Bachelor Boys: The Young Ones Book by Ben EltonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Sometimes humour can translate brilliantly from one format to another, and sometimes it doesn't quite as well. Personally, I'd say Bachelor Boys was in the latter category. It is a funny book, but a lot of the humour of The Young Ones worked best in it's original live action format. While the book gets a good laugh now and then, there is a missing element that the show has in spades.
But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the book.
Actually, I think the book is a brilliant addition to the world - so to speak - of the show, letting us see a bit more of the day to day goings on. Vyvyan's advice on how to cheat on exams and being caught out by mixing up the tapes he's saved his notes on with his own music tapes. Neil's rather pathetic attempts to get the other guys into helping out with the household tasks. Rik's need to be seen as an ultra left-wing radicialist and Mike's more subtle 'cool' humour are great to read. The real issue is the book - and a lot of the humour - is very much a product of it's time period, and thus can see very... different
At the beginning of the book there is a Four Words. An apology by Neil. In it he simply states: "I'm really really sorry." . This made me laugh beyond all belief and certainly sets you in the right mind for reading through. But this is a book for the fans, not really one that anyone could pick up.
Still... it is a good laugh.
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