Out: A Schoolboy's Tale

I loved the way that it was written: yes, an exceptionally talented 15 year old with a butterfly mind could indeed write something like this but I am seriously wondering how autobiographical it actually was? Based in the early 1990's (I think) there are thousands of references to music and British tv shows of the time which brought back many memories for me, although I am actually a lot older than our hero would be now in 2016. He is interested in just about everything - with occasional blind spots. He mentions all of his school subjects - sometimes at length, and I have to say I skipped over some of the chemistry and physics. The book is crammed with music, dates, literature, facts about his venerable school, not to mention sports because this boy is no "nerd". The book, and our hero, is bursting with joy and purpose throughout. I loved the way he depicted his serious crush on Alistair (and others) but I had slight worries about the homophobia. Its true that there would have been plenty of this around at the time but I cannot really imagine that it would have gone as far as it did here - we'll call it dramatic license and give him the benefit of the doubt. Even when things are at their worst - and things get really bad - our hero maintains his positive outlook and this pulls him through . . . yes I loved this book and will probably reread it in the future.

Whew, I finally finished this one. Now, I know when other reviewers write it was a stop and go process. Really, it was an interesting, intelligent,vulnerable, endearing, funny young voice in this long novel. And I do mean long... So, u know what I'm going to say. The author really, really overdid it giving us minute detail of equations, physics, chemistry ect. Also, it was very difficult following transitions. First were reading one subject and than all of sudden we are someplace else. How we got there, I know not. Ok, there is a lot of terrific information suggesting knowledgeable understanding of many topics. But, I do think overload is an apt description.Also, there are a lot and a mean a lot of characters to keep tract. I could not really feel connected to any other characters except our main protagonists and perhaps a few family members. Basically, it's a HEA story after rejection and one boy's heroic response to horrid harassment. The idea of a boy's school in England initially hostile toward overt same sex preferences changing to full acceptance seemed miraculous. Hey, it's a nice idea. I really did not get at the end where an 18 year old was now accepted to sleep with a sixteen year old . Perhaps, I'm not familiar with the age of consent laws in England. It's strange though, the father of the younger boy saying to the older boy it's ok to sleep over but no sex. Yeah, please tell me another one. Well, was this worth the read? Some of it wasbit far fetched but it did leave me with the impression of the complexity of coming out at any age. Just be prepared for a lot of tangents along the way.

This is a very poignant and touching story that I really enjoyed. And I don't mean to obsess over what some people would surely consider to be trivial things. But, stuff like this just drives me crazy. You think the story is taking place in about 1980. There is a Canadian Grand Prix crash mentioned which happened in September 1980. Starsky and Hutch aired at that time. Most of the popular songs that are mentioned are from 1979-1980. But at one point, JP mentioned shopping for DVD's. Which weren't even invented until 1995. CD's are mentioned more than once. But they weren't invented until 1983. AIDS is mentioned a few times, but it didn't exist (at least not by that name) in 1980. He quotes a line from Pink Floy'd The Final Cut which is from 1983. He mentions the movie "Home Alone" which came out in like 1991. JP and his boyfriend dance to Lady Gaga in a gay bar. Lady Gaga who wasn't even born until 1986 and no one heard of her until 2008. I don't regret reading this book at all - the main character is very likeable and the storyline is very engrossing, but it's hard to take seriously due to the dozens of continuity errors. (And if they're not errors, what was the point?)

I read this book when I was ~13 and enjoyed it. Now rereading it as an almost 20 year old I can say it’s definitely still a good read. There were so many parts that I loved- specifically in the writing like how JP’s mom would always call Ali “Ross” instead of Rose or the bit about the laundry fairy. Or how when he was coming to terms with his sexuality ogle would always be like “I would rather my own stomach than be gay” but constantly replace it with some random side dish or something like that ahh so good. The discussion of homophobia and the harsh realities like losing friends and bullying were portrayed in such a great way. Overall loved this book years ago and still love it now (if not more) honestly I think the only I didn’t like was physically doing jonny’s homework with him and reading through so much text like that but still solid and consistent.

One of the best stories of coming out I've ever read. The characters are rich and fully fleshed. The period is generously detailed and the minutia of the schoolboy's life adds to the believability and charm. Despite the great detail and technicalities in parts, we are swept along by the inevitability of history colliding with the senseless pack mentality of his fellow humans. By the end I felt I really knew Jonny and I didn't want it to end.

While I enjoyed the book, not being from the UK it sometimes was difficult trying to sort out certain British terms. I am an Anglophile so the slang wasn't always what stymied me but the discussion of the school years. (very different systems in education between the pond) There were times I thought that things got bogged down in descriptions from the main character, but over all I thought it was a nice little coming of age/romance book.

The story of the bullying was spot on and the love story perfect but. The rest was boring. Sorry all abut classes and schoolplays and the. Music nice but very boring and way to long.😬

This book was an absolute joy to read, I'm struggling to find the words to convey how much I enjoyed it, no loved it. The language is flawless, the social and cultural references are spot on. I did find the chronology of some of the contemporary music a little confusing at times but I don't care I was reading a book about love and hope not a history book. There are also a few typos, some wrong and missing words that could do with tidying up but nowhere near enough to spoil my enjoyment.Every character is completely believable. And boy is it funny and moving in equal measure I have actually LOL'd and cried in this book many times. The last 30 minutes of reading left me in absolute pieces, I'm actually missing JP, Ali, Leo, Paulus and the others. This book should be required reading in schools. I'm now a little frustrated that I gave other books five stars as this book needs more. I will return to this wonderful read in the future. To the author, thank you for such a beautiful story.Over the weekend I re-read this book. Whilst it does have flaws, I have, once again, been deeply moved by this amazing book. I had also forgotten how funny it is, especially JP's dialogue. The emotions this book stir up are so strong, I'm not embarrassed to say there are several sections in the book that actually left me sobbing. Don't be put off by the negative reviews, this heartfelt story deserves to be read and enjoyed.

Other reviewers have pointed out the faults in some detail so I shall be relatively brief: the erratic time settings and cultural contexts - it is impossible to date when this is all happening. That is important because the homophobia referenced here is contextual - in short, this has changed over the years. In this book, those years are extremely flexible to suit the whims of the author.There are interminable lists - of classes, pupils, teachers and anything that the author can provide detail for. Do we really need a full page of a mathematical equation and its solution? The main character, it seems, is a gifted pianist, clarinetist, accompanist, writer, actor, rugby player .. and an advocate for gay rights when the time comes!There is a graphic description of his beating where he ends up strapped to the clothes pegs in the changing room - in a crucifixion pose, as far as i could work out. Broken, bleeding - he did everything except proclaim "Why hast thou forsaken me?" This character would be insufferable if he was at all believable. He isn't. And then ... all the homophobia goes way and everyone love him and his boyfriend.Drastic editing is needed. One reviewer has suggested that the author should start again. I would suggest: don't bother. It's awful.

A very good book in many ways: 1. It is set in England and by a British author - a nice change as most LGBT Young Adult books are American. 2. The book is well written and in parts very funny. 3. The main character is intelligent, sophisticated, has a remarkable talent and goes to an academically good school - so there is serious culture (music particularly) and some of the jokes are sophisticated. 4. There is a good sense of teenage life (in 1980) and humour. 5.The struggles Jonny has to go through are very real (even today) and well described.So why not five stars? The chronology is a problem. The story seems to be set in the latter part of 1980. There is good background material - the politics (the homophobia of the new Conservative government for example), the TV programmes, McCartney II released in spring of that year, the coming of AIDS and attitudes of that time. However, later items are incongruently introduced, for example, the demise of Gay Men's Press which happened in 2006 and dancing to 'Titanium' which was released in 2011. Why was this? Was it careless or was there a point? Is the author looking back or making some point about the present? I felt the first two thirds of the book brilliant but then it becomes rather derivative - the sudden conversion of most of the characters and the heros speaking in front of the whole school.

Don't waste your time.Unfortunately the author can't choose a time period and stick to it. References to characters from Grange Hill (1979-86 era), Mandela's forgiveness (1990), Rihanna's "We Found Love" (2011), major AIDS adverts (1987), Desmond Tutu being an Archbishop (1986-1996), GCSEs (introduced in 1988). The rampant homophobia and issues around age of consent further date this tale. There are references to a conservative government having to bail out an overspending Labour one (2010...or was it 1979?) and referencing WW1 being nearly 100 years ago alongside a Queens Christmas speech from 1980. Whether this is an attempt to make the story stand for all time, I do not know. If it was - it has failed.There were too many characters introduced who alternated between first name, surname and nicknames which makes it increasingly difficult to build a picture of any of them. The narrative jumps around too much to enable you to really form any sort of attachment to the story. I don't understand why practically every character ends up gay by the end - that's not how real life works. The rampant homophobia all but disappears after one impassioned speech by the protagonist and his teenage lover...come on.There is far too much inane detail on equations, book reports, games and German translations. The author would do well to trim the book in half or better yet start again.The semi graphic discussion of sexual acts also make for uncomfortable reading given the age of the protagonist, who is himself barely likeable. Why do the main couple suddenly refer to each other as "darling"? How many teenagers do that without being ironic or facetious?If it wasn't for a fervent need to never leave a book unfinished I would have stopped about 10% of the way through.

This novel has so many flaws in it! Bear with me though, because you should read it. It's set in around 1980 but there are so many crashing anachronisms that it would take too long to point them out. In two places, a whole passage of text is repeated a couple of pages later! The characterisation is under-developed in so many places and most particularly in the case of the narrator's boyfriend who is so two-dimensional as to be ply-wood. Some of the dialogue is totally wrong and will make you wince here and there.There! That's all for the pedants out there! The point is this: amongst all of that there lies a pearl of sheer joy and beauty and that is the narrator, Jonathan Peters (or JP as he is known) He is a character of simply brilliant creation. He is utterly authentic, totally adorable and every single gay man that reads this will completely identify with him. He is a classic of gay literature in the making and you simply can not miss out on him! Wade through the flaws, they don't matter! Just enjoy this stellar creation ... it's rare to find a character this good, this believable and this significant.JP actually tells us that he wrote this book because there weren't any other books in which he could find any sort of reflection of himself! Well, there is now! Whether you are looking back on your own teenage years or (and I hope that this happens ... lots) you are a teenager trying to find that all important image of yourself in fiction then JP will live with you forever! So ... turn off the pedant in you, suspend disbelief and just enjoy this!Congratulations, David Brining! You've created a character that will live for a long, long time! Oh, and thank you!