Bright Young Things opens with a series of lightly drawn character sketches. Anne, Jamie, Thea, Bryn, Emily, and Paul are all looking for a something that answering an ad for “Bright Young Things” in some undisclosed way fulfils. After their interview they wake to find themselves on a small island outside a deserted, but well provisioned, house.Six students in a house with plenty of alcohol but no TV - “Truth or Dare” anyone? If their fantasies and fears are anything to go by “Bright Young Things” are clearly fragile young things. They lead voyeuristic lives filled with video games, soaps, cartoons & film. Books rate rarely a mention. (There’s a library in the house but it’s never used)
Thus they swap their metaphysical isolation for a geographical one. Like previous Scarlett Thomas outings the plot is often a device. This time it's an excuse for extended commentary on Consumerism - The students are consumed with and by it. It’s no surprise that there’s initially little effort applied to escape - If your life is so hollowed out then you’ve not got much to go back for.
As a novel It's deceptively simple ( or maybe I am ) and although it wouldn't be one of my desert island books it's not one for the beach either.
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