Jilly Cooper - Tackle!

[ditalini]

Anyone read it? Jilly is my favourite and my best, but she's always been a wee bit crap at writing characters who aren't posh so I'm a bit doubtful about a football book.

I caught sight of it in Tesco today - yay or nay fellow Rutshire lovers.

Am reading it currently. Could be reading Riders, Rivals or any of the others. Same posh idiots, different sport. It's just like all her other books!

Are the players and staff all posh though, or are they all saying "booger" or "fink" like wot all us normal folk speak in Jillyland?

Obviously I'm definitely going to read it anyway 😂

Love all things JC. Nearly finished. Exactly like all her others but who doesn't like that?? It's like chatting to an old friend.

You are either posh or common as muck 😂. Plenty of drenching in various scents and fortunately the football match parts are brief.

Has it got enough dogs and horses? Even common ones will do. Otherwise no good.

Don't worry Ruperts racing empire at penscombe is still going strong. And dogs aplenty. Old dogs and new. Buddyguard the German shepherd guard dog for example. I think she upped the ante on the puns in this

I am finding it a chore. Around 2/3 done but just not one I'd ever want to re-read. Just nothing much really occurring. Bar unrealistic of sporting success. The riding success seemed much more believable. Even the tv success.

I think the murder mystery of score was last one I really enjoyed.

Ive just finished reading this and thought it tedious. Found myself skipping through pages just to get through. Story line and characters poor and formulaic . Agree that Score was the last one I enjoyed

It was nice catching up with some of the old characters but I found that the world of football didn't work as well as previous themes. Far too many puns crowbarred in throughout.

I didn't feel like Jilly had written much of this one herself, it felt like someone trying and failing to write 'a Jilly Cooper'. Very weak, even compared to Wicked, which was hard work at times...

Oh dear. I'd forgotten I'd started this thread and I still haven't read it.

Might just go back and re-read Harriet for the millionth time.

Rivals was the last good thing she wrote.

I struggled through it and am really not sure if I'll read it again. I've had to buy new copies of other Jillys as I've re-read them until they've fallen apart.
Also felt that the very short chapters meant a lot of pages were half-empty; the book was half the size it looked.
Disappointed.

I enjoyed it, but she is way past her best and needs a ghost writer these days really.

If I hadn’t been knackered and in need of brain dead entertainment I don’t know I’d I have finished it

Yep too many terrible working class characters, and not enough focus on a few of them so you actually care about some of them.

Saying that it’s a lot better than the last one (?) with 13 year olds shagging and Rupert taking GCSEs - there are some nice bits.

Rivals is the absolute tops

But I think Pandora, Score, Appassionata (?!) and The Man Who Made are also jolly romps,might be a couple others too.

I liked Polo too. I think when she moved too far from horses she's less good.

The music ones were fine, the education one less so.

However, just typing that makes me realise that as Rivals is my favourite by miles, and I didn't love Mount, I'm talking bollocks.