Literature
44
Books that br Words by: Laura Satterthwaite
During the first lockdown in 2020, I found it was common for me to feel disconnected from society, and the world in general. I wanted to find a read that would make me feel like a real person again, and here began my undying love for ‘Submarine’ by Joe Dunthorne. This book gives me meaning because of just how relatable I find it. The protagonist, Oliver Tate, is equally as insufferable and unlikable as I feel I was when I was 15, and this factor alone helped me become more grounded at a time where everything was so up in the air. As someone who grew up in Wales, the book being set in Swansea made me feel super connected to my homeland and the awkward relationship that Oliver and Jordana share epitomises the stereotypical first relationship that most if not all teenagers encounter in secondary school. Dunthorne writes the book from Oliver’s perspective, and I found it extremely interesting to delve into the mind of a 15-year-old boy (fictional or not, that’s still a major investigation!) Submarine is arguably an easy read, but in the midst of the pandemic, it was one that I absolutely needed to reconnect with my adolescence.
