A Long Way Down

This is my first Nick Hornby book, and I was pleasantly surprised. Overall, the book is amusing, sensitive, unique, and perceptive, especially when dealing with its main subject matter: suicide. A Long Way Down is the story of four people who find themselves on the roof of a London building, which is also a popular suicide spot, on New Year's Eve: Martin, Maureen, Jess, and J.J. All have vastly different reasons for being there, ranging from marital problems to teenage angst to career disappointments. The four also have nothing in common apart from their desire to commit suicide. Martin is a 40-something washed-up morning show host, haughty and self-important. Maureen is a quiet mouse of a person, a middle-aged woman with no life whatsoever. Jess is an insolent teenager. J.J. is a 30-year-old American musician working as a pizza delivery boy. Each chapter follows the viewpoint of a different character, and we follow the four characters as they talk themselves down from the roof and possibly out of suicide altogether. Hornby does an excellent job with the narrative. I did not find the shifting viewpoints jarring at all, but instead funny and insightful. He has mastered four vastly different voices, even to the extent that Maureen, in her narrative, does not curse, even when she quotes other characters cursing a blue streak. As I read the book, I really thought that the end would make or break it, since ultimately, you are reading to find out whether the group, or part of it, kills themselves or not. I can't say that it was a perfect ending, but I was content with it and it didn't feel contrived or fake, but instead quite realistic. Despite being about suicide, this is an amusing book - I laughed out loud in many places, and really enjoyed the characters playing off each other. I also loved that Hornby didn't just make this a suicide parody or a plot device. He has interesting insights into the idea of suicide and what someone contemplating it might feel and think. This is a quick read, and I definitely recommend it. I, for one, will probably be picking up Hornby's other books soon.

For those of you who did not care for the book, perhaps you didn't get it. This was a fantastic book, with sharp witty dialogue and it dealt with a tragic subject. If you've never been there, that is, contemplating suicide, then you probably won't enjoy this book. But it brings me and the characters to many realizations that thinking about killing yourself and actually doing it are two different animals. Sure, after the first read I thought it was just okay. Then I read it again and I liked it more. After the third read, a couple of days ago, I truly began to love this book because I can relate to most of the main characters in some way. I also found some comic genius in there, at least when it comes to writing a novel. Sure, About a Boy is good and so is High Fidelity, as is Juliet, Naked. But A Long Way Down takes risks, and it does things that most authors are afraid to do, which is talk about suicide and it does it in such a smart way that it becomes a book that is actually against suicide in the long run. This book reminds me of something that Chuck Palahniuk would have written, only it is better written than that. Nick Hornby has such a great writing style and such an insight into the four main characters that this book just jumps off the pages at you. It is written like an oral biography, kind of like the book Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey, which I also loved and thought was pretty inventive. What can I say? I love books with dark humor and dark subject matter. While you naysayers may love books about rose petals and gardening, I search for books that are a little more realistic to the times we're living in and benefit deeply from it. Bravo, Nick Hornby, bravo.

A Long Way Down started with great possibilities, but these remained largely unfulfilled. There were funny parts, and touching parts, and thoughtful parts, but these were counterbalanced with some boring parts and depressing parts. Don't be fooled by some reviews - the subject matter is suicide, and it can be a real downer. I stayed interested in the book until the end, yet I wanted to like it more than I did. The characters were a mix. While all were presented as flawed, and therefore more real, some protagonists were better drawn than others. The least interesting was the American, and the most fleshed out character was Maureen. Along with two others, these characters all meet on the top of a building on New Year's Eve to commit suicide, and through misunderstandings, really, stop each other from carrying out the individual plans. This start is fascinating and fraught with possibilities. As each character finds different paths to take, the book takes a big fall. Still, I am glad I read it, and recommend it with reservations. Do not expect a High Fidelity or About a Boy, nor even the lesser book, How to Be Good. This book is darker, and gives a feel that it was taylor written for the screen.

Although I think Mr. Hornby is clever and interesting, this book is not. If you want to spend a few sorta entertaining hours, you'll do okay, however, if you're thinking this is a great read, a clever and intriguing read, sorry no. Excellent story premise, once in a while a fun line, but mostly superficial and so-not the thought provoking piece we were all hoping for. Mr. Hornby you need a few more drafts before this one is ready to release. Or let a great screenwriter take the premise and just run with it. It would be fun as a movie if better developed. P.S. Why Mr. Hornby selected the most unflattering photo ever seen as the author's pix I have no idea.

The first thing I will say is that if you mind cussing in a book, do not pick this up. It has a lot of cussing in it. I don't really mind cussing in a book but at times I started to feel as if the author was trying to see how many times he could fit the word F--- in the book. Im not saying it did not fit the characters but it was overused, in my opinion. This book is about four people who go to the top of a building to jump off on new years eve, meet each other and decide to come down after all. I put this book off for awhile because I thought it was going to be one of those way to sappy insperational stories and that isn't what I really wanted to read. Don't get me wrong they have there place but it was not something that I was interested in right now. I can't say what made me take another look at this book and then buy it,but I'm so glad that I did because it was anything but what I thought it would be. A lot of people say this is a really funny book and while some parts made me smile, I did not really laugh out loud at any of it. The characters were really like able and I really enjoyed the different writing style for each of them. Each part of the book is from each persons viewpoint, and goes back and forth. The book made me think, as I've been we're they are before and recently had a loss in my family so I know that depression. A long way down gave me other ways to look at things without being a really serious or depressing book, I really enjoyed it.

I must begin: do NOT read this book if you are not interested in introspection (that was a double negative wasn't it), or if you like fairytales... Suicide told from the perspective of four unlikely characters. The disgraced celebrity. The rebellious 19 year old. The lonely single mother. The washed up musician. Their lives intertwine in A Long Way Down, in Hornby's snarky, creative and ultimately soulful novel. Hornby writes from the first-person perspective of 4 characters. By alternating between characters, the story is passed off from chapter to chapter like a baton. In the process nothing gets glossed over, as much as nuisance and perspectives change as a different character takes the narrative further. All the characters are authentic. In fact, Hornby has perfected a twenty-first century style of writing all his own of not becoming self indulgent and getting bogged in details, as so many writers do. Hornby is keenly aware of his audience and shows the reader great respect moving on wear other authors would like to wax and digress. This is the rare book that is both very funny (out laugh out loud) and very sentimental. It is after all about life and death and the banality of our existence.

At first I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish the book. Since it was a book club choice, I stuck with it, and It did get better...Fortunately, the humorous scenes lightened up the overall tone of depression and despair. The author did an excellent job of developing the main characters, as well as describing their flaws and strengths. Even one particular building plays a main part in the story. Two characters were much more likable than two others, although one of the characters, as difficult as he/she was, actually got the ball rolling for everyone else. Am I glad I read the book? Yes. Will I read it again? Probably not.

This seemingly is a dark topic, suicide. I expected a somber read, but found myself laughing out loud several times. Hornby constantly undermines the seriousness of his subject matter in order to make it bearable This is a funny book about four people who try to commit suicide. I had never read a book by Nick Hornby, but couldn't imagine how such a serious subject could be treated lightly and still be in good taste. But the author constantly undermines the seriousness of his subject matter in order to make it bearable. On New Year's Eve in North London, four lost souls go to a roof of a particularly famous suicide point called "Topper's House" to leap. Only to discover a few people already wanting to jump and instead of jumping, end up striking up an uneasy friendship. (Even though they had nothing in common beyond that one thing WANTING TO JUMP.) I would have given this a 5 star except for the huge amount of profanity in the first 1/3 of the book. The ending well I thought could have been different. But overall an exceptional listen. The lady who listened to this with me is a very religious christian in her late 50's and she really enjoyed it profanity, suicide and all. She agreed the ending could have been a little different it felt like it was a little rushed.

I enjoyed this book so much I bought it three times! Ok so two of the times were second hand but it's the thought that counts! I liked the characters, the plot had just the right amount of pace, pathos, and comic relief to make it a really enjoyable book. I was going to download the Kindle version but at £6.99 I think i'll just go into my local charity shop and get it for about £2.00.

Una bueno escritor, mundo real. Bueno con mucho humour..

An insightful and fun read

Vom Umschlagtext ausgehend habe ich eine Geschichte über eine einzelne Nacht, einer einmaligen Begegnung von vier Selbstmordwilligen, auf dem Dach eines Hochhauses, erwartet. Vielleicht in der Art von Lola rennt - eine Geschichte, vier Blickwinkel, 250 Seiten. So stellt sich jedoch lediglich der Anfang dieser wirklich tollen, einfühlsamen und liebenswerten wie abschreckenden Geschichte dar. Aus der ersten Begegnung erwächst eine Band zwischen vier Gescheiterten, dass sich als stärker erweist als all ihre Abneigungen, ihre Unterschiede, ihr Hass gegen sich und andere. Vier unterschiedliche Charaktere, die durch Hornbys gelungene Schreibweise trotz ihrer Fehler und teilweise sehr eigenartigen Charakterzüge dem Leser ans Herz wachsen, so dass man Seite um Seite einfach verschlingt. Die Geschichte wird abwechselnd aus der Perspektive jedes einzelnen erzählt. Jede Person hat ihren eigenen Schreibstil, ihre eigene Art und ihre eigene Wahrnehmung. Hornby spielt mit diesem Schreibstil und er spielt ihn perfekt. So perfekt, dass ich mir mit Sicherheit weitere seiner Erzählungen bestellen und ich mich schon jetzt auf weitere Lesestunden freuen kann. Allerdings ist seine Wortwahl, da in "A Long Way Down" sehr Slang-lastig, nicht immer einfach zu verstehen und wer englische Romane nicht gewohnt ist, dürfte ein ums andere mal ins Schlingern geraten. Abschließend: wer ein Happy End erwartet oder eben keines... wird nicht enttäuscht. :)

Nick Hornby's book uses a neat idea, a simple story, to create an interesting book with captivating, entertaining and realistic characters. Despite the neurosis and particularities of each one of them, we managed to identify with their history, with their ideas, and to find ourselves in one of them.