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Mark Lamprell

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The Full Ridiculous: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Mark Lamprell (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3.8 57 ratings

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Michaelo O’Dell is hit by a car, and when he doesn’t die, he is surprised and pleased. But he can’t seem to move, frozen in the crash position. He can’t concentrate, or control his anger and grief, or work out what to do about much of anything. His professional life begins to crumble, and although his wife Wendy is heroically supportive, his teenage children only exacerbate his post-accident angst. His daughter Rosie punches out a vindictive schoolmate, plunging the family into a special parent-teacher hell. Meanwhile, his son Declan is found with a stash of illicit drugs, and a strange policeman starts harassing the family, causing ordinary mishaps to take on a sinister desperation.

Equal parts hilarious and painful, this compelling novel delves into the difficulties of family, love, and the precarious business of being a man. Mark Lamprell’s extraordinary debut examines the terrible truth: sometimes you can’t pull yourself together until you’ve completely fallen apart.

Print length

240 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Soft Skull
Publication date

April 21, 2014
File size

1285 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Lamprell takes us through this period of growth and tumult in Michael O'Dell's life in a way that feels authentic and real, the worst moments are also some of the most humorous and touching . . . Readers who enjoy work written in the tone of life, and narratives that celebrate the minor (in the grand scheme of things) wins and losses that make up life will find The Full Ridiculous an enjoyable read that finds both levity and gravity in those little moments." —Examiner

"The writing is clean and hilarious, and the second-person narration feels intimate . . . A hilarious, high-speed summer read." —Shelf Awareness

"The Full Ridiculous will appeal to readers of quirky, contemporary fiction such as The Rosie Project or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It reminds us that sometimes, to really appreciate the beautiful highs of life, you need to hit rock bottom first." —Bookseller and Publisher

"A lovely coming-of-age story about a middle-aged man who hurts, despairs, heals and comes to understanding. A very funny and truthful novel." –Kirkus Reviews

"Lamprell debuts with a first-rate novel [and] manages to temper sentimentalism with a tonic wryness." —Publisher's Weekly

About the Author

Mark Lamprell has worked in film and television for many years. He co-wrote the film Babe: Pig in the City and wrote and directed the award-winning feature My Mother Frank. His most recent project is the movie musical Goddess, which he co-wrote and directed. The Full Ridiculous is his first novel.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Halfway through a ten-kilometre run, you have yet another premonition that you’re hit by a car while jogging so you decide to outwit the fates by changing course, heading down Hastings Road instead of up it. Rather than risk the usual dash across the intersection, you wait at the pedestrian crossing for a sleek green four-wheel-drive to pass on your right. Summer is toppling into Autumn but it’s still hot and you wipe the sweat from your forehead with the back of your hand. Looking left, you see an old blue sedan approaching and make eye contact with the driver who is lit by a flash of early-morning sun. You stride confidently across the worn white stripes and almost reach the other side of the road when, out of the corner of your left eye, you see something blue.

The blue sedan.

It’s less than a body length away, and it’s not stopping.

Time slows, just like in the movies, which is ironic because you work in the movies. Well not in the movies, around the movies; you write about movies, clever’ features poking fun at filmmakers who may not be creative geniuses but

at least they’ve had a go which is more than you can say for some joggers

which is why you have this self-loathing thing going

which is why you overeat

which makes you overweight

which gives you borderline high blood pressure

which is why you’re jogging.

Milliseconds pass.

The blue car moves closer.

You recall a conversation with a stuntman during the making of the latest Mad Max movie. He’s talking about a sequence where he gets run down by one of those reptilian-looking, post-apocalyptic vehicles but you’re not really listening because you can hear an actor in the wardrobe tent complaining about his costume. He’s not really complaining; he’s just fussing about how heavy it is, but in your piece for Cinema Australasia you say he’s complaining because it adds tension.

This stuntie says the important thing is to go over the car when it hits. You go under, most likely you get stuck on some sticky-outy bit of the engine, dragged along and de-skinned, then kidney-squishingly, eye-poppingly, brain-squeezingly, run over by one or more wheels. You go over, at least you’ve got a chance if you land right.

You don’t know how you remember all this in a millisecond but you do. You even remember the stuntie sensing he doesn’t have your full attention so he gives a demonstration. You remember him lifting himself off the ground, a little jump just before the vehicle hits.

On the crossing, you are not afraid. You feel not one moment of fear. There is no time for metamorphosis so you perform an act of instantaneous transcendence. You are no longer a person. You have become a living thing with a singular objective: to remain what you are: alive.

You start to turn to face the blue car but you can’t turn far in a millisecond.

You can think a lot but you can’t do a lot. You do, however, manage to raise yourself off the road a little before the car drives into your left thigh,

still in slow motion.

You feel no pain.

And that’s all you remember.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00GL9T2VC
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Soft Skull (April 21, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 21, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1285 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 240 pages

Customer Reviews:
3.8 57 ratings

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Mark Lamprell

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Mark Lamprell is a novelist, screenwriter and director. He co-wrote the film Babe: Pig in the City, wrote and directed the award-winning feature My Mother Frank and Goddess starring Ronan Keating, and directed the upcoming feature A Few Less Men starring Xavier Samuel, Kris Marshall and Kevin Bishop. He has published numerous children's books, as well as two novels; The Full Ridiculous and the newly released The Lovers' Guide to Rome. Mark currently lives in Sydney.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5

57 global ratings

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carolynfromoz

A difficult year

Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2014

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The Full ridiculous describes a year in the life of Michael O'Dell. The year starts badly when he is hit by a car while out jogging and lands up in hospital and from there it's all down hill. He has given up his job as a movie reviewer for a major paper to write a book on Australian cinema but after his accident develops PTSD and depression and finds he can't write. His normally well behaved teenage daughter has inexplicably attacked another girl at school and faces expulsion and he finds a bag full of drugs in his son's bedroom. Add in Michael's attempts to help his son make a film and an over-zealous policeman and Michael's life starts to spiral out of control.

Very humourous in places, this was a fun read. Michael is so hapless and his wife so incredibly patient and forgiving (but has his measure, no doubt about that). The style of the writing may bother some people as it is written in the second person as if the author is directing an actor. I think it was a technique used to put the reader in the situations that Michael faced and for me that worked well but I suspect some readers might not be so comfortable with it. An excellent debut novel from an Aussie writer.

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richard mortlock

Wonderfully ridiculous

Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2014

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It's funny. It's touching. And it is so relatable for anyone who may ever have had even the inkling of a mid-life crisis. The Full Ridiculous is heart-felt and heart-wrenching calamity that begins with our hero foolishly going for an early morning jog only to be skittled by a car. Will our hero's life continue to spiral out of control? Will his family continue to fall apart? Will his wife stick by him? Will you continue turning the pages to find out? Yes you will. And, did I mention it's funny? Plus I'll take bets it will make a great movie in the not too distant future with either George Clooney or Matt Damon as the star.

Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2014

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The full ridiculous is an easy read, but one i thoroughly enjoyed. i was worried the narrative would district from the story but it complimented it. The central family are flawed and a bit lost and you can't help but root for them. Quite humorous. Very realistic. I recommend this book to anyone after an entertaining read.

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stephen probert

Great book, easy to read

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2014

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Great book , easy to read . Narrator talking in the third person was a little distracting , but overall I enjoyed it

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Sharon Williams

Great book - heartfelt and very funny. Thoroughly recommend.

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2014

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book - it is an easy and entertaining read with very real, likable characters and their very human problems. Very funny and also very moving at times.

Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2016

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A thoroughly engrossing and uniquely crafted novel, replete with delicious self-deprecating humour, honesty and poignancy. An extraordinary tale about ordinary life.

Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2013

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I enjoyed this story, very witty. Would make a great screenplay and movie woth the vivid characters, lives spiralling out of control

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2014

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This book was very difficult to put down and was laugh out loud funny. Nearly everything was easy to relateto.

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Top reviews from other countries

Lamppu

Didn't stop chuckling

Reviewed in Canada on May 13, 2014

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This book is a riveting riot from start to finish. The bureaucracy, the political correctness rant is all spot on. Everyone simply MUST read this. Now.

Amazon Customer

I bought this book by accident!

Reviewed in Australia on March 23, 2014

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I clicked Buy Now instead of Close, but I read it and loved it. Funny and refreshing and I found I could relate to so much of it. Being written in the 2nd person made it more interesting. It reminds me of the Benny Hill theme song in Novel Form, without the girls in lingerie, just a poor guy running around with domestic calamities befalling him lol

Dementia29

Hysterically funny and sadly true

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 16, 2014

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I adore this book, it is so well written ,so funny, so witty, so real, such an honest and hysterical account of true life and the crazy challanges one faces in daily life. I do hope to see another novel soon by Mark Lamprell I wanted it to be triple the size ! Fabulous holiday reading!!!

lyssa

Meh.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2015

Verified Purchase

Having read other favourable reviews I thought I'd buy this for holiday reading.It offered so much but the potential was never really fully exploited. Left me feeling a bit 'meh' - one for the boot sale rather than the bookshelf I'm afraid.

salthegal

A refreshing and surprising look into the mind of an ordinary man

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 10, 2014

Verified Purchase

Loved this book! It's so unusual to read a novel that delves into the male psyche and to see how a traumatic event can affect the mind hidden underneath the facade.

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The Full Ridiculous: A Novel Kindle Edition

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Product details

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About the author

Mark Lamprell

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

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