Bright Young Things by Scarlett Thomas (2001)

Well, it looked interesting in the library...

Six twenty-somethings answer a job advert: 'Bright Young Things wanted for big project'. At interview, they are given drugged coffee; next thing they know, they're on a deserted island. There's nowhere to go, and no sign of why they're there; but there is a comfortable house with individual bedrooms, plenty of food, water, electricity... and, of course, five strangers for each of them to to get to know.

The biggest problem with Bright Young Things is that its six protagonists are barely distinguishable; many times, I had to flick back to when they're introduced, because I kept forgetting which was which -- and eventually, I just tended not to bother noticing who said something as it didn't seem to matter. You do get more of an insight into some (not all) of the characters, but they never became individuals to me -- and I don't need to tell you why having indistinguishable characters is a bad thing for any character study.

The second biggest problem with Bright Young Things is that it's very tedious to read in places. Near the beginning, the protagonists start asking each other, as they naturally would, about their favourite films, books, and so on; and end up having detailed discussions about soap plotlines and video games -- all of which are recorded in the book, in full. This goes on for pages and pages; I seriously contemplated giving up, but I persevered to the end -- and, on balance, it probably wasn't worth it.

It's not all bad: just occasionally, Thomas will write something that's insightful (on the twenty-somethings' attitude to danger: 'Jamie and the others come from a culture in which a fire alarm doesn't mean fire; it just means you get to go and stand outside and giggle for a while. But a prawn or a peanut could still kill you'), and you long for more of this and less of the discussions that could safely have been left out. As for why the characters were taken to the island -- well, by the time the author's intention became clear, I was too annoyed with the book to be sympathetic towards what she was trying to do.

And so, the lesson I take away from reading Bright Young Things is: if a book irritates me so much near the beginning that I feel like abandoning it, I probabaly should.