Skippy Dies

Synopsis: 'Skippy and Ruprecht are having a doughnut-eating race one evening when Skippy turns purple and falls off his chair'. And so begins this epic, tragic, comic, brilliant novel set in and around Dublin's Seabrook College for Boys. Principally concerning the lives, loves, mistakes and triumphs of overweight maths-whiz Ruprecht Van Doren and his roommate Daniel 'Skippy' Juster, it features a frisbee-throwing siren called Lori, the joys (and horrors) of first love, the use and blatant misuse of prescription drugs, Carl (the official school psychopath), and various attempts to unravel string theory ...while at the same time exploring the very deepest mysteries of the human heart.

Review: A very emotional read and an unexpectedly sad one because somehow I was expecting it to be a light hearted book and though it is hilarious it's also quite melancholy and unsettling.

The story revolves around a bunch of boys boarding at Seabrook College, a catholic school in Dublin .. in particular fourteen year old Daniel Juster or 'Skippy' as he is called (and yes, he is named after the kangaroo.) Well, Skippy dies, the title tells us that and the story actually starts with his death during a doughnut eating competition with best pal Ruprecht but it would seem that, despite appearances, Skippy hasn't choked on one too many doughnut's, in fact on closer inspection, he hasn't even touched them but he has scrawled a dying message in the jam .. so what was wrong with Skippy? The story then zooms back a few weeks and we rejoin Skippy during that last term as he heads towards his fateful last day and then we continue on to see the effect his death has on those around him.

Now this is not Hogwarts, this is a far more realistic tale of boys boarding so be prepared for raging hormones, lewd talk, substance abuse, bullying, jealousy, violence, sex addiction and everything in between (including string theory!) The story is not just about the boys though, it also focuses on the teachers of Seabrook, in particular the history teacher Howard 'the Coward' Fallon .. a man struggling in both his school life and private life .. and the girls at nearby St Brigid's convent, especially the girl that captures Skippy's heart ... Lori.

It really is a stunning book, multi layered and always interesting. It's not for the easily shocked because it's fairly raw in places and harrowing and there is a fair bit of graphic content but it doesn't feel gratuitous .. it feels real and honest. The school is being run by acting principal Greg 'the Automater' Costigan, a layman (the principal Father Furlong is in hospital recovering from a heart attack) and his ruthless ambition and forward thinking make him appear both tyrannical and corrupt .. his value's are all target driven and market led but like a lot of literary monsters he provides most of the comedy. The rest of the teachers are a mixed bunch, some of them, like Howard, hope to make a difference and are well meaning but some are sadistic and .. well, let's just say that it's a catholic school with catholic priests teaching .. you can probably guess where he goes with that.

It's a big doorstep of a book (unless you read it in the three chunk edition) and very ambitious but I didn't find it a trudge, it's a real page turner. It's a coming of age story and you do feel that at it's roots it's fairly close to the truth which is a terrifying thought. There's a large cast of characters but it's the boys that steal your heart .. especially Skippy, a boy whose life is spiralling out of control to the apparent obliviousness of everyone around him.

The book also inspired me to start reading Robert Graves's book Goodbye to All That (books leading to books again.) I already had it on the shelf but my interest was piqued when Howard used the book in his classes about WWI.