Books › Submarine
Submarine
410 pages
A painfully funny, deadpan plunge into the mind of a teenage boy who thinks he can fix his parents' marriage and master first love with a pocket dictionary.
What it feels like
Reading this novel feels like flipping through the private, hyper-articulate diary of the smartest, most clueless boy in school. The narrative moves at a brisk, erratic pace, driven entirely by the protagonist's obsessive, deadpan internal monologue as he attempts to scientifically manage the chaotic emotions of the adults around him. The mood is steeped in the damp, awkward nostalgia of a coastal Welsh town, balancing laugh-out-loud cringe comedy with a surprisingly tender undercurrent of adolescent vulnerability. The prose is sharp, witty, and relentlessly observant, perfectly capturing the solipsism of youth. It is a deeply delightful experience for anyone who appreciates dry British humor, the painful awkwardness of first love, and the bittersweet realization that adults are just as lost as teenagers.
- Mood
- awkward
- nostalgic
- bittersweet
- damp and coastal
- Tone
- deadpan
- wry
- precocious
- cringe-inducing
- darkly comic
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the agony of adolescence · illusion of adult competence · messy first love · navigating parental flaws · teenage solipsism
- The writing
- Sharp, hyper-articulate, and relentlessly observant, capturing the exact cadence of a teenager who is too smart for his own good but entirely clueless about human emotion.
- The arc
- Moves from arrogant, detached observation to a messy, vulnerable confrontation with the realities of love and family.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love painfully funny, character-driven stories about highly articulate, socially inept outsiders navigating the cringe-worthy trenches of youth.
Content notes
- teenage sexuality
- depression
- bullying
- marital infidelity
About the book
The dryly precocious, soon-to-be-fifteen-year-old hero of this engagingly offbeat debut novel, Oliver Tate lives in the seaside town of Swansea, Wales. At once a self-styled social scientist, a spy in the baffling adult world surrounding him, and a budding, hormone-driven emotional explorer, Oliver is stealthily (and perhaps a bit more nervously than he'd ever admit) nosing his way forward through the murky and uniquely perilous waters of adolescence. His objectives? Uncovering the secrets behind his parents' teetering marriage, unraveling the mystery that is his alluring and equally quirky classmate Jordana Bevan, and understanding where he fits in among the pansexuals, Zoroastrians, and other mystifying, fascinating beings in his orbit."It's in my interests to know about my parents' mental problems," he reasons. Thus, when he discovers that his affable dad is quietly struggling with depression, Oliver marshals all the daytime-TV pop-psychology wisdom at his command--not to mention his formidable, uninhibited powers of imagination--in order to put things right again. But a covert expedition into the mysterious territory of middle-aged malaise is bound to be tricky business for a teenager with more to learn about the agonies and ecstasies of life than a pocket thesaurus and his "worldly" school chum Chips can teach him. Ready or not, however, Oliver is about to get a crash course. His awkwardly torrid and tender relationship with Jordana is hurtling at the speed of teenage passion toward the inevitable magic moment... and whatever lies beyond. And his boy-detective exploits have set him on a collision course with the New Age old flame who's resurfaced in his mother's life to lead her into temptation with lessons in surfing, self-defense... and maybe seduction. Struggling to buoy his parents' wedded bliss, deep-six his own virginity, and sound the depths of heartache, happiness, and the business of being human, what's a lad to do? Poised precariously on the cusp of innocence and experience, yesterday's daydreams and tomorrow's decisions, Oliver Tate aims to damn the torpedoes and take the plunge.From the Hardcover edition.
Description from Open Library.
Books like Submarine
See why they match
About a BoyNick HornbyA sharp, funny, and surprisingly tender exploration of growing up, whether you are twelve or thirty-six.
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4Sue TownsendA masterclass in deadpan cringe comedy that perfectly captures the agonizing, self-important delusion of being thirteen.
A long way downNick HornbyA darkly funny, deeply humane exploration of what happens when desperate strangers accidentally save each other's lives.
The Vast Fields of OrdinaryNick BurdA sun-drenched, bittersweet exploration of the messy, heartbreaking summer between high school and whatever comes next.
Black Swan GreenDavid Stephen MitchellA bittersweet, sharply observant plunge into the muddy, anxious, and secretly poetic world of a thirteen-year-old boy in 1980s England.
More Than ThisPatrick NessA mind-bending, desolate journey through the afterlife that slowly morphs into a profound meditation on trauma, reality, and the defiant choice to keep living.