132,588
edits
Changes
From TheBookbag
Jump to navigationJump to searchRemember to Breathe by Simon Pont (view source)
Revision as of 14:16, 18 March 2018
, 14:16, 18 March 2018no edit summary
{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=Remember to Breathe
|author=Simon Pont
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Samuel Grant works in adland Adland - in branding - and these are diary entries from two years of his life. I expected it to be too laddish for me but was very pleasantly surprised. Recommended. Simon Pont popped into Bookbag Towers to [[The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Simon Pont|chat to us]].
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|date=October 2012
|isbn=978-1909273009
|website=http://www.simonpont.com/|videocover=1909273007|amazonukaznuk=<amazonuk>1909273007</amazonuk>|amazonusaznus=<amazonus>1909273007</amazonus>
}}
We meet Sam Grant on his 27th birthday, but he's not out celebrating. He's got flu and just to add to his problems he's got a boil in his groin - or on his thigh - depending on which side of the doctor's desk you're sitting. Sam's not been looking after himself since his girlfriend dumped him just over three months ago and when you work in adland Adland the opportunities for not looking after yourself are many and varied. The millenium millennium hasn't quite arrived, 'austerity' hasn't even been thought about and living an out-of-control life has never been easier. What we get is Sam's diary, but it's not in chronological order, with some of it going back to before he met Sarah - the girl he didn't really want, but struggles to get over.
I wasn't certain that I wanted to read this book: I thought it would be a bit too ''laddish'' for my tastes and when I started reading I even had someone in mind whom I was pretty certain ''would'' enjoy it. I was put off too by the suggestion that this was a male version of ''Bridget Jones'' - which usually means that there's a certain lack of originality - but I was about a quarter of the way through the book before it dawned on me that Sam was a complete original and there was no way I was passing this book on to anyone else.
It's character driven rather than plot driven. You can attach all sorts of tags to it - rom-com, coming-of-age - but if you enjoy characters who come off the page and behave outrageously and a storyline that's insightful then this could well be the book for you. I've one niggle and that's the lack of good proof reading. I found myself rereading to check that I had the sense of something correctly ''far'' too often.
I do hope that there'll be a sequel, but whilst you're waiting you might enjoy the work of [[:Category:Mike Gayle|Mike Gayle]]. Mind you - if you'd like to know a bit more about Samuel Grant - his tastes in film and music, for instance - have a look at [http://www.simonpont.com/#!remember-to-breathe/c1n0f the author's website].
You can read more about Simon Pont [[:Category:Simon Pont|here]].
{{interviewtext|author=Simon Pont}}
{{amazontext|amazon=1909273007}}
{{amazonUStext|amazon=1909273007}}
{{commenthead}}
