I Fear for this Boy

I have been taking a rest from writing and it’s been hard to get back in the saddle – laziness really.

I was recently given a book that (unusually) can be judged by its cover. Incidentally, like Coffee with Hitler, it’s the author’s first book; and another cracker.

At the top is the author’s school “leaver” and the Report reveals that he was at Eton in the Summer Half (term) 1969. It is reticent about his performance at Trials (exams) and it is possible that out of the thirteen boys in his Division (class) he was the one that didn’t sit Trials. Theo partly explains this in his Preamble.

”On leaving school, slightly earlier than anticipated, I was given what was meant to be a comprehensive school report. This was meant to include academic, character and social assessments and it was written by a master with whom I thought I got on very well and from whom I detected great empathy. He had taught me almost throughout my time there so knew me well. But in the middle of a large sheet of official paper there were only five words: ‘I fear for this boy’. His instincts were not wrong.”

The back cover gives more clues. I think the chap with a fag in his mouth is Theo Fennell, the other I don’t recognise. The wine stains are part of the design not my attempt to personalise my copy. Some back cover quotes make the best of a book but William Boyd is not putting his formidable reputation at risk. “One of the funniest books I have ever read. Wonderfully deadpan and written with tremendous flair. An instant classic.”

Further down, in the summary, I like picaresque (relating to an episodic style of fiction dealing with the adventures of a rough and dishonest but appealing hero). But it’s much funnier than 3 Men in a B. I seldom cry with laughter when reading a book, even Wodehouse, but some of the episodes related by Theo are very, very funny. He knows how to create vividly comic situations and, as people said of my grandfather’s stories, they lose nothing in the telling. It’s a modern Lucky Jim and just what you might like to find lurking under the Christmas tree this year.