The Age of Unbecoming: The Wake of Expectations Volume 3 (Digest)

Having now read this highly enjoyable trilogy in full, I can gleefully confirm (with something of a smile) that it isn’t really about anything notable, per se – or certainly not a dramatic or progressive narrative in any way… and that’s wonderful!  I admit, I spent the first two books, and the first in particular, thinking: Where’s all this going?  What’s going to happen?  But it’s rather more slice-of-life than that, and I realized quite some time back that enjoyment of this great series is optimized by not thinking like that at all.  Don’t get me wrong, there are some satisfying arcs, and most of the strands are tied up – furthermore, the whole saga, overall, has a surprisingly conclusive ending – but you see, as the series moves toward its finishing line, that it’s about youth.  It’s about fun, coming of age, and kids doing what they do.  It’s coarse, and not for the easily offended, with explicit references and language throughout, but never unpleasant to read.  I like Javier; he’s got a great sense of humour, and revels in that time when lads were just lads, and didn’t care about offending each other or anyone else; because it wasn’t a factor in the life of their (our) generation.  Excellent.

But Javier De Lucia is more than that; he is a sharp, conscientious and hard-working writer, with that style that makes it look like he’s just having fun with his book – and I’m sure he did – but when you look at the general quality, you can clearly see how much sheer dedication and grammatical craftsmanship that takes; it’s the literary equivalent of catwalk “bed hair”, or Taylor Swift’s 4 hour “nude” makeover.  A labour of love, I’m sure, and one which has really paid off for its author.

In this instalment, which begins directly as Book 2 ends, we go travelling with Cal and come back.  Thankfully, he’s a little more mature in his relationship outlook this time around – less of a doormat – and you find yourself rooting for him a little more.  In fact, in The Age of Unbecoming, Cal is much more mature in general, making him a better read and more of a protagonist.  As usual with Javier, it has its laugh-out-loud moments, especially in the overall banter between the characters, which is utterly relatable.  Looking at the series as a whole, honestly, most of the “action”, if you can call it that, in respect of the background story/context/premise takes place early in Book 1 and late in Book 3; everything that happens in between seems to have little impact overall, really, on these two parts.  That said, for all his trials, tribulations and nonsense, without spoiling anything, Cal comes through it all a better man for having learnt a thing or two, perhaps the hard way. 

I mentioned in the review of an earlier book in the series that I think the author did the right thing splitting it into three parts, and I am even more convinced of it now.  There would otherwise be a disproportion, I think, between pivotal narrative elements and more incidental content; in its current format, you don’t really pay too much attention to that – until the very end, that is, when the whole thing becomes a cautionary tale.  By separating it into parts, the author has taken the focus off the backstory (or maybe the sparseness thereof), and pointed it at the interactions.  It is, simply, character-led literary fiction – and it’s funny as hell at times.  I do recommend it – though perhaps not for your old Nan.  Looking forward to more from Javier.

–Matt McAvoy Book Review