Adrian Mole 50Th Birthday Bash Sunday 2 April 2017 Programme for the Day Introduction
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Adrian Strikes Back with Style and Humour
JoLIE 2:2 (2009) ADRIAN STRIKES BACK WITH STYLE AND HUMOUR Alcina Sousa University of Madeira, Portugal Abstract More than half of Adrian’s diary entries (by Sue Townsend, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1999) encompass two decades of the protagonist’s maturing process and existence, in a working class setting. These cover different periods of the British History and socio- political events: from Margaret Thatcher’s takeover to Tony Blair’s government. Indeed, Adrian finds it difficult to conform to a way of life which he holds up as trivial. Besides, “Englishness” has acquired, in his unexpected conservative stance, a multicultural dimension for much of Adrian’s disenchantment. Therefore, he is fiercely committed to preserve the all-British standards, evidenced in his behaviour and discursive practices, by means of a witty dialogue, irony, hyperbole, and parody. The aim of this paper is to bring to the fore some of the protagonist’s socio- cultural references and stylistic choices which challenge readers with humorously “unusual and unexpected events to the ‘maps of meaning’ (Hall et al., 1978: 54-55), that already form the basis of their cultural knowledge” of everyday language. Readers identify strings of continuity, on the one hand, and of rupture between the scheming of the old empires and the new goals of global capitalism, on the other. Perhaps Townsend’s premise against life’s “alogical” course of events led her to create a fictional character for whom humour may be suggestive of “a certain ideal image of the world” (Critchley 2002: 87-90). Key words: Carnivalisation; Defamiliarisation; Uncrowning; Style; Satire. -
School Wars: the Conflict of British Education in the Official Discourse and Its Representation in Sue Townsend's Early Narrat
SCHOOL WARS: THE CONFLICT OF BRITISH EDUCATION IN THE OFFICIAL DISCOURSE AND ITS REPRESENTATION IN SUE TOWNSEND’S EARLY NARRATIVE Nieves de Mingo Izquierdo UNED [email protected] Abstract In the last decades of the twentieth century British society witnessed a ferocious attack against long-term assumptions on welfare provisions, the role of local authorities or the so- called post-war consensus that had marked the history of the country since the end of World War II. In the 1980s, the official Thatcherite discourse on family, healthcare or education was clearly aimed at dismantling the alleged persistence of Labour ideology and resulted in open confrontation between Margaret Thatcher’s successive governments and the different social groups involved, the school community among them. In this last case, the conflict was so evident that it soon became literary matter, particularly when depicted by the skilful pen of Sue Townsend. In The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 and ¾ (1982) and The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984), the author describes in diary format the misfortunes of a neurotic, pseudo-intellectual, provincial teenager. His remarks on school impositions instilled by official policies and the subsequent reactions of some teachers and students illustrate the extent to which British schools were turned into minor battlefields, where things beyond marks, forms and course books were at stake; namely a prevailing vision of the rules of the socioeconomic game. Key words: political discourse; conflict; school; Sue Townsend; Adrian Mole Resumen En las últimas décadas del siglo XX la sociedad británica fue testigo de un ataque abru- mador a ciertos postulados históricamente asumidos relativos, por ejemplo, al estado del bienestar, el papel de las autoridades locales o el denominado «consenso de postguerra» que habían marcado la historia de Gran Bretaña desde el final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. -
267800022.Pdf
1 Adrian Mole The Wilderness Years Sue Townsend To my sisters, Barbara and Kate ‘What’s gone and what’s past help Should be past grief.’ William Shakespeare The Winter’s Tale 2 Winter Tuesday January 1st 1991 I start the year with a throbbing head and shaking limbs, owing to the excessive amounts of alcohol I was forced to drink at my mother’s party last night. I was quite happy sitting on a dining chair, watching the dancing and sipping on a low‐ calorie soft drink, but my mother kept shouting at me: ‘Join in, fish‐face and wouldn’t rest until I’d consumed a glass and a half of Lambrusco. As she slopped the wine into a plastic glass for me, I had a close look at her. Her lips were surrounded by short lines, like numerous river beds running into a scarlet lake; her hair was red and glossy almost until it reached her scalp and then a grey layer revealed the truth: her neck was saggy her cleavage wrinkled and her belly protruded from the little black dress (very little) she wore. The poor woman is forty‐seven, twenty‐three years older than her second husband. I know for a fact that he, Martin Muffet, has never seen her without make‐up. Her pillow slips are a disgrace; they are covered in pan‐stick and mascara. It wasn’t long before I found myself on the improvised dance floor in my mother’s lounge, dancing to ‘The Birdie Song', in a line with Pandora, the love of my life; Pandora’s new lover, Professor Jack Cavendish; Martin Muffet, my boyish stepfather; Ivan and Tania, Pandora’s bohemian parents; and other inebriated friends and relations of my mother’s. -
Leseprobe 9783453407435.Pdf
DDieie verschollenenverschollenen TagebuTagebüchercher desdes AdrianAdrian Mole.inddMole.indd 1 114.09.20094.09.2009 12:57:1012:57:10 UhrUhr ZUM BUCH Für Adrian Mole beginnt ein neuer Lebensabschnitt. Er ist jetzt »ge- nauso alt wie Jesus, als er starb« (33) und alleinerziehender Vater. Ein Sohn ist leicht legasthenisch, der andere nimmt gerne ein Kondom mit in die Schule, um die Funktionsweise eines Heißluftballons zu erklä- ren. Dann hat Adrian auch noch eine Affäre mit seiner Immobilien- maklerin Pamela Pigg. Und nicht zuletzt muss er sich auch noch mit seinen Eltern herumschlagen, die ihn nur zu gerne mit der wunder- schönen, aber unerreichbaren Pandora verkuppeln wollen. Doch die hat ganz andere Pläne: unermüdlich und ehrgeizig verfolgt sie ihr Ziel, die erste weibliche Ministerpräsidentin der Labour Party zu wer- den. Auch sonst hat Adrian so einige Sorgen und Nöte, die er sei- nem Tagebuch anvertraut: eine schier nicht einzudämmende Läuse- plage; seine unverkäufliche Serienkillerkomödie; die rasende Eifersucht auf seinen erfolgreichen Halbbruder Brett; ein kleineres Erd beben in Leicester und, nicht zu vergessen, der Anbruch eines neuen Jahrtau- sends. »Ich weinte nicht nur vor Lachen, ich heulte, jaulte, musste bei der Lektüre aufspringen und meine Tränen trocknen – um weiterlesen zu können.« Tom Sharpe ZUR AUTORIN Sue Townsend wurde in Leicester geboren, wo sie auch heute noch lebt. Nachdem sie mit 15 die Schule verließ, hielt sie sich mit verschie- denen Jobs über Wasser. Seit 1978 hat Sue Townsend zahlreiche Büh- nenstücke geschrieben. Mit den Tagebüchern des unverbesserlichen Adrian Mole gelang Sue Townsend der internationale Durchbruch. Sie ist seit Jahrzehnten eine der meistgelesenen Autorinnen Englands. -
A Memorable Day the Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend (1982)
*39-59 TSV Extracts 2 2/4/03 8:28 am Page 55 Steves HD:Desktop Folder:49165 MGM Timesaver Extracts:39-59 TSV Extracts 2.job: TIMESAVER EXTRACTS 2 Unit 8 A memorable day The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend (1982) The author and the novel Sue Townsend was born in 1946 in Leicester, and has written various plays and dramas for the BBC. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole was an instant success when it was published in 1982. Adrian Mole is a teenage boy who keeps a diary recording daily events in his life concerning himself, his family and his friends. There have been various sequels, the most recent being The Cappuccino Years, all written in diary form. About the extract This diary entry describes the Royal Wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 and what Adrian’s family did on that day. There was a great deal of interest in the wedding and most people watched it on television. Discussion ➲ Is there a royal family in your country? Did you use to have one? Do magazines have photos and articles about them, and/or about the British royal family? ➲ Has there been a wedding in your country recently of a famous person such as a film star, a well-known sports person or a pop singer? Was there a lot of coverage in the newspapers and on TV? Wednesday July 29th ROYAL WEDDING DAY!!!! How proud I am to be English! Foreigners must be as sick as pigs! 5 We truly lead the world when it comes to pageantry! I must admit to having tears in my eyes when I saw all the cockneys cheering heartily all the rich, well-dressed, famous people going by in carriages and Rolls Royces. -
How Useful Is the Secret Diary of Adrian Mole to Historians of Thatcher's First Administration?
Sample History Internal Assessment by student at IST via www.activehistory.co.uk How useful is The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole to historians of Thatcher's first administration? Word Count: 1988 1 Sample History Internal Assessment by student at IST via www.activehistory.co.uk Contents A. Plan of the Investigation page 3 B. Summary of Evidence page 4 C. Evaluation of Sources page 6 D. Analysis page 8 E. Conclusion page 11 F. List of Sources page 12 2 Sample History Internal Assessment by student at IST via www.activehistory.co.uk A. Plan of Investigation. (149 words) Establishing the usefulness of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole novel to historians studying Margaret Thatcher’s first administration requires a focus on feminism, war and socio-economy, all conveyed apolitically by author Sue Townsend. The era saw a clear break away from consensus politics towards the conviction politics that would dominate the 1980s. The introduction of “New Right” Conservatism under Thatcher resulted in a radical rethinking of party politics, in both Labour and Conservative parties; although the reforms’ impact was not confined to the working classes, the latter was the most affected by the changes. The novel can be used as a starting point if the assertions are tested against a wider range of evidence, such as Post-War: A History of Europe since 1945 by historian Tony Judt. Using Sue Townsend’s comical work of fiction (written from an adolescent’s perspective) to study Thatcher’s first administration is unorthodox yet surprisingly effective. 3 Sample History Internal Assessment by student at IST via www.activehistory.co.uk B. -
Download Linda Hornzee-Jones' Ending to the Angel
THE ANGEL: SUE TOWNSEND & LINDA HORNZEE-JONES The Angel by Sue Townsend © Copyright BBC Sue Townsend is the creator of Britain’s best loved and bestselling diarist, Adrian Mole. Together the Mole diaries have sold over 8 million copies, have been adapted for radio, television, theatre and been translated into 42 languages. Her other novels include Rebuilding Coventry (1988), The Queen and I (1992) and Ghost Children (1998). A collection of her monthly columns for Sainsbury’s Magazine was published in 2001 entitled “Public Confessions of a Middle-aged Woman Aged 55 3/4.” Sue is currently working on her next novel: Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction. Sue was born in Leicester in 1946, is married and has four children and seven grandchildren and still lives in Leicester. Linda Hornzee-Jones Linda is 58 and works for a firm of wholesale haberdashers in Selsdon in Surrey. Her main passion is amateur dramatics and she works primarily backstage with props and costumes, though does occasionally tread the boards! 1 THE ANGEL: SUE TOWNSEND & LINDA HORNZEE-JONES THE ANGEL: SUE TOWNSEND MY MOTHER WASN’T GOOD with children, she didn’t have the knack. Dogs were her thing. She trained hers to walk on their back legs and she put red satin ribbons in their hair. I used to take her favourite dog, Mitzi, to see her after she was admitted, against her will, to The Laurels nursing home. I would stand on the lawn opposite my mother’s room and get Mitzi to wave her paws. My mother would stare out of the window from her bed and then turn her head away and weep. -
Libr 265-01 Author Study Sue Townsend Janet Hansen
Running Head: SUE TOWNSEND Sue Townsend Janet Hansen San Jose State University Libr 265-01 Dr. Wrenn-Estes October 20, 2009 SUE TOWNSEND 2 "I have just realized I have never seen a dead body or a real female nipple. This is what comes of living in a cul-de-sac." (Sunday, 9 May – The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole) “Happy People don’t keep a diary” (Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction) At the age of 2 in 1935 Joe Orton, outrageous playwright, acidulous social critic, and flamboyant working class hero, moved with his parents to the Saffron Lane Estate in Leicester, a “drab, soulless and monotonous” area of cheap suburban housing for workers. In 1967 Orton was murdered by his lover, who left a suicide note: ““If you read his diary all will be explained” (Leicester, n.d.). Thirteen years after Orton’s birth, the creator of the modern world’s most popular diary was born right down the street, in a Leicester area of pre-fabricated housing known as “the rabbit hutches” (Kittle, 2005-2006). The oldest of three daughters, Susan Lilian Johnstone, later Sue Townsend (Kittle, 2005-2006) was born on 2 April 1946, a birthday she shares with her enduring fictional creation, the “thing” measuring, spotty-chinned social critic, and author of a vowel-less novel, diarist Adrian Mole. Critics label the Adrian Mole series “one of the literary phenomena of the 1980’s” (Thomson Gale, 2005-2006); the first book is a perennial best seller in Britain with over 8 million copies sold. -
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾
Annotation At 13 years old, Adrian Mole has more than his fair share of problems—spots, ill-health, parents threatening to divorce, rejection of his poetry and much more—all recorded in his diary. Sue Townsend Winter 1981 Spring 1981 Summer 1981 Fall 1981 Winter 1982 Sue Townsend THE SECRET DIARY OF ADRIAN MOLE, AGED 13¾ Winter 1981 Thursday January 1st Bank Holiday in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales These are my New Year’s resolutions: 1. I will help the blind across the road. 2. I will hang my trousers up. 3. I will put the sleeves back on my records. 4. I will not start smoking. 5. I will stop squeezing my spots. 6. I will be kind to the dog. 7. I will help the poor and ignorant. After hearing the disgusting noises from downstairs last night, I have also vowed never to drink alcohol. My father got the dog drunk on cherry brandy at the party last night. If the RSPCA hear about it he could get done. Eight days have gone by since Christmas Day but my mother still hasn’t worn the green lurex apron I bought her for Christmas! She will get bathcubes next year. Just my luck, I’ve got a spot on my chin for the first day of the New Year! Friday January 2nd Bank Holiday in Scotland. Full Moon I felt rotten today. It’s my mother’s fault for singing ‘My Way’ at two o’clock in the morning at the top of the stairs. Just my luck to have a mother like her. -
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Sue Townsend Is the Creator of Britain's Best-Loved and Best-Selling Diaries, Namely the Adria
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Sue Townsend is the creator of Britain’s best-loved and best-selling diaries, namely the Adrian Mole diaries! She was born in Leicester in 1946 is married and has four children. She grew up in a working class family and left school at the age of 15 with no qualifications. In 1978 she joined a writer’s group at the Phoenix Art Centre in Leicester. The diary entries were read by one of the actors, who sent them to the BBC. When the book was published it was an extraordinary success. There are 4 books in the collection: - The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ - Growing Pains of Adrian Mole - Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years - Adrian Mole: Cappuccino Years Together the mole diaries have sold over 8 million copies. Have been adapted for radio, television, theatre and there are even Adrian Mole computer games. I read the Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ and now I am going to tell you a short summary of the plot. The book deals with the problems of teenage life of a 13-¾ year old boy. His diary takes you trough a year of his life and begins with New Year resolutions. It starts revealing his personality. Adrian’s parents quarrel all the time about their neighbour Mr. Lucas who is left by his wife. Adrian decides to become an intellectual and writes a letter to the BBC to ask what to do about being an intellectual. By writing poems and reading, in general by being an intellectual, he is able to escape from his problems. -
True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole, Margaret Hilda Roberts and Susan Lilian Townsend
PENGUIN BOOKS True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole, Margaret Hilda Roberts and Susan Lilian Townsend Sue Townsend, with The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ (1982) and The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984), was Britain’s bestselling author of the 1980s. Her hugely successful novels are Rebuilding Coventry (1988), True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole, Margaret Hilda Roberts and Susan Lilian Townsend (1989), Adrian Mole: From Minor to Major (1991), The Queen and I (1992), Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years (1993), Ghost Children (1997), Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (1999), The Public Confessions of a Middle-aged Woman (Aged 55¾) (2001) and Number Ten (2002). Most of her books are published by Penguin. She is also well known as a playwright. She lives in Leicester. True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole, Margaret Hilda Roberts and Susan Lilian Townsend Sue Townsend PENGUIN BOOKS PENGUIN BOOKS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2 Penguin Books India (P) Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd, Cnr Rosedale and Airborne Roads, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London -
Interview with Sue Townsend
Big interview Photo: Pictures Weekes/Writer © Andy nb 22 Big interview Sue Townsend – republican revelries Zoë Fairbairns discusses Sue Townsend’s latest monarchic – or, more accurately, anarchic – novel with the author first met Sue Townsend back in the 1980s, at a education,’ she explains. ‘My parents and my party hosted by Methuen who were then her aunties and uncles all passed what was called the Ipublishers, and mine. Methuen had just been scholarship, but none of them went on to taken over, and the new owners wanted to de- grammar school because they couldn’t afford the recognise the staff union. The whiff of industrial uniform. And that was the same reason that was struggle was in the air and, in solidarity with our given as to why I didn’t go on. The family editors, Sue and I and other Methuen authors tradition was that you left school at the earliest wore union badges and argued the case for union legal opportunity, and you went to earn money.’ recognition with senior executives. It was all She became a petrol pump attendant. The duffel reasonably polite, but you could see them eyeing coat she wore with its BP logo had a pocket large her nervously; as creator of the hugely successful enough to contain a paperback book, so in 3 The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 /4, and between running out to the pumps, she sat in her The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, she was their kiosk on the forecourt and read – Russian bestselling author. novelists, American bestsellers, anything.