Status
Available
Collection
Publication
London : Penguin, 2006.
Description
Meet Martin, JJ, Jess, and Maureen. Four people who come together on New Year's Eve: a former TV talk show host, a musician, a teenage girl, and a mother. Three are British, one is American. They encounter one another on the roof of Topper's House, a London destination famous as the last stop for those ready to end their lives. This is a tale of connections made and missed, punishing regrets, and the grace of second chances.
Media reviews
...Hornby doesn't confuse the simplicity of this thought with the impossibility of sometimes living it. For all his light touches, he is never superficial enough to suggest that these lives that have fallen apart, in four of the millions of ways lives may do so, can easily be patched up and
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renewed. Whatever limited consolations the book's survivors find in each other, Hornby resists melodramatic resolutions or glorious moments of redemption, and he doesn't smuggle away or refute all the reasons his characters took with them to the rooftop where they met, the ones that urged them toward the edge rather than down to the ground the slow way, back into the world. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member dodger
At first glace Nick Hornby’s A Long Way Down appears to be a book about suicide and death; however, it ultimately becomes a story about living.
Through four--well-written--first person accounts, we meet Martin, Jess, Maureen, and JJ--four people with little in common: except that they all want to
While the story is told from four different viewpoints, it is done without the characters tediously repeating one another. Through different dialogue and writing styles, Hornby does a fantastic job of creating four distinctly different characters that are easily believable, and likeable--even the edgy, foulmouthed teenager, Jess, who is possibly the most realistic of the four characters. However, what Hornby does best in A Long Way Down is paint a vivid portrait of the everyday lives of ordinary people living in London, as they deal with the disappointments of life, and eventually find what they are missing in their lives through one another.
Through four--well-written--first person accounts, we meet Martin, Jess, Maureen, and JJ--four people with little in common: except that they all want to
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kill themselves. They meet on New Year’s Eve, on the roof of Toper’s House, a London tower block known for being an ideal spot to leap to one's death. The unlikely foursome soon form a warm, family-like bond, and while the book is set amid a dark theme, there are many funny moments along way to lighten the mood, and more than enough plot twists to keep the reader entertained. While the story is told from four different viewpoints, it is done without the characters tediously repeating one another. Through different dialogue and writing styles, Hornby does a fantastic job of creating four distinctly different characters that are easily believable, and likeable--even the edgy, foulmouthed teenager, Jess, who is possibly the most realistic of the four characters. However, what Hornby does best in A Long Way Down is paint a vivid portrait of the everyday lives of ordinary people living in London, as they deal with the disappointments of life, and eventually find what they are missing in their lives through one another.
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LibraryThing member Quixada
I generally have an aversion to literature that is being published today. But recently I have been fortunate to come across authors such as A.M. Homes, Denis Johnson, and Bret Easton Ellis. So I thought I would give Mr. Hornby a go. (The biggest downside to this novel is that I am now thinking in a
And one other thing. There is a quote on the back of my edition from "Time" (I assume that is Time magazine unless there is some hugely famous person that I have never heard of with the last name of Time that doesn't need to use his first name; or one of those cool people with only one name) that says: "It's like The Breakfast Club rewritten by Beckett..." OH REALLY?!?!?!? What the flying fuck?!?!!? (Sorry Maureen.) Does this person seriously mean SAMUEL Beckett??? No fucking way! (Sorry Maureen.) This person has obviously never read a word of Beckett. The person may have once read something ABOUT Beckett or maybe read something about his style. But the person has definitely never read Beckett. What an enormously stupid thing to put on the back of the book. I guess they thought it sounded cool. And maybe they thought that the people reading this book had never read Beckett anyway. It should be absolutely illegal to print something like that on the back of a book. Extremely false advertisement. The quote underneath it by "The Washington Post" was much more spot on: "Hornby is a writer of great feeling and warmth...A Long Way Down is high on charm and frequently hilarious." That says it all perfectly, now doesn't it. Whoever the bloke is from "Time" that wrote the Beckett quote should be shot. And whoever was in charge that allowed it to be printed should be sentenced to a year of reading the Twilight series.
Hornby does write well. He has all the slick writing techniques down pat. He would make a good creative writing teacher (if he isn't already).
Overall, the book was "eh". I don't think I will be reading another Hornby novel. I did like the character Jess. I want to go drinking with her.
I do hope I stop thinking with a British accent bloody well soon.
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British accent - "Oh, he is a tosser, isn't he, the bloody wanker". ...and stuff like that.)And one other thing. There is a quote on the back of my edition from "Time" (I assume that is Time magazine unless there is some hugely famous person that I have never heard of with the last name of Time that doesn't need to use his first name; or one of those cool people with only one name) that says: "It's like The Breakfast Club rewritten by Beckett..." OH REALLY?!?!?!? What the flying fuck?!?!!? (Sorry Maureen.) Does this person seriously mean SAMUEL Beckett??? No fucking way! (Sorry Maureen.) This person has obviously never read a word of Beckett. The person may have once read something ABOUT Beckett or maybe read something about his style. But the person has definitely never read Beckett. What an enormously stupid thing to put on the back of the book. I guess they thought it sounded cool. And maybe they thought that the people reading this book had never read Beckett anyway. It should be absolutely illegal to print something like that on the back of a book. Extremely false advertisement. The quote underneath it by "The Washington Post" was much more spot on: "Hornby is a writer of great feeling and warmth...A Long Way Down is high on charm and frequently hilarious." That says it all perfectly, now doesn't it. Whoever the bloke is from "Time" that wrote the Beckett quote should be shot. And whoever was in charge that allowed it to be printed should be sentenced to a year of reading the Twilight series.
Hornby does write well. He has all the slick writing techniques down pat. He would make a good creative writing teacher (if he isn't already).
Overall, the book was "eh". I don't think I will be reading another Hornby novel. I did like the character Jess. I want to go drinking with her.
I do hope I stop thinking with a British accent bloody well soon.
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LibraryThing member oddbooks
I reread this book for the fourth or fifth time. This is a book, for whatever reason, calls out to me for a reread every couple of years, or so. I always enjoy reading Maureen's story the most. I love Maureen.
A Long Way Down is the story of four people who stumbled into each other on the roof of a
Maureen is the mother of a profoundly disabled son. It's unclear if her son Matthew has any higher thought or that he can understand speech. He cannot walk, feed himself and Maureen spends her life caring for him. She became pregnant with him after her first sexual encounter and the father abandons her. Her life is a grim misery and her suicide attempt is the most understandable of the four.
I read this book mostly to get to the scene on page 195, when one of the members of the group, J.J., plays Nick Drake for the others and Jess, a callow young woman, and Martin, a lecherous TV personality, diss the album:
And then this weird thing happened, if you can call a deep response to Five Leaves Left weird.
"Have you not ears?" Maureen said suddenly. "Can't you hear how unhappy he is, and how beautiful his songs are?"
We looked at her, and then Jess looked at me.
"Ha-ha," said Jess. "You like something Maureen likes." She sang this last part, like a little kid, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.
"Don't pretend to be more foolish than you are, Jess," said Maureen. Because you're foolish enough as it is." She was steamed. She had to music rage, too. "Just listen to him for a moment, and stop blathering."
And Jess could see that she meant it, and she shut up, and we listened to the whole of the rest of the album in silence, and if you looked at Maureen closely you could see her eyes were glistening a little.
"When did he die?"
"Nineteen seventy-four. He was twenty-six."
"Twenty-six." She was quiet for a moment, thoughtful, and I was really hoping that she was feeling sorry for him and his family. The alternative was that she was envying him for having spared himself all those unnecessary years. You want people to respond, but sometimes they can overdo it, you know?
"People don't want to hear it, do they?" she said.
No one said anything, because we weren't sure where she was at.
"This is how I feel, every day, and people don't want to know that. They want to know that I'm feeling what Tom Jones makes you feel. Or that Australian girl who used to be in Neighbours. But I feel like this, and they won't play what I feel on the radio, because people that are sad don't fit in."
We'd never heard Maureen talk like this, didn't even know she could, and even Jess didn't want to stop her.
"It's funny, because people think it's Matty that stops me fitting in. But Matty's not so bad. Hard work, but... it's the way Matty makes me feel that stops me fitting in. You get the weight of everything wrong. You have to guess all the time whether things or heavy or light, especially the things inside you, and you get it wrong, and it puts people off. I'm tired of it."
I think reading this reminds me why I don't write fiction any more. I lack the capacity to write a Maureen and to make her believable to someone else. I think sometimes I am a lot like Maureen, in that I get the weight of everything wrong. And I love Nick Hornby for writing her.
A Long Way Down is the story of four people who stumbled into each other on the roof of a
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building that is a notorious scene for suicides. All four have come to jump and end their lives. They interrupt each other and become a strange support structure, a misfit therapy group, as they all navigate the world post-aborted-suicide.Maureen is the mother of a profoundly disabled son. It's unclear if her son Matthew has any higher thought or that he can understand speech. He cannot walk, feed himself and Maureen spends her life caring for him. She became pregnant with him after her first sexual encounter and the father abandons her. Her life is a grim misery and her suicide attempt is the most understandable of the four.
I read this book mostly to get to the scene on page 195, when one of the members of the group, J.J., plays Nick Drake for the others and Jess, a callow young woman, and Martin, a lecherous TV personality, diss the album:
And then this weird thing happened, if you can call a deep response to Five Leaves Left weird.
"Have you not ears?" Maureen said suddenly. "Can't you hear how unhappy he is, and how beautiful his songs are?"
We looked at her, and then Jess looked at me.
"Ha-ha," said Jess. "You like something Maureen likes." She sang this last part, like a little kid, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.
"Don't pretend to be more foolish than you are, Jess," said Maureen. Because you're foolish enough as it is." She was steamed. She had to music rage, too. "Just listen to him for a moment, and stop blathering."
And Jess could see that she meant it, and she shut up, and we listened to the whole of the rest of the album in silence, and if you looked at Maureen closely you could see her eyes were glistening a little.
"When did he die?"
"Nineteen seventy-four. He was twenty-six."
"Twenty-six." She was quiet for a moment, thoughtful, and I was really hoping that she was feeling sorry for him and his family. The alternative was that she was envying him for having spared himself all those unnecessary years. You want people to respond, but sometimes they can overdo it, you know?
"People don't want to hear it, do they?" she said.
No one said anything, because we weren't sure where she was at.
"This is how I feel, every day, and people don't want to know that. They want to know that I'm feeling what Tom Jones makes you feel. Or that Australian girl who used to be in Neighbours. But I feel like this, and they won't play what I feel on the radio, because people that are sad don't fit in."
We'd never heard Maureen talk like this, didn't even know she could, and even Jess didn't want to stop her.
"It's funny, because people think it's Matty that stops me fitting in. But Matty's not so bad. Hard work, but... it's the way Matty makes me feel that stops me fitting in. You get the weight of everything wrong. You have to guess all the time whether things or heavy or light, especially the things inside you, and you get it wrong, and it puts people off. I'm tired of it."
I think reading this reminds me why I don't write fiction any more. I lack the capacity to write a Maureen and to make her believable to someone else. I think sometimes I am a lot like Maureen, in that I get the weight of everything wrong. And I love Nick Hornby for writing her.
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LibraryThing member PennyAnne
A very enjoyable book despite its topic - 4 people intent on suicide who meet each other on the roof of a building on New Years Eve. This book has been made into a film but the book is so much better as it is more realistic and doesn't tie off all of the loose ends with pretty, happy bows. There is
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hope but in a very real way if that makes any sense. Show Less
LibraryThing member actonbell
Maureen, Martin, JJ, and Jess just happen to meet up one New Year's Eve on the roof of Topper's House, an establishment in London, but they're not there to celebrate the New Year. Each of these four people have made four different journeys to Topper's House to--top themselves, as the British would
Nick Hornby is known for writing humorous stories, and in this novel, he successfully tells the story of how four depressed people grudgingly form a support group, albeit a very unorthodox one, with a good balance of humor and seriousness. The four characters take turns first telling their own stories, then telling their common story, each in a very different voice and perspective.
I was impressed by the way Jess, a teenaged girl who is easily one of the most annoying characters I've ever encountered in or out of a book, gradually morphs into a more controlled and likeable young woman. Her problems aren't miraculously going away, but she's better in every way by the end. And then there's Maureen, who seems to have the most obvious reasons to be depressed, but it turns out that a few doable changes is all she needs to feel much, much better. Martin and JJ need to develop their plan B's, and by the end, they are making a start at that, instead of just despairing.
The unusual thing about this group of four is that they really don't much enjoy each other, don't seem to make each other feel particularly better, but--they are hooked on meeting each other, nonetheless. It keeps them going, and the common connection they feel does force them to look outside of themselves. They become unlikely people in each other's lives, and therein lies most of the humor.
I like that the ending isn't perfect. Everyone is better off than they were the night they agreed to walk downstairs and out of Topper's House, but things are not perfect for any of them by a long shot. I also admire the way A Long Way Down manages to be engaging and light, while being so touching and sad at the same time. Nick Hornby has breathed life into these characters, four people with emerging hope for the future.
It's a very enjoyable, interesting read, and I'd recommend this book!
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say. And three out of four of them are, in fact, British. Anyway, each of these people was expecting some privacy at a time like this, but instead, they wound up embarking on another journey altogether.Nick Hornby is known for writing humorous stories, and in this novel, he successfully tells the story of how four depressed people grudgingly form a support group, albeit a very unorthodox one, with a good balance of humor and seriousness. The four characters take turns first telling their own stories, then telling their common story, each in a very different voice and perspective.
I was impressed by the way Jess, a teenaged girl who is easily one of the most annoying characters I've ever encountered in or out of a book, gradually morphs into a more controlled and likeable young woman. Her problems aren't miraculously going away, but she's better in every way by the end. And then there's Maureen, who seems to have the most obvious reasons to be depressed, but it turns out that a few doable changes is all she needs to feel much, much better. Martin and JJ need to develop their plan B's, and by the end, they are making a start at that, instead of just despairing.
The unusual thing about this group of four is that they really don't much enjoy each other, don't seem to make each other feel particularly better, but--they are hooked on meeting each other, nonetheless. It keeps them going, and the common connection they feel does force them to look outside of themselves. They become unlikely people in each other's lives, and therein lies most of the humor.
I like that the ending isn't perfect. Everyone is better off than they were the night they agreed to walk downstairs and out of Topper's House, but things are not perfect for any of them by a long shot. I also admire the way A Long Way Down manages to be engaging and light, while being so touching and sad at the same time. Nick Hornby has breathed life into these characters, four people with emerging hope for the future.
It's a very enjoyable, interesting read, and I'd recommend this book!
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LibraryThing member RobertaLea
I had looked forward to reading this because I thought it was going to be a funny book. (I know suicide isn't funny) but the premise of this sounded like a fun read. It wasn't fun, but it was thought-provoking. A couple of characters were totally annoying, but even they give us something to think
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about. Show Less
LibraryThing member amjansen
Very interesting read. Hornby's characters are something else, and just when I started thinking they were getting predictable, they did something unpredictable. The narrative voice in this novel is full of life (which is ironic, since it's about four people who met when they were trying to commit
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suicide), and it was an uplifting (not in a cheesy way) read. It was a great recommendation from one of my friends, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Carissa.Green
In some ways, this book is classic Hornby: The angst-filled, the immature, the id-driven, self-centered people of the world stumble, make mistakes and try to do better. The writing is tight and humorous, and the emotional resonance is there. Here's the problem: the four main characters meet in a
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wholly improbable manner, and after the first section of the novel, there is not really a plausible reason for them to maintain a bond. Maybe a couple of them, in various configurations, but not all four, as a unit. The catalyst for much of the rest of the story is one character, a teenage girl, who is entirely unpleasant, spoiled, self-centered, bitchy, immature and totally, totally slapworthy. She needs a wake-up call and really fails at recognizing the opportunities for such. I HATED her. Yet, without her, the last two-thirds of the book wouldn't even exist. A frustrating contradiction. -cg Show Less
LibraryThing member flourish_leslie
Although I just finished the book two days ago, it took me a few minutes to remember what happens at the very end of A Long Way Down. Nick Hornby's novel begins, essentially, with its climax. Four people decide independently to go to a certain London rooftop, called Topper's House, to kill
Hornby tells the novel through a rotating first-person of all the characters, and although they each have a distinctive voice, his casual observer style remains audible in all. So, if you already know that you enjoy Hornby, you're probably going to get some pleasure out of A Long Way Down. I could already hear the voice-overs of the future movie of the book, if a studio could get past the whole suicide factor. However, if you've lately been cutting your teeth against more literary fare, you're likely to feel as if your time could have been better spent reading something less pat. While A Long Way Down at no point made me throw it to the ground and stamp upon it in a disappointed rage, it neither gives the trashy glee of a compelling genre novel nor the contemplative satisfaction of word art. It's fiction. It's Hornby. And you know what that means going in.
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themselves on New Year's. However, as each runs into the others, the suicidal plans give way to feelings of hostile camaraderie, and the group leaves the rooftop to embark on a search through London's parties for the wayward ex-boyfriend of Jess. Thus the first section of the novel shows the characters - Martin, a disgraced morning show host; Maureen, whose son has been in a vegetative state since birth; J.J., an American whose band has recently broken up; and Jess, a maniacal and impulsive teenage girl - learning about the lives of the others and coming together to work toward a common purpose. This collaborative spirit continues after the critical night, and they decide to keep meeting up until the next most common suicide event, Valentine's Day.Hornby tells the novel through a rotating first-person of all the characters, and although they each have a distinctive voice, his casual observer style remains audible in all. So, if you already know that you enjoy Hornby, you're probably going to get some pleasure out of A Long Way Down. I could already hear the voice-overs of the future movie of the book, if a studio could get past the whole suicide factor. However, if you've lately been cutting your teeth against more literary fare, you're likely to feel as if your time could have been better spent reading something less pat. While A Long Way Down at no point made me throw it to the ground and stamp upon it in a disappointed rage, it neither gives the trashy glee of a compelling genre novel nor the contemplative satisfaction of word art. It's fiction. It's Hornby. And you know what that means going in.
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LibraryThing member loafhunter13
-Meet Martin, JJ, Jess and Maureen. Four people who come together on New Year’s Eve: a former TV talk-show host, a musician, a teenage girl, and a mother. They encounter one another on the roof of Topper’s House, a London destination famous as the last stop for those ready to end their lives.
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Hornby tells the story of four individuals confronting the limits of choice, circumstance and their own mortality. This book pretty much restored some faith in modern novels for me. The unique four-character narrative and the flow of the text, dialogue and story make it riveting and comfortable at the same time. The situations are outrageous and moving but not unbelievable. Well-written all around, a very tight package. It is easy to see why they keep making movies from his work. Show Less
LibraryThing member FAR2MANYBOOKS
"Why it didn't occur to any of us that a well-known suicide spot would be like Piccadilly Circus on New Year's Eve. I have no idea, but at that point in the proceedings I had accepted the reality of our situation: we were in the process of turning a solemn and private moment into a farce with a
And at that precise moment of acceptance, we three became four. There was a polite cough, and when we turned round to look, we saw a tall, good-looking, long-haired man, maybe ten years younger than me, holding a crash helmet under one arm and one of those big insulated bags in the other.
“Any of you guys order a pizza?” he said."
This book is about fate. About people coming out of themselves and coming together with others. Filled with humor and life lessons. Hornby captures the essence of the old saying "make a plan and God laughs". Lol funny for fans of dark humor.
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cast of thousands.And at that precise moment of acceptance, we three became four. There was a polite cough, and when we turned round to look, we saw a tall, good-looking, long-haired man, maybe ten years younger than me, holding a crash helmet under one arm and one of those big insulated bags in the other.
“Any of you guys order a pizza?” he said."
This book is about fate. About people coming out of themselves and coming together with others. Filled with humor and life lessons. Hornby captures the essence of the old saying "make a plan and God laughs". Lol funny for fans of dark humor.
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LibraryThing member hardlyhardy
You would think a book about four unhappy people contemplating suicide would be depressing. Instead it is hilarious, original, tender, insightful, life-affirming . . . I can't say enough good things about Nick Hornby's "A Long Way Down."
On New Year's Eve, four people who otherwise have virtually
The four of them, who don't even particularly like each other, form their own little support group, what Jess calls "a gang," meeting periodically over the next three months and even going on a holiday together because Maureen has not had a holiday since her son was born. They argue constantly, usually provoked by Jess, but they are all they have. And although Jess can be cruel and crude, she is also the one who works the hardest to give each of them a happy ending.
Writing an ending to this novel must have been challenging for Hornby because he really needed four endings, not just one. It would have been so easy to make it maudlin or overly simplistic or phony, but he avoids these traps and finds a way to wrap it all up that seems both realistic and uplifting.
Hornby does amazing things with metapors throughout the novel, but he ends his story with a particularly apt one. The four of them return to the top of Toppers' House 90 days after their accidental New Year's Eve meeting, and they observe the London Eye, that huge Ferris wheel along the Thames that never stops going around. People just get on and off while it continues to rotate. But Maureen observes that from a distance it doesn't appear to be moving at all. "But it must have been, I suppose," she says.
And so it is with their lives. They may not appear to be going anywhere. All four are still pretty much in the same situations they were in three months before. So little has really changed. Yet there they all are at Toppers admiring the view, not planning to jump.
On New Year's Eve, four people who otherwise have virtually
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nothing in common climb to the top of a high London building with the intention of jumping off. They include Martin, a former daytime TV celebrity whose career and marriage were ruined when he was caught having sex with an underage girl; Maureen, a middle-aged woman whose entire adult life has consisted of little more than giving around-the-clock care to her severely disabled son; Jess, the friendless 18-year-old daughter of prominent parents with a talent for offending everyone she meets; and JJ, an American with dreams of becoming a rock star who has lost both his band and his girlfriend.The four of them, who don't even particularly like each other, form their own little support group, what Jess calls "a gang," meeting periodically over the next three months and even going on a holiday together because Maureen has not had a holiday since her son was born. They argue constantly, usually provoked by Jess, but they are all they have. And although Jess can be cruel and crude, she is also the one who works the hardest to give each of them a happy ending.
Writing an ending to this novel must have been challenging for Hornby because he really needed four endings, not just one. It would have been so easy to make it maudlin or overly simplistic or phony, but he avoids these traps and finds a way to wrap it all up that seems both realistic and uplifting.
Hornby does amazing things with metapors throughout the novel, but he ends his story with a particularly apt one. The four of them return to the top of Toppers' House 90 days after their accidental New Year's Eve meeting, and they observe the London Eye, that huge Ferris wheel along the Thames that never stops going around. People just get on and off while it continues to rotate. But Maureen observes that from a distance it doesn't appear to be moving at all. "But it must have been, I suppose," she says.
And so it is with their lives. They may not appear to be going anywhere. All four are still pretty much in the same situations they were in three months before. So little has really changed. Yet there they all are at Toppers admiring the view, not planning to jump.
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LibraryThing member LittleTaiko
I really liked this book - the premise was what lured me to the book, but the writing is what kept me there. The stories of four lost souls contemplating suicide on New Years Eve and find each other instead is full of humor and some thought provoking dialogue. While, Martin with his rather honest
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look at life was my favorite, the most poignant was Maureen, who in her own way was quite astute. Her comments about realizing the weight of ones words and the affect they have on people was spot on. JJ was entertaining but not as well developed while Jess was nothing but annoying. I never good get a handle on her, but then again that's probably what real life is all about. Show Less
LibraryThing member nagem13
I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Sometimes I think I may have outgrown Nick Hornby and similar writers, but no, I think there's still something to this that speaks to me. Really, the more I think about this novel, the more I conclude that while it seems like a rather quick, pretty surface-y
WARNING: SPOILERS (not that there's many plot points to spoil...)
Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, I actually found Maureen the most interesting character. One thing that she says really hit me as spot on... the need to not fill all 60 minutes an hour every hour with the same thing. I know that I am sometimes guilty of that, and it does nothing for my mental health. Maureen also has the shittiest situation in my opinion... while Matty, her completely nonfunctional son, doesn't have a voice at all in the novel, his presence is definitely felt. I don't know what I'd do in her situation. What she says about having kids struck me as being pretty right too... that a lot of people have kids to feel a sense of forward motion in their lives, and one of the saddest things about her life is that nothing ever changes because Matty never really grows up. Interestingly, though, she seems to me the happiest of the 4 main characters by the end of the novel, and it has a lot more to do with her outlook than with external events. Really, some of the other characters actually struck me as kind of whiny and less sympathetic.
I liked that nothing really changes by the end of the novel, but the characters somehow seem like they will be okay in the end. Not great, but okay. The plot meanders along, with lots of fairly random things happening and no real end destination in sight, but the destination isn't the point of this novel. It's figuring out how to get there that's the interesting (and difficult) part.
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read, many of the issues addressed had a way of sticking to me... almost like I got tricked into considering new ideas. Which I have to say, I don't mind. I also quite enjoy Hornby's evident love of books which is sprinkled throughout. Especially the observation that it's considered weird to read a book with other people around, but no one gives it a second thought when someone is playing video games in a crowded room. (Haha... except for me.)WARNING: SPOILERS (not that there's many plot points to spoil...)
Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, I actually found Maureen the most interesting character. One thing that she says really hit me as spot on... the need to not fill all 60 minutes an hour every hour with the same thing. I know that I am sometimes guilty of that, and it does nothing for my mental health. Maureen also has the shittiest situation in my opinion... while Matty, her completely nonfunctional son, doesn't have a voice at all in the novel, his presence is definitely felt. I don't know what I'd do in her situation. What she says about having kids struck me as being pretty right too... that a lot of people have kids to feel a sense of forward motion in their lives, and one of the saddest things about her life is that nothing ever changes because Matty never really grows up. Interestingly, though, she seems to me the happiest of the 4 main characters by the end of the novel, and it has a lot more to do with her outlook than with external events. Really, some of the other characters actually struck me as kind of whiny and less sympathetic.
I liked that nothing really changes by the end of the novel, but the characters somehow seem like they will be okay in the end. Not great, but okay. The plot meanders along, with lots of fairly random things happening and no real end destination in sight, but the destination isn't the point of this novel. It's figuring out how to get there that's the interesting (and difficult) part.
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LibraryThing member wdwilson3
I listened to the audiobook version. Another plot synopsis is certainly not needed after all that has been written here, but I do have to add my two cents worth about the merit of this book, which I think has been incredibly overstated by most reviewers. It should be subtitled "the boring lives of
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stupid people." I'm not saying that the book is unbelievable, just that I wouldn't like to meet any of the characters, I was not amused by their actions, and failed to see that the author had any insights of value to me. Jess, the young female character, could be the most annoying character in modern fiction. Pity she didn't take the leap at the outset of the book. Show Less
LibraryThing member RachelWeaver
The joy of Nick Hornby is his ability to write distinctive dialogue, to imbue each character with his own speech rhythms and vocabulary, to make you really hear each character as an individual. So a book like this that features an ensemble cast of misfit opposites is absolutely where he excels.
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Nick Hornby is funny without being frivolous. He can take serious subjects like suicide, and turn them into something funny, sad, and sweet all at once without resorting to being trite. When I want something lighthearted without losing brain cells, Nick Hornby is the perfect remedy, and this is him at his best. Show Less
LibraryThing member timj
A cast of interesting characters and a fascinating idea. Funny and dark.
LibraryThing member J.v.d.A.
Very very average book, verging on poor. Weighed down by a completely absurd premise and Hornby's constant attempts to prop it up with some unbelievable characters and contrived plot developments. The warning signs of just how ordinary this book is started to appear in the first few pages and it
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never improved. Show Less
LibraryThing member Griff
A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby - odd to say, but a great selection for pre-holiday reading. Four characters who meet on a roof top on New Year's Eve, as each has decided to jump to end it all. Typical Hornby - great wit, humanity, and, of course, the inevitable amazing interjection of music and
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music references. The highlight here? His oh-so-fitting mention of Nick Drake - not only Drake himself, but his sly reference to an appropriate song without being so obvious as to give the reader the name of that song directly. A book with a potentially depressing premise, but eventual life affirming outcome. Show Less
LibraryThing member stacyinthecity
A surprisingly disappointing read as Hornby is one of by favorites.
LibraryThing member jennyo
Hornby's new book got savaged by Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times. I have to say, I read her review, and I think she made some very valid points about the book. But, you know what? I liked it anyway. I like Hornby's conversational style. I like his optimism. I thought it was a fun read.
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Probably not one I'll go back to any time soon, but a perfectly pleasant way to spend a summer afternoon. Show Less
LibraryThing member jimphelps
A very funny story about four strangers who meet during a suicide attempt.
LibraryThing member tcarter
Yet again Nick Hornby gets to the heart of the different ways in which we screw up our lives. But there is always hope, and for that we will live.
LibraryThing member tikilights
4 people trying to commit suicide run into each other on top of a building that is a hot spot for ending lives. It's a 4-part narration with each character talking about their experiences and interactions with this motley crew of people.
This book seemed to really drag in a lot of places and I just
This book seemed to really drag in a lot of places and I just
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could not form any type of connection with these characters. They were all self-absorbed and whiny about everything, and it became grating on the nerves. I thought it would get better but the ending was also a big letdown. The bad language was supposed to add humor, I guess, but the characters' swearing every other word became too much after about 20 pages. I don't recommend this book unless you like unreal and disturbed characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member claudiabowman
A Long Way Down, about a group of very sad people who meet on the night they all decide to throw themselves off a building, was well-written if ultimately unsatisfying, which frankly is what I think the author was going for. And considering the theme, it was actually amusing in many parts and not
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nearly as depressing as his How To Be Good which left me nauseated for days. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Costa Book Awards (Shortlist — Novel — 2005)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Fiction — 2005)
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Fiction — 2005)
Original publication date
2005-05-05
Physical description
288 p.; 20 cm
ISBN
0140287027 / 9780140287028