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Fiction. Literature. Humor (Fiction.) HTML:George Hall is an unobtrusive man. A little distant, perhaps, a little cautious, not quite at ease with the emotional demands of fatherhood or of manly bonhomie. �??The secret of contentment, George felt, lay in ignoring many things completely.�?� Some things in life can�??t be ignored, however: his tempestuous daughter Katie�??s deeply inappropriate boyfriend Ray, for instance, or the sudden appearance of a red circular rash on his hip. At 57, George is settling down to a comfortable retirement, building a shed in his garden and enjoying the freedom to be alone when he wants. But then he runs into a spot of bother. That red circular rash on his hip: George convinces himself it�??s skin cancer. And the deeply inappropriate Ray? Katie announces he will become her second husband. The planning for these frowned-upon nuptials proves a great inconvenience to George�??s wife, Jean, who is carrying on a late-life affair with her husband�??s ex-colleague. The Halls do not approve of Ray, for vague reasons summed up by their son Jamie�??s observation that Ray has �??strangler�??s hands.�?� Jamie himself has his own problems �?? his tidy and pleasant life comes apart when he fails to invite his lover, Tony, to Katie�??s wedding. And Katie, a woman whose ferocious temper once led to the maiming of a carjacker, can�??t decide if she loves Ray, or loves the wonderful way he has with her son Jacob. Unnoticed in the uproar, George quietly begins to go mad. The way these damaged people fall apart �?? and come together �?? as a family is the true subject of Haddon�??s hilarious and disturbing portrait of a dignified man trying to go insane politely. A Spot of Bother is Mark Haddon�??s unforgettable follow-up to the internationally beloved bestseller The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Once again, Haddon proves a master of a story at once hilarious, poignant, dark, and profoundly human. Here the madness �?? literally �?? of family life proves rich comic fodder for Haddon�??s… (more)
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Review: This book reminded me quite a lot of Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections, if not so much in style, then definitely in tone, dry wit, and subject matter - a "typical" family in crisis while each of the members are undergoing crises of their own. The Corrections was fancier with the language, while this book was more straightforward, and had a less convoluted plot structure. Both manage to portray real people, with real problems, and this book in particular does an excellent job of making its characters both realistic and sympathetic. This is not to say that any of them (except Ray, Katie's fiancée) are particularly nice or wonderful people - because real people have flaws and foibles and short tempers and make stupid decisions. This book also takes a potentially very depressing subject matter - depression, anxiety, fear of dying - and makes it subtly funny throughout, without trivializing it and while still treating its characters with compassion. There was only one scene that I felt lost its tone - George attempting self-surgery was I think supposed to be played as a bit of a farce, but for me wound up over the line into disturbing, disgusting, and genuinely hard to listen to, although I've got a pretty weak stomach for that sort of thing. Overall, though, I enjoyed this book - it does a good job of making your own daily crises seem like small potatoes compared to those of the Hill family.
Recommendation: Nothing particularly ground-breaking, and I wouldn't necessarily pick it up just because you like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, but it's a solid black comedy and enjoyable and easy to read.
About halfway through I did get a bit confused as the plot became convoluted and at
It’s an enjoyable read overall though, and it keeps the laughs coming thick and fast. Only when the mental breakdown storyline cranks up does it start feeling slightly darker (and inappropriate to be laughing). There is serious stuff amongst the wit, but it is the wit that I will remember.
If that is the only reason you are going to read this book then don't bother. Let me explain, this isn't a bad book but it
This is in fact a cross between "A bit of a do", "Our friends in the north", "One flew over the cuckoos nest" and any soap opera I imagine showing (but must admit not to watch any of them - this opinion judged from the odd tv trailer and conversations in the office) on the TV at the moment.(take a deep breath)
Lets be fair; Yes it is funny, O.K. it has lots of short chapters which give the illusion of it being a page turner (same technique as Da Vinci Code? i.e. get them turning lots of pages and they will think it is a page turner) and yes, it is well written in a very easy to read and engagingly style. Ultimately its disappointing because it is neither the "Night-Time dog" nor as good as it. Yes they are both unfair expectations on my part, but there you go. What are you going to do?
Ultimately a lightweight, funny, engaging but forgettable tale.
2.5 stars out of 5 - mainly because this is not my cup of tea.
This sounds grim, but Haddon is a very good comic writer whose unflinching yet kind-hearted treatment of his characters reminds me, strangely enough, of John Kennedy Toole.
I
Great book though, and great choice…. you can tell it exercised me!
Haddon has a similar style to David Sedaris. They both have a humorous take on the screwed up lives of different families. Haddon’s writing also has a bit of likeness to Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones), probably because both use Brit humor. But I suppose Bridget Jones is all about messed up relationships as well. So I think if you like Sedaris/Fielding, you would also enjoy a bit of Haddon. It's a good quick read. I've had to speed read through it in anticipation of getting Harry Potter soon!
As I read A Spot of Bother, I couldn't help comparing it to Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections, a book I loathed with every fiber of my being. I hated Franzen's characters. I only kept reading the book because I thought there'd be some catharsis, some sort of redemption, at the end. There wasn't.
The Hall family is just as dysfunctional as the one in The Corrections. The characters do stupid, stubborn, selfish things. But I cared about them anyway. I wanted them to be okay. I wanted things to work out for them. I felt like they were just messed up people who were, at their core, good. I needed to know what happened to them.
There's not exactly a happily-ever-after ending to this book. But it's a plausible one. And when I closed the cover, I was satisfied, glad I'd been able to spend time getting to know these people.
Kudos to Mr. Haddon for writing one of the best dark comedies I've ever read. I look forward to his next book.
Each chapter in this book is told from a character's point of view, so the reader often gets multiple views of the same event and sees the constant development of characters. Haddon seems much better suited to write the abnormal mind instead of the normal mind, though I prefered his portrayal of an autistic boy over a depressed man. Also-this book is VERY British-the slang, the references, everything about it, so it takes a little while to think about things in the same world-view as the characters.
All in all, this is an entertaining showing of how a family is torn apart and slowly tries to find it's way again.