Book info

• Title Starter For Ten
• Author David Nicholls
• Year 2003
• Genre Contemporary

It's 1985 and Brian Jackson has arrived at university with a burning ambition - to make it onto TV's foremost general knowledge quiz. But no sooner has he embarked on 'The Challenge' than he finds himself falling hopelessly in love with his teammate, the beautiful and charismatic would-be actress Alice Harbinson. When Alice fails to fall for his slightly over-eager charms, Brian comes up with a foolproof plan to capture her heart once and for all: he's going to win the game, at any cost. Because - after all - everyone knows that what a woman really wants from a man is a comprehensive grasp of general knowledge...

Thoughts

I’ve been vaguely aware of this book and film for a while but never really got round to reading it. For some reason, the idea of University Challenge popped into my head and then I thought this would be the perfect book to go with it. I love how the book is structured, with a relevant question at the start of each chapter, and that it flows through a full term at university.

I loved the way it is intense and awkward, cringeworthy but believable, full of heart but also just a little bit obsessive creepy - all the things that sum up your teenage years, I think. There was plenty of humour in there, but tinged with a dark side as well.

My only complaint, in fact, is that I felt like there could have been more aftermath. So much build up, and then the thing happened and it was done and he moved and that was it. I would have liked to know more about the repercussions, about what the doctor said, about what it was that actually made him start to feel better. But maybe there’s enough there for a sequel.

Rating: 4 / 5