank you for reading!