'The Rotter's club' by Jonathan Coe is one of my favorite books of all time. I myself was a child of the
seventies, enjoying
and dispairing in all the goings on of the decade. And for a book to come along and encapsulate all the feelings and events i went through in that time, i immediately had to read it.
It
follows a boy called Benjamin Trotter through his adolescence growing up in 1970's Birmingham, going through prog-rock, the Birmingham bombings, Margraret Thatcher, and he even wins the girl at the end.
It was just pleasant to find a novel that communicates so well the feeling of the nation, and especially the youth.But, as it follows the strains and trials of the children of the
seventies, it follows the more serious lives of the parents, going through union-strikes, affairs and everything else that was a problem in that decade.
It was quite a relief to find this book. I recommend it.