Spud – The Madness Continues… by John van de Ruit

Publisher: Penguin Fiction
First Published: 2007
341 pages
R103.00 (Exclusive Books)
Rating: ***

The year is 1991, and Spud Milton’s long walk to manhood is still creeping along at an unnervingly slow pace. Approaching the ripe old age of fifteen and still with no signs of the much anticipated ball-drop, Spud is coming to terms with the fact that he may well be a freak of nature. With a mother hell-bent on emigrating, a father making a killing out of selling homemade moonshine, and a demented grandmother called Wombat, the new year seems to offer little except extreme embarrassment and more mortifying Milton madness.

I approached Spud II with some trepidation – will John van de Ruit be able to sustain the momentum of Spud I? Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed. I battled a bit in remembering the idiosyncracies of each character (Roger in particular), but that’s more a fault of my sieve-brain, than a fault of the writing.

Van de Ruit has a delightfully naïve writing style, with a delivery that results in surprises that have you laughing out loud, whether you like it or not.

Several reviews have called Spud the next Harry Potter. This is definitely not the case. Spud has no aspirations or pretensions in that direction – it just has not got the plots and subplots. That said, Spud’s strength is its uniquely and delightfully South Africanness, with colloquialisms that would be lost on the international market (like duck diving, boerie rolls, Teesav shorts and Banana Boys). But with sales of over 80,000 for Spud I, John van de Ruit cannot be too dissatisfied.

Spud II is a perfect casual holiday read – light and fluffy. You won’t feel bad about breaking the spine, smudging it with sunblock or smearing it with chocolate. You can open the book on any page and leave it feeling satisfied yet not deprived. Because you know you’ll get more of the same when you pick it up again.

Production of the film version of Spud is planned for early next year. My popcorn is on standby…

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***: Must Have. To lend to friends and dip into again, when you need a laugh
**:Borrow. Don’t feel bad about not finishing it before you give it back.
*: Dont bother.

Typos: 3

P153: Estcourt Eskort vienna sausages, Fifty-four fifty-four rolls
P221: ninteen nineteen

(When I read a book, I am transported into another world which becomes its own reality. Typos shatter this illusion and destroy that reality. It’s like watching a Shakespearean drama where one idiot is wearing his digital watch)