Rock'n'Roll Suicide

Excellent, thought-provoking book that's set to become a classic

This is a really really genuinely good book. It makes you think. It makes you angry. And it makes you sad. Most of all it makes you think: "I've been there, I know just how he's feeling."

The most absorbing aspect for me was the character of Colin Preston, the Beatle-music-obsessed hero. Even though he doesn't profess to be a particularly good guy, he can't help his true character coming out in the way he behaves and the things he does and the way he treats other people.

It's an account of teenage Colin finding his way forward at a confused time, of his all-consuming passionate love affair that takes over his life and that makes him blind to realities. We've all fallen in love and things have gone wrong, but this book encapsulates precisely the way that love can chew you up and spit you out, and you're powerless to stop it.

Like all basically decent people, Colin is bemused and confused by treachery, falseness and other people's selfishness. We feel his shock and misery, and his deep deep unhappiness and confusion. It's largely about the sad hopelessness of true love, and also about cruelty. But it's also about the realities of life and how they smack you in the face: what do you do when your friend is better looking than you are, more attractive to women. It's a fact, and it's hard to get used to. And this must resonate with thousands and millions of men who've felt and thought: "Why does the other guy get the girl, when he's not even nice? Why can't I get girls when I'm a nicer person than he is?"

'Colin Preston Rocked and Rolled' put me in mind of that classic 'Catcher in the Rye'. There's the same teenage angst, the same struggle for a man who just wants to do the right thing, yet winds up at rock bottom. It has the same passion and feeling in the pages that makes you want to read on. And it's a weird kind of coincidence that the man who shot John Lennon happened to be obsessed with that same book. Maybe John Lennon's music reaches out to a certain type of person, and always has done.

All the characters live and breathe. I liked the older lady teacher who Colin befriended, but the masterpiece of the book, for me, was the character of Chester, the weirdo outcast who no one likes, but whom Colin befriends and tries to help. Chester is a sad character, but, as far as he can, Colin does the decent thing and helps him all he can, and we feel for poor old Chester, the type of person we've all come across, and most of us avoid. The crux of the story is what Colin did for Chester. At the time he met Chester, Colin had everything going for him, yet still made the effort to be friends with the loner, because he's a nice, kind-hearted guy, who just wants to do the right thing, and reach out to pull someone out of the gutter if he can. He helps Chester and he goes on helping Chester.

While it's an easy very accessible read, it's got many many ideas in it that are profound and get you thinking.

I hope there's a sequel. I want to know how Colin gets on 20 years on, and I really hope he's happy.

If you like Beatles music you'll like this book, but you'll like it even if you don't. The music plays an important backdrop to Colin's moods and feelings, but the moods and feelings are vividly described anyway and you soon build up a rapport with Colin.

This book seems like a real classic to me, something you remember for a long time afterwards. Anyone who's interested in love, relationships, treachery, decency and the sadness of loss and the excitement of new relationships, or of someone entering adulthood and not knowing how to handle it, will like this book.

It's absorbing, and it's heart warming. Most of all it's got a lead character you can really like. It's a feelgood book that really makes you think. Start reading it and you won't want to put it down. Don't miss it, I believe it's going to be a classic.