Well not the nameless narrator of this extremely amusing first novel, that's for sure. He makes a point of letting you know that he can't be bothered with any of that sort of thing. At all. Cheeky of him? After all, you've shelled out the readies and expect to be entertained. Why it's almost a fundamental human right. At any rate, I shouldn't be at all surprised if it becomes a New Labour manifesto commitment before long. It would secure that all important Waterstones demographic. But, irrelevant cliche coming up, we are jumping the gun, mixing our metaphors with all the abandon of a teenager left alone with your drinks cabinet.

Back to the narrator. I'd like to be able to tell you how funny he is. How worldly wise. How sensible. How attractively cynical. How downright witty. But I can't be bothered because my tea is going cold and there's someone at the door. Suffice to agree with another reviewer here that the narrator is the star of the story. His wry, mocking playful, world-weary tone can also be found in the works of Flann O'Brien. Joe's talking soul in the Third Policeman comes to mind.

And as for the title? Nothing as necessarily deep as some appear to think. Perhaps 'A Woman of No Importance' had already been taken. Who knows? Not me. I did the sciences. Anyway Miserable Maria, the cipher in this book, likes to listen to music a lot and has, it seems, been sent to Coventry. An 'accidental' is an out of sorts note, perhaps sharp, perhaps flat, that is not a part of the main key signature in a piece of music - but whose presence makes it more interesting. Maria is an accidental in the key of life.

Voila.


I don't get it.   September 3, 2004
 14 out of 15 found this review helpful

I am a big fan of this author. Like another reviewer I relish his narrative style; something which is seen in this book but is far more effective and less affected in later books.
In a lot of Coe's books you find characters that are difficult to like. "What a carve-up" is full of some of the most odious characters in English literature since Dickens. And you laugh out loud at how truly awful they are.
The problem with the central character in this book is that there really is nothing to like or dislike about her. It is as if someone has written a book of the life of the most boring person you have ever met. You know the one.....the person you see in the street and pretend you are too busy to talk to....because they truly have nothing to say. Perhaps the author picked the most neutral subject matter available to show what a wonderfully clever writer he is; and he really is very good.
This was the author's first novel and the gratifying news is that he gets much, much better. Coe is at his best when he is not trying to be too clever because he is, first and foremost, a consumate tale teller.


Another great book by Jonathan Coe!   January 19, 2004
 3 out of 9 found this review helpful

Despite its subject matter, the real star of this book is the narrator. With Maria's story veering from one vagary to the next, and essentially not providing many interesting plot twists it is up to the narrator to add some panache, which he does very well. Maria's tale is almost secondary to the way it is descibed, with a knowingly un-cliched use of cliches and self-conscious ramblings. All of which make it very amusing, and a book which works on more than one level.


A confident, dark debut   December 17, 2003
 4 out of 8 found this review helpful

This is Coe's debut novel, and is remarkable for the confidence it displays. To parody the occasionally appalling writing that one finds in debuts is one thing, but to do it in your own first work is bordering on the arrogant.

Coe pulls it off, of course, by virtue of his ability to make the tale of a, frankly, quite irritating woman both touching and in parts hilarious. I find it remarkable that the two previous reviewers of this book haven't mentioned the humour - in Coe's down to earth style, the freaks and oddities that make up the population of England are all out in force, and marvellously observed.

Good stuff, this.