Take Nothing With You
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By Patrick Gale
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2 reviews
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1970s Weston-Super-Mare and ten-year-old oddball Eustace, an only child, has life transformed by his mother’s quixotic decision to sign him up for cello lessons.
Music-making brings release for a boy who is discovering he is an emotional volcano.
He laps up lessons from his young teacher, not noticing how her brand of glamour is casting a damaging spell over his frustrated and controlling mother. When he is enrolled in holiday courses in the Scottish borders, lessons in love, rejection and humility are added to daily practice. Drawing in part on his own boyhood, Patrick Gale’s new novel explores a collision between childish hero worship and extremely messy adult love lives.
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St Just Thursday Evening Reading Group 3rd September 2020.
Take Nothing With You. Patrick Gale.
The majority of the reading group enjoyed this book, and thought it a “heart warming story of an adolescent coming of age”, and “very effective in conveying the feelings of a boy growing up and discovering his sexuality”. Some felt it was a little too graphic about this at times (one reader gave up because of this aspect). Most found the portrayal of Eustace convincing, as well as the other teenagers and their preoccupations.
The writing style was thought to be very accessible and readable, despite flipping between Eustace's childhood and the present, and it was generally agreed that the representation of characters was very good – so much so that several people mentioned that they would have liked to know more about Eustace's father.
The incident of Eustace's abduction and incarceration came as something of a shock to readers, and most found this difficult to believe. Within the restrictions of our present ability to debate, this part of the book led to a short discussion about so-called 'gay conversion therapy'.
Several readers mentioned Eustace's mother and her relationships, and also the gay couple in Bristol, the atmosphere of which was much admired. The setting of the book in Weston-super-Mare was discussed amongst several people; and one reader also noted how the world has changed since the 1970s, when the book was set.
The musical elements of the book polarised the readers: some were very enthusiastic about this, considered that he writes very well about music, and wanted to make a list of the works mentioned so that they could listen to them later; others found this aspect boring and lengthy, though the angles of learning to play an instrument and the world of professional musicians were of more interest.
One opinion was that the book was enjoyable but “a bit too long”; another reader liked it so much that she plans to read it again. Several people in this group had attended the author's talk in St Just Library in April 2019, and commented that they found the book quite familiar because of the discussion of it at this talk.
This book was read during August 2020 and the continuing social distancing because of the Covid-19 virus, and so the discussion was not 'live' as usual, but took place via a Facebook group, email and telephone conversations.
A lovely, accessible read about a gay teenage cellist's coming of age. It has a gentle humour and some subtle innuendos that help it trip along quite easily in spite of the potentially dark subject matter.
