Adolescent Male Protagonist

damselnat

Hi guys, I'm looking for recommendations for books that have a teenage boy as the main protagonist. I'm thinking more along the lines of A Clockwork Orange/DeNiro's Game/Catcher In The Rye than Adrian Mole, but I'm open for suggestions I've tried googling it, but no joy, and I'd rather get recommendations from people who've actually read the books as well!

RadioClash

damselnat wrote: »

Hi guys, I'm looking for recommendations for books that have a teenage boy as the main protagonist. I'm thinking more along the lines of A Clockwork Orange/DeNiro's Game/Catcher In The Rye than Adrian Mole, but I'm open for suggestions I've tried googling it, but no joy, and I'd rather get recommendations from people who've actually read the books as well!

An obvious but good one is Kafka On The Shore by Murakami.

jonesy93

I found the Virgin Suicides, by Jefferey Euginides was quite a good read. It's narrated from the point of view of a group of teenage boys. Raunchy and laugh-out-loud hilarious by turns, it certainly made an impact.

Apart from that I found The Body by Stephen King to be good... The movie "Stand by Me" was based on it... It deals with younger boys though..12/13 years old.

longshanks

The first two books in the border trilogy might fall into that category.

Denerick

The Cider House Rules by John Irving. Homer is late teens/early 20s for much of the book.

roro1neil0

a portrait of an artist...
crime and punishment

might be more 17-21 than 13-16 though

Mardy Bum

Skippy Dies has a adolescent male protagonist with serious psychological issues.

chasmcb

These three are all good.

L. P. Hartley -The Go Between -old man reminiscing about a summer in his youth when he was the go-between for a Norfolk couple pursuing a secret romance

Hugo Claus -The Sorrow of Belgium. About a boy coming of age in Belgium during WW2. Covers period 1939-47 and he's aged 11 when the story begins.

Jim Carroll -Basketball Diaries. Book is drawn from his memoirs covering the ages 12-16, set in New York

Toby Take a Bow

Old School - Tobias Wolff
Lean On Pete - Willy Vlautin
A Good School - Richard Yates

dots03

There are also a few stories in Joyce's Dubliners which sort of fit your description...'An encounter' (one of the first stories in the book if I recall) is about a couple of kids bunking off school for the day.

Psychedelic

I'm almost finished reading Black Swan Green by David Mitchell so I'd highly recommend that. It's set in the early 80's so if you grew up any time in that decade you'll enjoy it for the nostalgia trip alone, but it's also a good growing-up story and the hassles and annoyances of school, bullies, parents and everything else that comes with growing up when you're 13/14 years old. It's narrated in the first person and is mostly a collection of funny stories about growing up but there's some deeper stuff there too.

Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre is good too. It won the Booker Prize I think.

damselnat

Hi guys, thanks for all the replies, plenty to keep me going here! The last one sounds interesting, though I'd like to clarify I'm a 90s baby through and through....

Toby Take a Bow

damselnat wrote: »

Hi guys, thanks for all the replies, plenty to keep me going here! The last one sounds interesting, though I'd like to clarify I'm a 90s baby through and through....

Most of the 80s references in Black Swan Green were a little before my time (although I'm an 80s baby myself) but it's still a great read.

Mardy Bum

damselnat wrote: »

Hi guys, thanks for all the replies, plenty to keep me going here! The last one sounds interesting, though I'd like to clarify I'm a 90s baby through and through....

Skippy Dies is about Celtic Tiger Ireland.

ThirdMan

Cormac McCarthy's The Crossing. Beautiful.

LiamMc

Demian - Herman Hesse
The Outsider - Albert Camus

and the John Irving mentioned above reminded me of
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

Stolen Youth - Catherine Cook, Adam Hanieh, Adah Kay (Pluto Press)
ISBN 0-7453-2161-5
true life politics about Palestinian children detained by Israel

huey1975

Vernon God Little. Read it about 8 or 9 years ago and thought it was good at the time

i71jskz5xu42pb

You don't say why you want such a book but anyway:

• The Rachel Papers - Martin Amis
• Something lighter - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon.
• Something lighter again (short stories) - Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris.

(I'd second Vernon God Little and Demian)

certifiedcrepe

The perks of being a wallflower maybe?

Nody

The wasp factory if you want slightly disturbed characters ala Clockwork Orange.

huey1975

Nody wrote: »

The wasp factory if you want slightly disturbed characters ala Clockwork Orange.

But does the wasp factory fit the bill of male protagonist?
Slightly disturbed? They were all ****ing deranged. Good book though

Nody

huey1975 wrote: »

But does the wasp factory fit the bill of male protagonist?
Slightly disturbed? They were all ****ing deranged. Good book though

Older brother is what I mainly had in mind :P

Ziphius

I recommend Rushing to Paradise by JG Ballard if people are looking for any more.

Evan93

Less Than Zero - Bret Easton Ellis. About a bunch of spoiled rich kids in USA during the 80s. Narrated by an 18 year old male.

Paddy Samurai

damselnat wrote: »

Hi guys, I'm looking for recommendations for books that have a teenage boy as the main protagonist. I'm thinking more along the lines of A Clockwork Orange/DeNiro's Game/Catcher In The Rye than Adrian Mole, but I'm open for suggestions I've tried googling it, but no joy, and I'd rather get recommendations from people who've actually read the books as well!

Prince of thorns by Mark Lawerence

This is Adult in Content,and the main character Jorg is an evil little sh!t. But still likable for all that.:D

The Prince of Thorns is the first volume in a powerful new epic fantasy trilogy, original, absorbing and challenging. Mark Lawrence’s debut novel tells a tale of blood and treachery, magic and brotherhood and paints a compelling and brutal, sometimes beautiful, picture of an exceptional boy on his journey toward manhood and the throne