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william russel. The wrong boy


beverley

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Hi everyone i must share with you a book which was to me fantastic.The play write willy russell, whos know for shirly valentine and educating rita ,has only written one book called the wrong boy . the booka about a young adolescent boy growing and trying to find himself in a crazy society.The boy Raymond Marks is a normal boy ,from a northern family ,who finds himself in a very awkard situation .that has a profound influence on his young life. The book shows how society can run away with a innocent life and label a young person as a character that he is quite removed from. The book is full of amazing characters, my favourite must be the wonderful grandmother ,who even though there is a generation gap, is the one that only really understands him. The book is a emotional roller coaster, one minute you can be crying and the next laughing out loud. Absolutely brilliant. bevs :D :wave:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Oh yes. I've read this - good book! Very unusual way of writing a book as most (or all? read this a long time ago) is letters that Raymond has written to his idol. The discription used is brilliant and some of the kids exploits are believably 'laddish'.

 

Read, enjoy. Good Book.

 

Jo xx

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I was once in a Willy Russell play (quite a few years back now) called One for the Road - I played the uptight Jane - perfectionist neighbour from hell & Queen of Suburbia - it was a lot of fun.

 

I've never seen Blood Brothers, but that was playing the week after we were, so it was a bit of a Russell-fest in Aberdeen that fortnight!

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  • 7 months later...

I'm so glad to have found this thread - The Wrong Boy was absolutely wonderful! I read it last year and it is one of my favourite books of all time.

 

What Beverley said about this was spot on; it really is an emotional rollercoaster. It has moments of hysterical comedy, and moments where I was reduced to tears. It is such a clever book, showing how an ordinary, well-balanced boy's life falls apart due to an innocent childish moment. Misunderstanding piles onto misunderstanding in a way which I would love to have found far-fetched, but could imagine happening only too well. The ignorance of some of the so-called professionals who deal with Raymond is staggering. One of the worst examples of this is when the young Raymond childishly misreads the word "therapist" and is branded some kind of sexual deviant. :D

 

I wondered why one of the recommendations in the front of the book said:

 

... a work which should be compulsory reading for anyone involved in the welfare of children.

 

After reading this book, I know why.

 

Still, I don't want to make this book sound wholly depressing - it was also wonderfully funny. I too liked how the book was constructed using Raymond's letters to his idol (fans of whom will find many in-jokes). The only thing that marred this book slightly for me was the unlikely ending, which was very contrived. But after all that Raymond had gone through, he fully deserved this conclusion.

 

I can't recommed this book highly enough - it's a wonderful novel.

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