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Love, Sex and Other Foreign Policy Goals
It’s 1994 and the former Yugoslavia is being torn apart. In England, a gang of good-hearted young people are about to set off in a Ford Transit van armed with several sacks of rice and a half-written play. A play which will light a beacon of peace across the Balkans and, very probably, stop the war.
Andrew would love to stop the war. He has one of the most comprehensively developed personal foreign policies of anyone working on a building site in the Greater Manchester area. He feels everyone should have a foreign policy, really. What sort of person doesn’t have a foreign policy? But what he’d like to do – maybe even more than stopping the war – is sleep with Penny, who he is pretty sure might be the love of his life.
But does Penny like him? Or does she love Simon, his rival, an irritatingly authentic Geordie poet? Or Shannon, the fierce, inspiring American leader of the troupe? Who exactly loves who? And what’s the safest way to make it out of a minefield should you accidentally wander into one? And what do you talk to a mercenary about? And is a bad thing really a bad thing if it maybe leads to a good thing?
It could all take a while to work out, as the gang cross Europe and head into the war zone.
Andrew would love to stop the war. He has one of the most comprehensively developed personal foreign policies of anyone working on a building site in the Greater Manchester area. He feels everyone should have a foreign policy, really. What sort of person doesn’t have a foreign policy? But what he’d like to do – maybe even more than stopping the war – is sleep with Penny, who he is pretty sure might be the love of his life.
But does Penny like him? Or does she love Simon, his rival, an irritatingly authentic Geordie poet? Or Shannon, the fierce, inspiring American leader of the troupe? Who exactly loves who? And what’s the safest way to make it out of a minefield should you accidentally wander into one? And what do you talk to a mercenary about? And is a bad thing really a bad thing if it maybe leads to a good thing?
It could all take a while to work out, as the gang cross Europe and head into the war zone.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2015
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636 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
January 11, 2016
Jesse Armstrong is a very funny man. I know that, not just because he is one of the script-writing luminaries behind The Peep Show and The Thick of It, but because I attended a reading in my local bookshop when he was doing the rounds promoting 'Love, Sex and Other Foreign Policy Goals' last autumn. He read a couple of hilarious extracts, and was extremely engaging and witty in answering my and other listeners' questions.
On the back of that I bought the book (signed of course!). However, I fear I can now state with some authority, that the passages Jesse Armstrong read out that night are the stand-out best bits in an otherwise meandering and rather unrewarding story. In fact, I feel a bit as one does when some fabulous trailers in a cinema have enticed a viewing of an otherwise mediocre film.
Frustratingly, the starting point of the novel is wonderful: Guy falls for Hot Girl, so hot that he signs up to a crazy idea of taking a 'peace play' to a war-torn part of eastern Europe, claiming in the process that he is fluent in Serbo-Croat, purely so he can devote himself to winning the affections of said Hot Girl. Indeed, the episode where our hero is called upon to demonstrate his supposed fluency in the local lingo is one of the hysterically funny passages mentioned above. The problem however, is that a set of comedic episodes strung together does not make for a compelling narrative; because comedies, just like tragedies - and anything worthwhile in between, for that matter - have to offer some sort of....progression in the inner lives of their characters if they are to have any serious hope of engaging the reader. With 'Love, Sex and Other Foreign Policy Goals' there was no sign of any such development. In fact, it was just like the Peep Show, a series of sketches, repeating jokes along a similar theme, and leading nowhere.
That said, the funny bits were very funny. So if you fancy a feature-length version of David Mitchell trying to get inside the knickers of a Do-Gooder girl writing a play for the war-ravaged population of Bosnia, then 'Love, Sex & Other Foreign Policy Goals' is exactly the book for you.
On the back of that I bought the book (signed of course!). However, I fear I can now state with some authority, that the passages Jesse Armstrong read out that night are the stand-out best bits in an otherwise meandering and rather unrewarding story. In fact, I feel a bit as one does when some fabulous trailers in a cinema have enticed a viewing of an otherwise mediocre film.
Frustratingly, the starting point of the novel is wonderful: Guy falls for Hot Girl, so hot that he signs up to a crazy idea of taking a 'peace play' to a war-torn part of eastern Europe, claiming in the process that he is fluent in Serbo-Croat, purely so he can devote himself to winning the affections of said Hot Girl. Indeed, the episode where our hero is called upon to demonstrate his supposed fluency in the local lingo is one of the hysterically funny passages mentioned above. The problem however, is that a set of comedic episodes strung together does not make for a compelling narrative; because comedies, just like tragedies - and anything worthwhile in between, for that matter - have to offer some sort of....progression in the inner lives of their characters if they are to have any serious hope of engaging the reader. With 'Love, Sex and Other Foreign Policy Goals' there was no sign of any such development. In fact, it was just like the Peep Show, a series of sketches, repeating jokes along a similar theme, and leading nowhere.
That said, the funny bits were very funny. So if you fancy a feature-length version of David Mitchell trying to get inside the knickers of a Do-Gooder girl writing a play for the war-ravaged population of Bosnia, then 'Love, Sex & Other Foreign Policy Goals' is exactly the book for you.
January 2, 2017
I haven't read a book with such a low GR rating in a long time. (below 3.0! what was I thinking!) But I really did enjoy it, and I think anyone who approaches it with a certain mindset would enjoy it as well.
As the book starts, the sticking points that many of the reviewers here mention are immediately apparent. The characters are incredibly unlikable. They get far too lucky and make some very improbably escapes. They also have minimal improvement and personal growth over the course of the novel, despite going into a war zone and being terrible naive. These idiots went somewhere they didn't belong, made a huge mess a little bit messier, and then And what fun it was to watch.
It's a farce, a way of looking at stupidity in the same vein as many 90s TV shows, where the characters never change, but are stuck in their behaviors and attitudes -- another reviewer compared this to Friends, which I find apt. Armstrong includes a number of hints that the book needs to be taken less than seriously, and you can tell he's not really trying to write the book many reviewers seem to think he should be.
Was part of my enjoyment of this book because I shared some traits with the main character? I'll admit that. I also enjoyed the humor throughout, the clear way it portrayed the Bosnian War (I learned so much, especially as I was constantly referencing Wikipedia), and the characterizations that were well-drawn and usually hilarious.
If you're ok with reading a comedy about a war zone -- I admit, that's not for everyone -- than this may be a great fit for you. You also might hate it, like so many of these reviewers, so don't blame me if it goes awry...
As the book starts, the sticking points that many of the reviewers here mention are immediately apparent. The characters are incredibly unlikable. They get far too lucky and make some very improbably escapes. They also have minimal improvement and personal growth over the course of the novel, despite going into a war zone and being terrible naive. These idiots went somewhere they didn't belong, made a huge mess a little bit messier, and then And what fun it was to watch.
It's a farce, a way of looking at stupidity in the same vein as many 90s TV shows, where the characters never change, but are stuck in their behaviors and attitudes -- another reviewer compared this to Friends, which I find apt. Armstrong includes a number of hints that the book needs to be taken less than seriously, and you can tell he's not really trying to write the book many reviewers seem to think he should be.
Was part of my enjoyment of this book because I shared some traits with the main character? I'll admit that. I also enjoyed the humor throughout, the clear way it portrayed the Bosnian War (I learned so much, especially as I was constantly referencing Wikipedia), and the characterizations that were well-drawn and usually hilarious.
If you're ok with reading a comedy about a war zone -- I admit, that's not for everyone -- than this may be a great fit for you. You also might hate it, like so many of these reviewers, so don't blame me if it goes awry...
March 9, 2017
I was promised a hilariously ironic read. The hilarity got lost.
I have a weakness for dry British humor and a curiosity for Eastern European settings, so this looked like a great setup, and the first few pages lived up to the cover's hype. Then we delved further into the protagonist's head and I wanted back out. The tone missed "humorous" and came down on "bitterly sarcastic" with an undignified flump, following a meandering trail of clueless breadcrumbs laid by the worst kind of privileged twats whose idea of helping in an international crisis is to waltz into a war zone and perform a play that's not even in the local language. I kept reading waiting for this book to get better, or at least for some of the characters to get themselves killed to liven up the tedium. Neither happened.
Two stars for the interesting setting, at least.
I have a weakness for dry British humor and a curiosity for Eastern European settings, so this looked like a great setup, and the first few pages lived up to the cover's hype. Then we delved further into the protagonist's head and I wanted back out. The tone missed "humorous" and came down on "bitterly sarcastic" with an undignified flump, following a meandering trail of clueless breadcrumbs laid by the worst kind of privileged twats whose idea of helping in an international crisis is to waltz into a war zone and perform a play that's not even in the local language. I kept reading waiting for this book to get better, or at least for some of the characters to get themselves killed to liven up the tedium. Neither happened.
Two stars for the interesting setting, at least.
April 18, 2015
No secrets, I was expecting something very light in this debut from Jesse Armstrong, but there's layers of depth here. The characters - and there are many - are well drawn out where they need to be, and where they don't, they exist on the periphery like people do in real life. The context seems brilliantly accurate and real - and while there is at least the action one would expect in a book set in a war zone invaded by, well, student tourists, it doesn't feel forced.
This is a really nicely rounded, great read - has the air in places of a good bit of light summer fiction, but there's a good intelligent, beating heart below.
This is a really nicely rounded, great read - has the air in places of a good bit of light summer fiction, but there's a good intelligent, beating heart below.
Read
December 23, 2019this is by peep show dude & it's pretty much "jez goes to bosnia." and you know what? i'm okay with that.
August 18, 2015
my eagerness to make a friend had lead me far beyond my nature.
I don't want to oversell this, but there's a lot in here that brought to mind the best of The War Nerd and Charles Portis. It starts off kind of like a typical episode of Peep Show, but once the gang gets to the Balkans, things get intense. It felt real, and no one is ever let off the hook. He has an appreciation of what it's like to be a loser that's almost too painful to think about for too long. Has a kind of agnostic feeling that gives way to a bit of confidence, if that makes sense? No, yeah, probably not. But it's a good book.
On Love:
On Sex:
On Foreign Policy Goals:
On war nerdery:
I don't want to oversell this, but there's a lot in here that brought to mind the best of The War Nerd and Charles Portis. It starts off kind of like a typical episode of Peep Show, but once the gang gets to the Balkans, things get intense. It felt real, and no one is ever let off the hook. He has an appreciation of what it's like to be a loser that's almost too painful to think about for too long. Has a kind of agnostic feeling that gives way to a bit of confidence, if that makes sense? No, yeah, probably not. But it's a good book.
On Love:
On Sex:
On Foreign Policy Goals:
On war nerdery:
August 2, 2015
Engaging, witty, fun with an underlying message. Loved.
April 2, 2015
In this first novel by Peep Show writer Jesse Armstrong, a group of activists decide to take a play to the former Yugoslavia at the height of the war. Their motives are varied and ambiguous (a certain amount of sexual longing, intellectual arrogance and ambition are in the mix) but overall they are motivated by a kind of benevolent woolliness.
Andrew, the narrator, joins them, having refined his foreign policy while skiving at his job in a supermarket warehouse. He is insightful but a bit passive and manipulative, particularly in his infatuation with the writer of the play, Penny. Inevitably, travelling through a war zone turns out to be less straightforward than Andrew or the group had envisaged.
I liked the premise of this novel. I felt nostalgic for the days when people like Andrew did crap jobs as a lifestyle choice, rather than because that’s all there is. The world of the group is immediately recognisable to anyone who’s ever been involved in direct action. But that is part of the problem with this book. There are some nice observations, the pages turn easily, and I did laugh out loud a few times, but I felt that nothing surprised me, in either the characters or the plot.
I wonder if this book is something Armstrong had in a drawer and dusted off for publication. It doesn’t feel as technically accomplished as his TV work. It has a dogged ‘and then’ narration rather than a strong story arc. Its great strength is that reading it does feel exactly like going on a very long minibus journey with a gang of friends, with all the pleasures and pitfalls that entails. Sometimes they’re fun, sometimes they’re annoying, sometimes you wonder if you should have bothered.
I think Armstrong has shied away from engaging with the full horrors of the war. There are some dark moments, but I did feel that the characters, the reader and the author all got off too lightly.
This is surprising because the programmes he’s written – from Peep Show to The Thick of It to Babylon – are all ruthless in their depiction of people’s failings. It’s hard to find anyone likeable in any of them. And they’re also not afraid to push their characters to the limit just to see how they react.
Like Andrew, this book seemed a little timid and a little too keen to be liked.
-
I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley.
Andrew, the narrator, joins them, having refined his foreign policy while skiving at his job in a supermarket warehouse. He is insightful but a bit passive and manipulative, particularly in his infatuation with the writer of the play, Penny. Inevitably, travelling through a war zone turns out to be less straightforward than Andrew or the group had envisaged.
I liked the premise of this novel. I felt nostalgic for the days when people like Andrew did crap jobs as a lifestyle choice, rather than because that’s all there is. The world of the group is immediately recognisable to anyone who’s ever been involved in direct action. But that is part of the problem with this book. There are some nice observations, the pages turn easily, and I did laugh out loud a few times, but I felt that nothing surprised me, in either the characters or the plot.
I wonder if this book is something Armstrong had in a drawer and dusted off for publication. It doesn’t feel as technically accomplished as his TV work. It has a dogged ‘and then’ narration rather than a strong story arc. Its great strength is that reading it does feel exactly like going on a very long minibus journey with a gang of friends, with all the pleasures and pitfalls that entails. Sometimes they’re fun, sometimes they’re annoying, sometimes you wonder if you should have bothered.
I think Armstrong has shied away from engaging with the full horrors of the war. There are some dark moments, but I did feel that the characters, the reader and the author all got off too lightly.
This is surprising because the programmes he’s written – from Peep Show to The Thick of It to Babylon – are all ruthless in their depiction of people’s failings. It’s hard to find anyone likeable in any of them. And they’re also not afraid to push their characters to the limit just to see how they react.
Like Andrew, this book seemed a little timid and a little too keen to be liked.
-
I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley.
July 12, 2015
I really wanted to enjoy this book. Looking for a break from all the recent fantasy novels that have dominated my reading, I was looking for a funny, quirky and light story. Receiving an advanced copy from Netgalley, I dove head first into the story of these 20-something guys (mainly from Britain) driving to Bosnia on a peace mission. The author is a celebrated British comedy TV writer, so expectations where high... and yet, to be honest, I barely managed to finish it. The main character and narrator, Andrew, is built as this anti-hero, capturing the nature of a person who tags along on an unselfish peace drive only to selfishly get the girl. And I found him insufferable. It seems the author went too out of his way to capture the British idiosyncrasy, the constantly awkward and ambiguous attitude to life... the end just comes and goes and quite frankly, you just feel relieved that the story is over and you don't have to put up with him anymore.
And here's something I find unforgivable. The author clearly did a lot of research on Bosnia and the conflict in 1994. Yet, somehow, there's a character called Baltimore Ravens (because he's wearing the NFL team's cap). Yet, the Ravens were only established in 1996! Not enough research after all.... not impressed.
And here's something I find unforgivable. The author clearly did a lot of research on Bosnia and the conflict in 1994. Yet, somehow, there's a character called Baltimore Ravens (because he's wearing the NFL team's cap). Yet, the Ravens were only established in 1996! Not enough research after all.... not impressed.
April 27, 2016
I'll get this out of the way right away: This book is by far the worst book I have read for a while.
The comedy parts were rare and not very funny - I am open to many different kinds of comedy, but I guess that comedy in a Balkan genocide/civil war setting just isn't remotely close to what I find proper.
The book was one long struggle for me from cover to cover, and I probably should have let it go early on when I realized that it would not improve.
I simply have no idea who will find this book funny or just worth reading. If one wishes to read about the war-torn Balkan states, I would turn to more serious accounts, and if one wishes to read something to make them laugh out laugh, I would turn to Dave Hill, Bill Bryson or some other writer who is actually funny. Because Jesse Armstrong sure isn't in this book.
[A advance reader's copy of this book was generously provided by the First to Read program in return for an honest review]
The comedy parts were rare and not very funny - I am open to many different kinds of comedy, but I guess that comedy in a Balkan genocide/civil war setting just isn't remotely close to what I find proper.
The book was one long struggle for me from cover to cover, and I probably should have let it go early on when I realized that it would not improve.
I simply have no idea who will find this book funny or just worth reading. If one wishes to read about the war-torn Balkan states, I would turn to more serious accounts, and if one wishes to read something to make them laugh out laugh, I would turn to Dave Hill, Bill Bryson or some other writer who is actually funny. Because Jesse Armstrong sure isn't in this book.
[A advance reader's copy of this book was generously provided by the First to Read program in return for an honest review]
December 5, 2016
Self absorbed Gen-Xers set off from London to bring peace to Bosnia in the throes of the Yugoslavian civil war. There is a lot of book to read to get to the funny bits, and the ending is rather good.
August 21, 2018
One of the best modern novels I've read in recent years. As funny as you'd expect from a writer of Peep Show and Four Lions, and with moral depth and plenty of food for thought.
May 1, 2017
hi, my tastes are : updike, roth , etc,,,, sorry in advance for my messy english
Jesse Armstrong has something that belongs to very few minds, they are rare, ,,,i think ( the guy who wrote office space? for instance, ferdinand celine, woody allen), all of them honest and people who can not support our idiocy, cause of so much pain in the world and so drift this comical way of expresing the anguish , etc ,,, they depicture somebody trying to be just a person and being incapablea and much more.
“It felt after a while as if getting the van to Bosnia was, itself, at some level, the central aim of the trip,” it is said by the Andrew and I personaly think that is beyon funny , it is sad and it is maybe true ,,,,,,,,, most of people doing solidarity dont actually give a fuck and only great writers can discern the real psicological personal causes behind this so bloody lovely goodwill ,,,,,,thats precicely why Armstrom is amazing an capable of writing Peep Show , becouse he is saying something so utterly sad and at the same time plausible,,,,,,,this is an observation that only people so extreme as F.F. Celine could have writen, and Celine is consider a genious ,,,it is unberable to accept the horror we are living in and we consider that to be sarcastical,no ,he is not sarcastic , he is a good guy this Writer,,, , and thats why we are so far from any congruence and predominantly pathetics and the caracteres in this novel could be us, desperate for love and beauty and justice and so lost with our spongiform encefalitis,,,,,,,,,,,,,,actually in fact im piss off becouse you got this guy who wrote that increbible Peep Show , one of the most intelligent series ever and here , and here many of you spiting over his book that it can maybe not be amazing but it does have without any doubt amazing moments , jokes and observations ( very close i repeat to Celine who is consider "the only one" for many people in France,, and some of you judge the book with so much confidence,,what the f*** , COME ON ARMSTRONG dont lisen to this crap and keep writing!!.
i dont think that Jesse Armstrong is joking ,,, i mean ,, i can not see this as just comedy ,,,, for me is real and i believe that is real for him too and very scary , people is scary , they have got interests and they wont care about others becouse we are scared too and very very limited and we act as so normal and solid and it is here where the desperation and the great fun happens and the confusion, the terrible confusion,,,, woody allen used to be accused of being too light ,,,when he was the only one back then ,,maybe,, getting the point, the mega inteligent point about our real nature,,,, yes ,, live feels poor and absurd, incoherent and cruel and we dont even notice much of the time,,,,and is very funny and thats why we can die just as a fly ,a talking fly and nobody cares,,,i have working in residences for old people (in super boring France) and i can tell you how we are a joke ,,i can tell you about love,,,,, you can not imagine how sad and real it is,,,,,anyway
the story is not bad at all,,come on! it could happen and of course is a mess but i insist that life is much more like that than like something well defined. it doesnt exist that outlined life ,,thats bad fiction in books for silly girls and silly boys. thats bullshit
I read the reviews,,,,not rich caracters ???? not rich thoughts??? see the faces ,watch gestures ,the things that people say , who care about rich toughts ,,this is much better . you are talking about dostoevsky or what? ( there is also Capote writting in cold blood ,amazing)
sorry Armstrong for sounding as justifying your book , i clearly like it and bytheway the end really touched me and made me sad,,,, when the guy goes to her house is really good ,,,,,and i was with them inside the bus,,,and when they dont wave back !!! it is amazing and so painfully real ! i did that myself ones ! becouse i had this sexual priorities and policy goals.
yes i know it is not a perfect book , and there is peep show and Jesse is very english, the british pudor , for some of you a bit too much , not for me. He is not good at all but
this guy got the point , a super point ,, he goes very far at the absurdity and the further he goes the more truth it becomes and you tell yourself ,,,oh no! it is not possible! ,, i suspected something, i felt it but i though it couldnt be truth , fuck! and also he is gentile, he is ! and he is capable of feeling, of course he is
well i got lost in my review ,, i just needed to say that i find this guy very special seen the stock
and the last thing ,,i can see some Pennys and Simons doing reviews about Andrew here j ja j ja ja ja ja ja ja , you have opinions, wow wow have you got a moral standards also?
Jesse Armstrong has something that belongs to very few minds, they are rare, ,,,i think ( the guy who wrote office space? for instance, ferdinand celine, woody allen), all of them honest and people who can not support our idiocy, cause of so much pain in the world and so drift this comical way of expresing the anguish , etc ,,, they depicture somebody trying to be just a person and being incapablea and much more.
“It felt after a while as if getting the van to Bosnia was, itself, at some level, the central aim of the trip,” it is said by the Andrew and I personaly think that is beyon funny , it is sad and it is maybe true ,,,,,,,,, most of people doing solidarity dont actually give a fuck and only great writers can discern the real psicological personal causes behind this so bloody lovely goodwill ,,,,,,thats precicely why Armstrom is amazing an capable of writing Peep Show , becouse he is saying something so utterly sad and at the same time plausible,,,,,,,this is an observation that only people so extreme as F.F. Celine could have writen, and Celine is consider a genious ,,,it is unberable to accept the horror we are living in and we consider that to be sarcastical,no ,he is not sarcastic , he is a good guy this Writer,,, , and thats why we are so far from any congruence and predominantly pathetics and the caracteres in this novel could be us, desperate for love and beauty and justice and so lost with our spongiform encefalitis,,,,,,,,,,,,,,actually in fact im piss off becouse you got this guy who wrote that increbible Peep Show , one of the most intelligent series ever and here , and here many of you spiting over his book that it can maybe not be amazing but it does have without any doubt amazing moments , jokes and observations ( very close i repeat to Celine who is consider "the only one" for many people in France,, and some of you judge the book with so much confidence,,what the f*** , COME ON ARMSTRONG dont lisen to this crap and keep writing!!.
i dont think that Jesse Armstrong is joking ,,, i mean ,, i can not see this as just comedy ,,,, for me is real and i believe that is real for him too and very scary , people is scary , they have got interests and they wont care about others becouse we are scared too and very very limited and we act as so normal and solid and it is here where the desperation and the great fun happens and the confusion, the terrible confusion,,,, woody allen used to be accused of being too light ,,,when he was the only one back then ,,maybe,, getting the point, the mega inteligent point about our real nature,,,, yes ,, live feels poor and absurd, incoherent and cruel and we dont even notice much of the time,,,,and is very funny and thats why we can die just as a fly ,a talking fly and nobody cares,,,i have working in residences for old people (in super boring France) and i can tell you how we are a joke ,,i can tell you about love,,,,, you can not imagine how sad and real it is,,,,,anyway
the story is not bad at all,,come on! it could happen and of course is a mess but i insist that life is much more like that than like something well defined. it doesnt exist that outlined life ,,thats bad fiction in books for silly girls and silly boys. thats bullshit
I read the reviews,,,,not rich caracters ???? not rich thoughts??? see the faces ,watch gestures ,the things that people say , who care about rich toughts ,,this is much better . you are talking about dostoevsky or what? ( there is also Capote writting in cold blood ,amazing)
sorry Armstrong for sounding as justifying your book , i clearly like it and bytheway the end really touched me and made me sad,,,, when the guy goes to her house is really good ,,,,,and i was with them inside the bus,,,and when they dont wave back !!! it is amazing and so painfully real ! i did that myself ones ! becouse i had this sexual priorities and policy goals.
yes i know it is not a perfect book , and there is peep show and Jesse is very english, the british pudor , for some of you a bit too much , not for me. He is not good at all but
this guy got the point , a super point ,, he goes very far at the absurdity and the further he goes the more truth it becomes and you tell yourself ,,,oh no! it is not possible! ,, i suspected something, i felt it but i though it couldnt be truth , fuck! and also he is gentile, he is ! and he is capable of feeling, of course he is
well i got lost in my review ,, i just needed to say that i find this guy very special seen the stock
and the last thing ,,i can see some Pennys and Simons doing reviews about Andrew here j ja j ja ja ja ja ja ja , you have opinions, wow wow have you got a moral standards also?
April 20, 2020
Absolutely superb, not a word wasted in this perfectly pitched and hilarious book. I had a quick look through some of the other comments and was surprised to see so many negative reviews. I guess if you didn't click into the characters and story you...just didn't - I suppose that happens some times. But it's hard to imagine why with a writer with such a successful pedigree as Jesse Armstrong. I've never actually watched The Thick of it or Peep Show (I haven't watched much TV for years) but came to Armstrong through Succession like I hope many people will to this book. It probably helps that I lived in London in the early 90s and through a news torrent of increasingly awful war stories about Bosnia, so I know the period pretty well. I also even had another NZ friend who drove a truck into besieged areas of the country, she was far braver than me. She put her truck license, obtained job delivering frozen chip's in the Uni holidays back in NZ, to good use.
So I am very primed to understand the milieu of the characters and I'm a similar age to the author (which is a huge factor in how much I enjoy a book and I suspect it's the same for most people whether they realise it or not) but, even so, I'm amazed how many other reviewers on the site completely missed the point. I found the whole book completely delicious, so finely judged and as prefectly calibrated as P G Wodehouse at his best. I find it interesting that two other favourite authors spent a good part of their careers around the theatre, Wodehouse on Broadway in musicals and Dickens on the London stage. I think this is why they know there characters so well and understand the warmth and subtle interplay of characters - as does Armstrong with his TV career - better than an author stuck in a room their whole life staring out the window and - unsurpisingly create unmemorable and/or unreal characters. I laughed out loud many times.
Not only is it good story, with the hapless Andy cutting very close to the bone to me in his self doubt and self delusions, it is full of wisdom from Armstrong such as about conspiracy theories (a pet hate of mine for years) being comforting because they give a feeling of certainty that someone somewhere is in charge. It's about the callowness of youth running up against the hard realities of the world which are scarier, but also more absurd, than you thought possible. The locals rip the well-meaning actors off left and right and the whole trip with good intentions is a long road to hell.
Quote
" Back on thin mattress over its wire rack I listened to Love Will Tear Us Apart loud on my Walkman but it didn't give me the jolt of heart tug and longing it used to. So I found myself imagining it being played at my funeral to see if that kicked the old soul-buzz into action. It did a little and, as I imagined Penny and Helen smiling bravely as Ian Curtis sang, I must’ve drifted off."
So I am very primed to understand the milieu of the characters and I'm a similar age to the author (which is a huge factor in how much I enjoy a book and I suspect it's the same for most people whether they realise it or not) but, even so, I'm amazed how many other reviewers on the site completely missed the point. I found the whole book completely delicious, so finely judged and as prefectly calibrated as P G Wodehouse at his best. I find it interesting that two other favourite authors spent a good part of their careers around the theatre, Wodehouse on Broadway in musicals and Dickens on the London stage. I think this is why they know there characters so well and understand the warmth and subtle interplay of characters - as does Armstrong with his TV career - better than an author stuck in a room their whole life staring out the window and - unsurpisingly create unmemorable and/or unreal characters. I laughed out loud many times.
Not only is it good story, with the hapless Andy cutting very close to the bone to me in his self doubt and self delusions, it is full of wisdom from Armstrong such as about conspiracy theories (a pet hate of mine for years) being comforting because they give a feeling of certainty that someone somewhere is in charge. It's about the callowness of youth running up against the hard realities of the world which are scarier, but also more absurd, than you thought possible. The locals rip the well-meaning actors off left and right and the whole trip with good intentions is a long road to hell.
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" Back on thin mattress over its wire rack I listened to Love Will Tear Us Apart loud on my Walkman but it didn't give me the jolt of heart tug and longing it used to. So I found myself imagining it being played at my funeral to see if that kicked the old soul-buzz into action. It did a little and, as I imagined Penny and Helen smiling bravely as Ian Curtis sang, I must’ve drifted off."
September 5, 2016
Jesse Armstrong - writer of one of my favourite TV Series, Peep Show - writes his first book. A comedy - setting a 20 something man in with a troupe of drama students who think they can stop the Bosnian War through a play and the distribution of some sacks of rice. He fancies the girl, the girl fancies the cooler poet/libertine
Sounds like comedy golddust. What could go wrong?
Well, more or less everything.
I found the characterisation weak. Didn't care about any of the characters. Struggled to differentiate between them. The troupe seemed interchangeable. The Bosnian completely forgettable.
The story is OK. It plods along. The characters are put in comedic situations. Then some quite horrific situations which didnt sit well with the rest of the book. The ending was a blur of boredom and I will not detail it here, which is a shame as by next week, I will have totally forgotten it.
And its the comedy that's the biggest disappointment. Nary a chuckle from me. Whereas Peep Show has a quote for most situations (usually from Superhans), I got nothing from this.
Maybe I needed to listen to it being read aloud to gain something from it. Is there an audiobook?
A shame, as after a dense 830 page behemoth of Booker winning historical fiction, I was looking for something more jaunty to entertain me.
Sounds like comedy golddust. What could go wrong?
Well, more or less everything.
I found the characterisation weak. Didn't care about any of the characters. Struggled to differentiate between them. The troupe seemed interchangeable. The Bosnian completely forgettable.
The story is OK. It plods along. The characters are put in comedic situations. Then some quite horrific situations which didnt sit well with the rest of the book. The ending was a blur of boredom and I will not detail it here, which is a shame as by next week, I will have totally forgotten it.
And its the comedy that's the biggest disappointment. Nary a chuckle from me. Whereas Peep Show has a quote for most situations (usually from Superhans), I got nothing from this.
Maybe I needed to listen to it being read aloud to gain something from it. Is there an audiobook?
A shame, as after a dense 830 page behemoth of Booker winning historical fiction, I was looking for something more jaunty to entertain me.
December 9, 2021
surprised this has such a low rating, it was hilarious. legitimately laughed out loud in public reading this book. everyone's a hypocrite in their own way and maybe i just like reading about people who suck in a very realistic way. felt very succession-y in that the plot developments are more to examine how the individual characters react. jesse armstrong is a master of turning phrases and getting to the core awkwardness of situations we all experience. plus i actually learned a lot about the war
April 23, 2016
This was a very thought proving novel with a bit of Bildungsroman elements to it. It also seemed like a "Young Ones" episode gone terribly askew without the humour. The readers are introduced to a cast of characters including a drop out from the Welsh borderlands, posh Londoners, odd Americans, a mercinary from the Welsh borderlands, and various people from the former Yugoslavia.
The aforementioned group of first world people go to the former Yugoslavia on a peace mission. What ensues turns into a big mess. Even the U.N. peacekeepers are having a hard time keeping everything straight.
The story is a bit of farcical fun that will especially appeal to fans of "Waiting For Godot."
The aforementioned group of first world people go to the former Yugoslavia on a peace mission. What ensues turns into a big mess. Even the U.N. peacekeepers are having a hard time keeping everything straight.
The story is a bit of farcical fun that will especially appeal to fans of "Waiting For Godot."
May 25, 2015
Imagine if 'Friends' was an ideologically sound champagne socialist commune, and Mark Corrigan or somebody very much like Mark Corrigan from 'Peep Show', if slightly less likeable, became involved in a mission to take a agitprop play to bring peace to the rapidly disintegrating Former Yugoslavia in the early 90's, then you've pretty much got the plot of this book. From the writing in this book and the inner monologue of the main character, those familiar with the work of Jesse Armstrong will see nuggets of 'Peep Show' and 'Thick of It' goodness along with a whole lot of navel gazing/ teenage style angst/ political naiveté that after a while will become very very tiresome.
February 7, 2017
just couldn't get into this book and the plot sounded good but sadly the writing didn't and wasn't my style
July 17, 2025
Mark Corrigan in Bosnia.
April 8, 2019
Confession time - I did this one as an audiobook, and I only got it because it seemed to be the only audiobook I could find read by Chris Addison, and I rather fancied nerly ten hours of Chris in my ears.
Actually more interesting and difficult than the title makes it sound, it's the story of a group of wooly, wonderful idealists who set off from Manchester during the war in Bosnia to take both aid, and - wait for it, it's so adorable you'll squeak - a 'peace play' to remind people of their common humanity and stop the fighting.
MM-hmm.
Along the way, Andy, the narrator, falls into something he thinks is love with Penny, the adopted black daughter of some rich white British diplomats, who in turn might possibly be falling for a poet called Steve, or possibly for the American leader of the group called Shannon. Andy is, at several crucial moments, a bit of an arse, and at several other crucial moments, chronically endangers the group by being a charlatan and a liar, but he's terribly terribly well-meaning (which I'm guessing is why the production company thought 'Let's see if we can get Chris Addison to read this.') As a story, it clashes post-imperial British guilt and the simplistic notion of love and peace solving alll the issues in the world straight into a complex internecine conflict, where even the nice guys might turn out not to be THAT nice. There are bombings, shootings, a public hanging and a concentration camp in this novel, so it delivers on all the detail you might think you'd want from such a story (assuming of course you didn't get it just because it was read by Chris Addison), but it also shoves Andy's quest to make Penny fall in love with him into the foreground, justifying the flippancy of the title after all. As such, while there is a kind of balance in the story threads, you end up not caring that much for Andy, and ultimately his 'love' for Penny feels magnificently self-indulgent and irrelevant when painted against the backdrop of the situation in which he's trying to promote and pursue it.
Would I recommend it?
Meh - as an eye-read, probably not. As an audio, it at least does have the reading of Chris Addison to recommend it as an experience for nearly ten hours. And there is good, eye-opening content in it. I'm just not sure that you couldn't have a lot more fun or a lot more of an improving experience in ten hours than this book delivers.
Actually more interesting and difficult than the title makes it sound, it's the story of a group of wooly, wonderful idealists who set off from Manchester during the war in Bosnia to take both aid, and - wait for it, it's so adorable you'll squeak - a 'peace play' to remind people of their common humanity and stop the fighting.
MM-hmm.
Along the way, Andy, the narrator, falls into something he thinks is love with Penny, the adopted black daughter of some rich white British diplomats, who in turn might possibly be falling for a poet called Steve, or possibly for the American leader of the group called Shannon. Andy is, at several crucial moments, a bit of an arse, and at several other crucial moments, chronically endangers the group by being a charlatan and a liar, but he's terribly terribly well-meaning (which I'm guessing is why the production company thought 'Let's see if we can get Chris Addison to read this.') As a story, it clashes post-imperial British guilt and the simplistic notion of love and peace solving alll the issues in the world straight into a complex internecine conflict, where even the nice guys might turn out not to be THAT nice. There are bombings, shootings, a public hanging and a concentration camp in this novel, so it delivers on all the detail you might think you'd want from such a story (assuming of course you didn't get it just because it was read by Chris Addison), but it also shoves Andy's quest to make Penny fall in love with him into the foreground, justifying the flippancy of the title after all. As such, while there is a kind of balance in the story threads, you end up not caring that much for Andy, and ultimately his 'love' for Penny feels magnificently self-indulgent and irrelevant when painted against the backdrop of the situation in which he's trying to promote and pursue it.
Would I recommend it?
Meh - as an eye-read, probably not. As an audio, it at least does have the reading of Chris Addison to recommend it as an experience for nearly ten hours. And there is good, eye-opening content in it. I'm just not sure that you couldn't have a lot more fun or a lot more of an improving experience in ten hours than this book delivers.
October 7, 2021
Both funny and insightful, I don't quite get all the bad reviews.
Just as in Peep Show, Babylon or Succession, the world of a book is a world with no heroes, no monsters, no bad guys and good guys.
« I estimated that of my urge to go, 51% was animal. Desire for Penny. Lust, and more than lust: to move eventually to a farm with her and grow potatoes and drink strong tea, that was the ultimate aim. [•••] Next after Penny was the humanitarian motive. The direct love as one’s fellow man and outrage at slaughter on our own Continent. I was generous to myself and said 20 per cent of my urge to go was humanitarian. [•••] The, allied to the humanitarian motive, was the desire for praise for having had the humanitarian motive, the possibility that someone, somewhere might build a statue of me. [•••] 20% too. [•••] Then there was the desire no to flake out, to follow through on a publicly stated aim. That was a hell of a lot. »
The character is only going to Bosnia out of desire, romance, ego, selfishness and cowardice.
This is the real world. We're all winging it.
I've also enjoyed insights on relationships, getting old, comedy (which is "subverting expectations.")
And on why people dig conspiracy theories.
« It’s relaxing, I suppose, a conspiracy. The idea that someone, somewhere, is paying attention. The Jew, the Masons, the Establishment. It’s very appealing that the hidden hand at least might have a clue what the fuck is going on. The world is under control and you know how. Everything is tidy. »
I could continue. I won't! But it's a good book.
Just as in Peep Show, Babylon or Succession, the world of a book is a world with no heroes, no monsters, no bad guys and good guys.
« I estimated that of my urge to go, 51% was animal. Desire for Penny. Lust, and more than lust: to move eventually to a farm with her and grow potatoes and drink strong tea, that was the ultimate aim. [•••] Next after Penny was the humanitarian motive. The direct love as one’s fellow man and outrage at slaughter on our own Continent. I was generous to myself and said 20 per cent of my urge to go was humanitarian. [•••] The, allied to the humanitarian motive, was the desire for praise for having had the humanitarian motive, the possibility that someone, somewhere might build a statue of me. [•••] 20% too. [•••] Then there was the desire no to flake out, to follow through on a publicly stated aim. That was a hell of a lot. »
The character is only going to Bosnia out of desire, romance, ego, selfishness and cowardice.
This is the real world. We're all winging it.
I've also enjoyed insights on relationships, getting old, comedy (which is "subverting expectations.")
And on why people dig conspiracy theories.
« It’s relaxing, I suppose, a conspiracy. The idea that someone, somewhere, is paying attention. The Jew, the Masons, the Establishment. It’s very appealing that the hidden hand at least might have a clue what the fuck is going on. The world is under control and you know how. Everything is tidy. »
I could continue. I won't! But it's a good book.
January 5, 2022
An extremely frustrating book. A few young people - who are very very pretentiously idealistic - basically whatever the woke/hippie analog for the 90s would be - undertake a journey to Yugoslavia to protest the war through a Peace play. The premise is interesting, and the book is clumsily written. The protagonist is a cowardly character who falls in with the lot to impress a girl and ends up going to a warzone. There, he discovers - nothing. There is no character growth. No shocking moment where the realize they are in a war, where peace plays do not work.
I guess I was waiting for some comeuppance - some moment where the characters get to know they are shitty people in over their heads, but all the characters come with solid plot armor included so they escape unhurt even from an all out armed assault unscathed.
The dialogs are very reminiscent of the brilliant HBO series Succession - which was also written by Jesse Armstrong, which is also the reason I picked this book up. The characters speak in double negatives, open ended questions, often say the opposite of what they mean. It would have all worked if there was more to the book - and there really isn't. It starts, goes on, checks all its boxes and then just ends with a whimper.
I guess I was waiting for some comeuppance - some moment where the characters get to know they are shitty people in over their heads, but all the characters come with solid plot armor included so they escape unhurt even from an all out armed assault unscathed.
The dialogs are very reminiscent of the brilliant HBO series Succession - which was also written by Jesse Armstrong, which is also the reason I picked this book up. The characters speak in double negatives, open ended questions, often say the opposite of what they mean. It would have all worked if there was more to the book - and there really isn't. It starts, goes on, checks all its boxes and then just ends with a whimper.
October 29, 2023
Funny af. I read the whole thing with Tom from Succession playing Andy in my head. Really added to the book lowkey. But he’s got some Cousin Greg in him too which is a pleasure to see/have to. More morals than both of them tho.
Book comes out killin at a breakneck pace. Lots of hilarity and good social class analysis as well as just shit-tons of the absurdities of war. The details were fuckin great. Kinda got bogged down towards the end. Did appreciate that it has a grown-up/realistic ending. Bev is a real one, your birth is my birth your death is my death g. Shannon is scary to me.
I would love to see what the rest of Andy’s life would be. Poors interacting with the uber-wealthy is always fascinating. So many great jokes, lines, descriptions, comparisons and thoughtful little ramblings. Also so many hilarious shit-show-situations.
It has deeply honest/flawed and substantial characters that bumble through life the way we all do. Some amount of planning and moralizing and posturing but chips are down- most of life is wingin it and out your control. Try to enjoy the ride and not to be too big a POS. And at worst at least be funny.. Big recommend. Thank you Jesse for having not just TV shows.
Book comes out killin at a breakneck pace. Lots of hilarity and good social class analysis as well as just shit-tons of the absurdities of war. The details were fuckin great. Kinda got bogged down towards the end. Did appreciate that it has a grown-up/realistic ending. Bev is a real one, your birth is my birth your death is my death g. Shannon is scary to me.
I would love to see what the rest of Andy’s life would be. Poors interacting with the uber-wealthy is always fascinating. So many great jokes, lines, descriptions, comparisons and thoughtful little ramblings. Also so many hilarious shit-show-situations.
It has deeply honest/flawed and substantial characters that bumble through life the way we all do. Some amount of planning and moralizing and posturing but chips are down- most of life is wingin it and out your control. Try to enjoy the ride and not to be too big a POS. And at worst at least be funny.. Big recommend. Thank you Jesse for having not just TV shows.
August 25, 2024
Why did I buy this book? Why, of course, because of its funny title. As an IR student myself, I sometimes fancy international politics-themed fiction books and movies.
I did not expect much, and the book didn't deliver much, but it's not that disappointing either.
The story is supposed to be comedic (and it is), but the funny part didn't excite me enough to read it, so I ended up reading slowly. The way the main character is such a shallow and self-centered figure is not interesting, and there's not much character development either. Although, this kind of story might be better delivered as a movie.
What I kind of appreciate is the adventure of crossing Europe and the details of the conflict in Yugoslavia (yes, the international politics part). I did not know much about it myself, so it was nice to know, and it's also well-put with the story.
I did not expect much, and the book didn't deliver much, but it's not that disappointing either.
The story is supposed to be comedic (and it is), but the funny part didn't excite me enough to read it, so I ended up reading slowly. The way the main character is such a shallow and self-centered figure is not interesting, and there's not much character development either. Although, this kind of story might be better delivered as a movie.
What I kind of appreciate is the adventure of crossing Europe and the details of the conflict in Yugoslavia (yes, the international politics part). I did not know much about it myself, so it was nice to know, and it's also well-put with the story.
September 23, 2018
This is an odd book--mostly in a good way. It's a light-hearted, often quite funny, satire on a very heavy topic--the Serb-Croat war in the 1990s. Oddly, while almost trying not to, it sheds more light on the situation than, say, the much more widely acclaimed The Tiger's Wife. A group of idealistic twenty-somethings get in a van and head off to the region to put on a play to promote peace. It's a sort of on-the-road novel that reveals the absurdity of war (especially this particular one)--but also (perhaps even more) the absurdity of naive young antiwar idealists hyped up on lust, booze, & drugs. I especially enjoyed some of the dialog, when characters who really had nothing to say, would pontificate, starting & stopping, without really saying anything.
April 25, 2025
I started reading this book because Succession is my all-time favorite show, and I honestly think Jesse Armstrong is a genius for writing something that powerful. But this book wasn’t what I expected. I really tried to get into the story—some parts are genuinely funny and well-written—but overall, I felt like the narrator’s thoughts and interactions with other characters were messy and hard to follow. There are a lot of characters, but their connections to the story aren’t built up well. That said, you can still spot Jesse Armstrong’s dialogue style in the conversations between characters, which was promising in the beginning, but couldn’t save it for me, and I ended up quitting the book.
May 19, 2017
Questo libro mi ha incuriosito fin da subito per tutto: copertina, titolo, trama. Prometteva umorismo inglese e un pizzico di storia contemporanea, che mi faceva comodo dal momento che ammetto di non sapere granché sulla questione jugoslava. purtroppo però le aspettative sono calate sempre di più e pagina dopo pagina la mia bocca restava sempre più asciutta. Alla fine, ormai era arida. Non si riesce a simpatizzare con nessuno dei personaggi, la trama è inconsistente e prevedibile, della storia reale poi non si capisce niente. Lo salva lo humour che Jesse Armstrong conosce, anche se in certi punti è fin troppo affannato.
December 13, 2025
Peep Show and Succession writer Jesse Armstrong turns his comedic brand of social and sexual humiliation to the Bosnian war, as a well-meaning student theatre troupe think they will save the world by performing a ‘peace play’ in Sarajevo. Grim Yugoslav politics is cleverly paralleled and offset by the very British romantic comedy-of-manners, in which protagonist Andy joins this doomed mission and almost gets killed simply because he fancies a girl. It loses some momentum towards the end, concluding (perhaps appropriately) with a whimper rather than a bang.
May 19, 2025
Hilarious at pretty regular intervals. Characters are mixed, but a couple are very well thought out and developed. I just struggled with the plot...
The core point (that wars are a mix of terrifying, confusing, dull, messy, and often pointless) is well delivered, but until it becomes clear that that was the aim, the big picture happenings around the main cast are quite hard to follow.
Enjoyable, but I wouldn't call it a must read.
The core point (that wars are a mix of terrifying, confusing, dull, messy, and often pointless) is well delivered, but until it becomes clear that that was the aim, the big picture happenings around the main cast are quite hard to follow.
Enjoyable, but I wouldn't call it a must read.
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