The Rotters' Club (novel)

infobox Book |
name = The Rotters' Club
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Jonathan Coe
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = UK
language = English
series =
genre =
publisher = Viking
pub_date = 22 Feb 2001
english_pub_date =
media_type = Print (Hardcover, Paperback) and audio book
pages = 405pp (hardcover edition), 416 pp (paperback edition)
isbn = ISBN 978-0670892525
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Rotters' Club" is a 2001 novel written by Jonathan Coe, set in Birmingham during the 1970s. The title is taken from an album of the same name by Hatfield and the North. [ [http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/coej/rotters.htm The Rotters' Club - Jonathan Coe ] ]

Plot summary

Three teenage friends grow up in the British 1970s watching their lives change as their world gets involved with Provisional Irish Republican Army bombs, progressive and punk rock, girls and political strikes.

Characters

Ben Trotter: A romantic musician and writer who has fallen for Cicely, the most beautiful student at the adjoining girls' school.

Philip Chase: Best friend of Ben. He is heavily into prog-rock and attempts to form a band, named "Gandalf's Pikestaff".

Doug Anderton: A passionate writer and opinionated young man, Doug attempts to transfer the socialist values of his father Bill to his mostly middle-class school.

Colin Trotter: In middle management at British Leyland's Longbridge plant.

Sheila Trotter: Ben's mother.

Paul Trotter: Ben's younger brother.

Lois Trotter: Paul and Ben's sister. She attends the adjoining girls school.

Malcolm: Amiable guitarist and self-professed 'Hairy Guy' Malcolm is Lois' boyfriend, whom he met when she answered his personal ad in the newspaper.

Bill Anderton: Shop steward at the Longbridge factory and an active Union man, he begins an affair with one of his colleagues, Miriam.

Irene Anderton: Bill's wife and Doug's mother.

Miriam Newman: The attractive secretary at the Longbridge factory.

Claire Newman: Miriam's younger sister.

Sam Chase: Philip's dad who works as a bus driver.

Barbara Chase: Wife of Sam and mother of Philip, she begins an affair with Miles Plumb, her very own son's art teacher.

Miles Plumb: The flamboyant art teacher at King William's, the school the teenagers attend.

Cicely Boyd: The most beautiful girl at the adjoining girls' school. She is the object of many of the boys' affections, particularly Ben Trotter's.

Sean Harding: Attends King William's. Harding is viewed as the practical joker. He writes letters to the school newspaper, "The Billboard", under the pseudonym Arthur Pusey-Hamilton.

Adaptation

In 2003, a four part BBC Radio 4 adaptation written by Simon Littlefield was broadcast. In early 2005, a three part television adaptation written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais was broadcast on BBC Two, starring Geoff Breton as Ben Trotter, Nicholas Shaw as Doug Anderton and Rasmus Hardiker as Phillip Chase.

Sequel

A sequel to the book, titled "The Closed Circle", which picked up the characters in the 1990s, was published in 2004.

Trivia

The Rotters' Club held the record for the longest sentence in English literature with 13,955 words. [ [http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2219730,00.html Sacks' muscle memories | Review | Guardian Unlimited Books ] ] The sentence was inspired by Bohumil Hrabal's "Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age", a Czech novel that consisted of one great sentence.

The Rotters' Club is inspired by Coe's experiences at King Edward's School, Birmingham in the 1970s.Fact|date=January 2008

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/therottersclub/ BBC Two adaptation]

References