When characters have names like Mustafa bin Maden and Boorock Sobama, it's easy to see who they resemble. But for some characters that have no name, it's necessary for the reader to rely on his knowledge of recent history.

A Chinese lunch

This restaurant was a noisy place,

with tables crowded and not much space

for waiters to carry their trays well laden

with assorted dim-sums and bowls of ramen,

and the clatter of people busily eating

with friends with whom they had a meeting

and chopsticks clicking and glasses clinking,

and background music and singers singing.

George meets the foxhounds' trainer -

"George then asked him where he came from,

and he replied the town of Northampton,

the centre where these dogs were bred,

and, to be honest, it could be said

that his life had been linked to the dog-breeding trade

since he had been of a very young age.

And his mother was happy with his vocation,

which was to give the dogs an education.

“My mother’s English and my father’s a man,”

he said, “who was born in Pakistan.”

And to show his power he shouted “Freeze,”

and George was amazed, he could hardly believe

that the dogs would stand quite motionless,

gazing up at their master’s face,

waiting for the next order which came right then

when he tossed a ball into the midst of them,

shouting “Kill,” at which the dogs all leapt,

and tore the leather ball to shreds!

“Impressive,” was all that George could say,

“I certainly wouldn’t want to be their prey.”

George is a Chef and this is one of his cooks -

"And among these fellows there was one

who in preparing fancy dishes some

might say this man a genius is,

as skills as precious and pure as his

in creating flavours of such power

are hard to find in this world of ours.

Tall he was with a face so narrow

his nose projected like an arrow,

and of his country he was so proud

that never a person was allowed

to make the slightest disparagement

without receiving an icy glance.

Disliked he was by all his fellows,

his manner haughty, hard, not mellow,

which caused all kinds of minor friction

with his colleagues in the kitchen."

Yes, The Maximum Leader gets attacked for eating pork and beans! But after the fight, he invites George to visit his country - it's not named - but the reader should be able to guess what country it is!

George's problems continue when he comes up against the anti-pork gang. Yes, these people disapprove of the eating of pork and want George to stop using it in his menus - but The Bearded One just loves his pork and beans! The Bearded One? Yes, or some might call him The Maximum Leader!

Have you guessed who the five cooks resemble? One comes from a latin land and talks about Orinoco Gold - surely that is a good hint!

How does the story start? Well, it starts in an exclusive New York club, frequented by the powerful, the rich and the celebrated, and where our hero George is the Chef. Thus, George is thrown into contact with national leaders, politicians and celebrities, many of whom become his friends.

The other characters have names such as The Maximum Leader, Mustafa bin Made, Didi Damin and Borrock Sobama - these will certainly give you a few hints as to which real-life people they might resemble!

Who do the characters resemble?

The plot of the story is based on the President of a powerful country and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council so this gives you six different nationalities to think about. In the book, these people become a Chef and his five cooks. Read the descriptions and tell me which real-life people you think these six characters resemble.

How to understand The Adventures of George

Although it looks and sounds like a book for children, it's not - it's a book for adults. However, that is not to say that children wouldn't enjoy the story - I'm sure they would, not knowing or caring or understanding that there are hidden meanings. For instance, what child would know or care about the handover of Hong Kong to China - something that happened before they were born! In my next post, I'll talk about the basic plot of the book.

They say that narrative poetry is boring stuff but, as you can see above, there's nothing boring about this rollicking tale. And the characters resemble real-life people, both past and present - see if you can identify them!