An Education

By Nick Hornby.

Adapted from the article 'An Education' by Lynn Barber.

I stumbled upon this with the intention of reading something else and remembered seeing its trailer a few months back. It was one that I fell in love with and in particular, its style, setting, youth romance and its coming of age story. And so inevitably, the former and weaker feelings gave way to the more pressing and stronger. It was written by About a Boy, High Fidelity and Fever Pitch best-selling author, Nick Hornby, and with that the expectations rose considerably, but in the least, I assumed that I was in good hands. But did it deliver? The verdict is: Oui, bien sûr il a fait, otherwise, Yes, of course it did.

The story takes place in a suburb of London in 1962 and centres on an straight-headed schoolgirl, Jenny, who with her father's ambitions for her is heading for a life at Oxford University. But then, one rainy day she is offered a lift home from a young gentleman, who in realisation of this strange situation, offers her cello a lift home to spare any water damage. But then she gets in and meets him; David, who will show her a world that schoolgirl dreams are made of.

The screenplay was a charming, nostalgic and enjoyable read. Although, some scene descriptions were overwritten in a few places and there were some moments of telling not showing, which was to be expected and easily forgiven. The main characters of Jenny and David were full of life and charm. They felt like real people and exhibited realistic dialogue, emotional depth and development. Much can be said of the secondary characters, most notably; Jenny's parents, school girlfriends and Miss Stubbs, who were well written and the former two, amusing company at times. It carried a nice fleeting pace mirroring the whirlwind of change and romance in Jenny's life, which works well as we witness snippets of moments and events in a much deeper and longer affair. Everything felt just right and natural within the world, its characters and the story. Its adaptation felt alive and complete.

The screenplay encapulates the folly of youth and demonstrates its fragile nature when placed in an adult world. It's about coming of age and the realisation that what you want isn't what you need. Growing up too fast has its price.

Naturally, I'm looking forward to seeing the film and will double-check whether it resides on the top of my LoveFilm rental list. It may even be worth a rare straight-to-buy, if the price is right.