The Mole Years

One thing that I'm finding myself coming back to is as awkward as it has been for me to deal with is my interests are that of child because I'm an adult little and they remain as they were from childhood.

One area where this is particularly apparent is in my tastes in literature that remain around 10 though 14. 

One series of books I enjoyed during my chronological childhood was Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole series which by pure fluke in diary form connect very much with my recollections of that era as a boy in the fifth and sixth forms.

It's a funny and at time sad story of unrequited love for his girlfriend Pandora, an account of his burgeoning intellectual development including his observations on life, attempts at deep meaningful poetry as well as running social commentary on England in the early 1980's.

It was produced  for tv in 1985 been shown on the ITV network of commercial tv stations.

The Growing Pains covers the period  from 1982 to the UK General Election in 1983, documenting the launch of Breakfast TV and the increasing distance between him and Pandora.

By this point our hero also discovers the need to shave as most of us biological boys did back then.

For me this is book about modern boyhood that is so relatable for being set in my own boyhood era.