The Rotters' Club

Originally written: Saturday, August 27, 2005

Draft thoughts on The Rotters' Club

The Rotters' Club is one of my favourite recent novels, and one which I have recommended to many people. It has a lot to offer. As a rites-of-passage or bildungsroman of sorts, it is a largely autobiographical account of growing up in Birmingham in the early 1970's. It also has a political context, dealing as it does with the Birmingham pub bombing and the Longbridge strikes and closure. The novel is far more than the sum of these parts, however.

It is in the characters at its heart that the real genius of The Rotters' Club lies. Reading the novel, one really feels personally acquainted with the boys: Benjamin, his sister Lois and their appalling yet delightful brother Paul; Philip and his parents and the louche Art teacher by whom his mother is charmed; would-be rock journalist Doug Anderton; the wonderful class comedian, Harding; the elusive and appealing girls: Cicely, Claire, Emily. The music the boys listen to and try to recreate forms a recognisable soundtrack which freezes the plot in time - though at the same time, the struggles, embarrassments, dilemmas and pain they encounter, as well as the happiness and laughter and even the presence of emulated contemporary musical idols, makes their experiences universal.

The Rotters' Club has it all. Humour - some hilarious set pieces which often revolve around Harding's unforgettable antics. Tragedy - the death of one character and the mental breakdown, or post-traumatic stress, of another. Social commentary - the strikes, the negotiations, the class structure and the ubiquitous chicken-in-a-basket menus of the time. Satire - the verbose courtship of Miles Plumb and his explosive rebuttal by Sam Chase. Best of all, perhaps, is the character and development of the central character, Benjamin Trotter. Through his narratives to Lois, his discussions with his parents and grandparents, his writing and his musical compositions often inspired by the adored Cicely, we see Benjamin's sensitivity and his development from awkward schoolboy with a mortal fear of public humilation to the intelligent, thoughtful, quietly confident young man ready to embark on relationships and a career as the novel concludes.

The novel's sequel, The Closed Circle, picks up the story of the characters some twenty years on and ties up the loose ends of every subplot with a Dickensian attention to detail. Also excellent, it perhaps lacks the sparkle of the original, though then again perhaps this is a fair representation of the gravity of adult life next to the élan of youth. Earlier this year, BBC2 screened an adaptation of The Rotters' Club: although enjoyable, it did not do justice to the novel's depth. It did express its liveliness and humour, as well as providing a sense of nostalgia for its setting. The novel, however, is much more than this. Its psychological depth and the thoughtfulness of its prose, mingled with laugh-out-loud humour of language, character and situation make it a classic of its time.