Just coming to the end of it and I think it's absolutely wonderful. Brilliant, humane, superbly well written.... I have to say, I hated his Debt to Pleasure, which a lot of people seemed to love. I admired it, yes, but felt that ultimately it was a bogus book, whereas Mr Lanchester strikes me as rooted in truth - as well as being very entertaining and a joy to read.

Hi Roger, I really liked it too. I'm glad somebody else does. When it was the recommended reading book on an adult education writing course I attended last autumn, no one else seemed that keen. Two of the elderly female members said they were horrified and not a little disgusted by the narrator's occasional erotic daydreams. When I admitted to liking it, they both shot me a glance as if I must be some kind of deviant. Lowering her glasses to the end of her nose, and peering suspiciously over the top, one asked me if I thought about 'it' as much as Mr Phillips did. Not my most comfortable moment.

Anyway, as you say, a humane, and honest book, about an ordinary man in a bewildering world.

Sam

I usually like quiet books, but I must admit I completely didn't get this one, though I'm quite willing to admit it as my failure, not Lanchester's. It was the only reading-group book I've ever abandoned unfinished, because try as I would, the words just flickered past without involving me in the slightest. I kept hoping I'd be offered a reason to be bothered with this guy, and never was.

Emma

Yes, I liked this a lot. I enjoy the 'ordinary person in a bewildering world' type of novel (when they are this well-written of course).

Just came across this thread while browsing the site. I'm very glad I'm not the only one who thinks Mr Phillips is a great book.

It's a deceptively casual book, but in a great tradition of English humour stretching back to the Diary of a Nobody - a very ordinary hero struggling to do the decent thing and make sense of a bewildering world that seems to conspire against him. Farcical but with melancholy not far under the surface.

I did like The Debt to Pleasure, but I agree with the post above to the effect that it does come across as an skilfully contrived work, while Mr Phillips is more grounded in underlying truth. It's also easier to read, since Mr Phillips voice is as artless as Tarquin's (is it Tarquin?) is affected.

I thought it was superb (having now finished it). I was in awe of the writing - simple, clear, but so perfectly judged, I thought. As I say, I hated Debt to Pleasure, so I don't know what made me give him another go.

Emma, my wife didn't like it either. She gave up after a few chapters. I was just blown away though. Just shows how subjective this whole business is. I have to say though, when I was reading it I felt like Roy Wood (of Wizard) when he saw Jimi Hendrix play. He wanted to give up the guitar, as he felt there was no point - or need - for him to carry on. Of course, he didn't give up. And a jolly good job too. Otherwise the world would have been denied "I Wish It Could be Christmas Everyday".

Sam, the 'thinking about "it"' comment is funny, but uncomfortable for you, I'm sure. I thought it was very clever the way he pinned down how 'it' means something different as we grow older. When we are adolescent 'it' means sex, but when we are middle-aged plus 'it' means death.



<Added>

Hi RJH, I thought of Diary of a Nobody too.