Noughties is a coming of age tale told over the course of an evening of the last night of uni interspersed with trips into the past. It’s Ben Masters’ first novel.

I anticipated seeing more of myself in the main character (Eliot) based on the synopsis. Inevitably there were moments when I saw a little of myself in him; overall though, I’ll say that Eliot is unique. We had a significantly different university experience and he is kind of a selfish dick. So instead of trying to self-reflect I ended up just sitting back and enjoying the ride. Do students really drink that much and that frequently? Apparently Oxford is bumping.

Masters is hilarious. He’s also very intelligent – a fact he attempts to make abundantly clear by referencing every literary masterpiece he could possibly squeeze in. Other reviewers have called Noughties a student novel. Reviewers define the term differently but I get their gist – a new something (first time author, designer, etc.) tries to show how well prepared and knowledgeable they are by including all the bells and whistles. In doing this, and by focusing on making details so colourful, Masters sacrifices some depth to his story and his characters. But you know what? I really enjoyed that. It worked in the context, and Masters has an engaging writing style.

I always think it sounds like such a diss, but in my eyes, this book qualifies as a well-written beach read. I'm giving the book a 3.5 but I can't decide whether to bump it to 4 and round down to 3. #firstworldproblems

[An advance copy of this book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review].

2.5 stars rounded down.

‘Noughties’ follows our hapless hero Eliot on his last night at University, flashing back to fill in the backgrounds of his friends and associates.

I have to admit, I did not enjoy reading this novel. It has all the ick-factor of watching an episode of ‘The Inbetweeners’ without any of the charm and humour; in fact - as great big swathes of dialogue were unashamedly pilfered from ‘The Inbetweeners’ - I think it’s an apt comparison. One quarter of the way in I had already grown bored of wanks, erections, testicles – I know they’re important things to a man, but I was looking for a little more heart, a little less penis and I think this could have been accomplished without affecting the ‘laddish grittiness’ that the author was clearly aiming for.

The characters – especially Eliot – were odious, their dilemmas and traumas boring and the ‘twists’ I could see coming a mile off.

The 2.5 stars are a reflection of the clever structure, sometimes running several ‘timelines’ at once and the occasional expositional paragraph that made me think – and the sporadic inclusion of points about his actual degree that - as I am also an English graduate of around the same time frame – made me smile.

Not recommended…

I really wanted for this book to engage me: a self-absorbed English literature student who feels completely out of his league having come to Oxford from a small village, leaving his younger girlfriend at home when he goes off to university, and falling in love (or fantasy) with the posh and seemingly perfect girl of his dreams. His entire life is inside of his head, is words, is trying to get the structure of his plotting and utterances perfect, but it rarely turns out that way. Our protagonist isn't particularly sympathetic, though, and understandably so, as we get to know him through his thoughts over a night of particularly excessive drinking (abnormally normal is implied), and wallowing in self pitying, and being generally incapable of making any sort of decision other than to not progress with his life in any meaningful way.

this book is like the catcher in the rye if holden caulfield went to oxford uni, had mates and was even more of a pretentious twat than he already is. the dream scenes were unbearable, skipping fully over some of them. it’s a huge warning against relationships at university and i enjoyed those parts, of adjusting and working stuff out. some of it was written so desperately wanting to be analysed that it made no sense, reading it felt like chewing on grit. just another story of a struggling english university student at uni but i do, and always will eat that shit up.

I liked the concept and plot of the book but I found the writing style hard to follow. The literary references were a bit too much throughout, like the character was trying to prove that he was clever ALL THE TIME, while the constant (part sentences and paragraphs in brackets) made it a bit disjointed at times. Some paragraphs were bracketed despite the fact that they would have stood alone as descriptive paragraphs which just added to the story rather than being a separate thought.

2.5 stars. This book was difficult to read at times because of the references that I'm too old and too American to get. It follows Eliot and his mates as they celebrate their last night as Oxford students. Through flashbacks you get Eliot's version of the last three years. And Eliot is a very self centered lad. I think you'd be hard pressed to find many people that age who are not. To the people around him, including his friends, he comes across as arrogant and even uncaring. Though Eliot is self centered he's also very insecure and that leads him to makes mistakes with relationships and misinterpret the actions of others. The story did not feel finished at the end and I think that goes with the feeling of college being over. You are left not knowing where you stand in the world and that is how I felt when I finished the book, like Eliot's story wasn't over or even complete. I can see how it speaks to people who are just finishing school or can remember the confusing time of being in school and feeling stalled in your growing up process. How you still can feel like a kid, but know that you're supposed to be more of an adult.

I don't know enough of Zadie Smith's writing to strike a comparison but there are definitely influences of Martin Amis in this book (whether you consider this a good thing or not is another matter). The one thing I kept thinking whilst reading this was that I'm so glad I was born when I was and that I went through the experience of undergrad university at the time I did. The life of the Oxford undergrads depicted in the book whilst ringing true really did not seem that fun, rather desperate. The main character is well written and whilst you can deduce the final plot twist way before the main character does it is still an interesting read.

For the majority of this, I actually thought it was an autobiography, not a novel! Really interesting and not too complex. The narrator for audiobook version was very good & clear.

Ok to pretty good. Book told from the point of view of narrator Eliot of his last night at university and the ensuing pub crawl. In three sections, we move from Pub to Bar to Club. During this we meet his friends, Jack (his bestie), Sanjay, Scott, Megan, Ali, and Ella (the object of his desires). Through flashbacks we learn of the key moments of his three years at Oxford Uni and of Lucy, his hometown girlfriend that he struggles to deal with as he grows up at home.
The privileged upbringings are all pretty obvious throughout so if you can deal with those, you'll enjoy the text mostly. There's plenty of poetry diatribe to get through though (Eliot is studying English) and you have to wonder why it's necessary to the book. The writer often indulges himself in long witterings that I'm sure he thinks help describe the situation but often confuse matters entirely. Throughout you eventually end up hating Eliot as he is mostly a complete dick, unable to communicate with others properly without losing the plot and ends up causing fights with all and sundry. He also has a disturbing habit of lapsing into very weird daydreams and you wonder for his sanity.
However, it is a good read and for those who attended University you'll see plenty of yourself in it. Coming to terms with being away from home, the tear between those you left and the new people you find yourself with, and then the worry of what to do when it all ends.

This is a hard book to review given my usual style for review so much is the style of the book. constant interjections of useless conjecture and memory, but I cannot show that through an affected prose style, given it's pervasiveness in my constant prose style.

masters lives in a world somewhere between [a:James Joyce|5144|James Joyce|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1183237775p2/5144.jpg] and [a:David Foster Wallace|4339|David Foster Wallace|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1327275938p2/4339.jpg] although to my taste he feels closer to joyce and maybe closer to [a:William Blake|13453|William Blake|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1199069675p2/13453.jpg]. But the text it oozes something that lives so distinctly in wallace's texts it can't be ignored. an intellectuality an intertextuality, a despiration, a confusion, a lack of defining character (well joyce so much had that too). but he lives in a world simpler than both but at the same time more complex a world of nightmares ([b:The History of History|8592844|The History of History|Ida Hattemer-Higgins|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320537996s/8592844.jpg|13462485]) and a world of indefinition ([b:Set This House in Order|7038261|Set This House in Order|Matt Ruff|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1267017445s/7038261.jpg|2204766]) a world of nights ([b:Imperial Bedrooms|7519866|Imperial Bedrooms |Bret Easton Ellis|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1278878105s/7519866.jpg|9738038]) a world of one day ([b:The Pets|3399860|The Pets|Bragi Ólafsson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1289345951s/3399860.jpg|1477683]) It lives in a world where people are what they aren't and maybe are nothing at all.

it lives in a world of loss, a world of innocence ([b:Alice in Wonderland|13023|Alice in Wonderland|Lewis Carroll|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1166512952s/13023.jpg|2933712]) or lack thereof ([b:Peter Pan|34268|Peter Pan|J.M. Barrie|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337714526s/34268.jpg|1358908]). It lives in the world where we are what we cannot be, and we cannot be what we are ([b:Darkside|8577364|Darkside|Belinda Bauer|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1304530760s/8577364.jpg|13420449])