BOOK REVIEW: Submarine by Joe Dunthorne

My first review is none other than Submarine, now a celebrated novel and even more so after being adapted into a film directed by IT Crowd’s very own Richard Ayoade and featuring original music solely from Arctic Monkey’s Alex Turner. Set in Swansea, Wales in 1986-7, Submarine is the tale of soon-to-be-sixteen Oliver Tate who I can genuinely say is a very “special” character.  I think once you’ve skimmed over the first chapter (titled Triskaidekaphobia. You get the gist) or dare I say, the first page, it becomes clear just how unusual an individual our young Ollie is. And it appears he’s on a mission. A far-fetched one. Be warned.

First things first, Oliver, convinced that his Father is suffering from Depression, takes matters into his own hands. This involves a visit to the funfair where he hopes to shock his father out of his permanent rainy day. To make matters even worse, he’s sure that his Mother is having an affair with her capoeira teacher, Graham. Oliver decides this hippy-looking ‘twonk’ won’t have the satisfaction of splitting a perfectly dull home so he follows their every move while the unsuspecting adults get up to no good. Meanwhile, at school, Oliver has gotten the idea that he’s a decent lad (debatable) and his peers and teachers look up to him (they really don’t). He’s discovered the art of torment and along with his best friend, Chips, begins a taunting frenzy directed at a rather miserable “Fat” Zoe (mostly just known as “Fat”) until she’s forced to breaking-point and transfers. But rest assured! She does reappear later on, having lost the pounds and gained the confidence. And she’s out to seek revenge.

Elsewhere, things get uncomfortably steamy (or maybe soggy would be more accurate a description) and tense as he’s been forced into the Love Game when he falls for Jordana, the girl with irritable skin who has a thing for setting things alight. Blackmailed into a relationship he considers a win/win in any case, Oliver decides he wants to lose his virginity to his beloved pyromaniac girlfriend before his sixteenth. But, it appears you can’t seek relationship advice from an encyclopaedia. Or a dictionary (let’s get things clear, nothing with a glossary or an index unless, of course, it specializes in the area i.e. Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus?).

Join Oliver through his triumphs and his Oh-my-god-I-never-want-to-see-the-light-of-day moments. Discover the strangest vocabulary you never knew of, meet the pansexual who lives down the road and grasp the concept of adolescence through the eyes of a boy who’s seen it all and survived to tell the tale. Submerge yourself in Submarine. I dare you.

Submarine is available in the College Library.