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Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Hodder & Stoughton (2014), Edition: 0, Hardcover, 416 pages
Description
Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that, against all odds, seduces beautiful Connie into a second date. and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades after their relationship first blossomed in London, they live more or less happily in the suburbs with their moody seventeen year-old son, Albie. Then Connie tells him she thinks she wants a divorce. The timing couldn't be worse. Hoping to encourage her son's artistic interests, Connie has planned a month-long tour of European capitals, a chance to experience the world's greatest works of art as a family, and she can't bring herself to cancel. And maybe going ahead with the original plan is for the best anyway? Douglas is privately convinced that this landmark trip will rekindle the romance in the marriage, and might even help him to bond with Albie. Narrated from Douglas's endearingly honest, slyly witty, and at times achingly optimistic point of view, Us is the story of a man trying to rescue his relationship with the woman he loves, and learning how to get closer to a son who's always felt like a stranger. Us is a moving meditation on the demands of marriage and parenthood, the regrets of abandoning youth for middle age, and the intricate relationship between the heart and the head. And in David Nicholls's gifted hands, Douglas's odyssey brings Europe from the streets of Amsterdam to the famed museums of Paris, from the cafe's of Venice to the beaches of Barcelona to vivid life just as he experiences a powerful awakening of his own. Will this summer be his last as a husband, or the moment when he turns his marriage, and maybe even his whole life, around?… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member whitreidtan
They say that opposites attract, right? My husband and I are certainly opposites in many ways but our opposing ideas are generally superficial. He likes comic book movies and thrillers; I like rom-coms. He loves meeting strangers; I'd rather go to the dentist for a root canal. He likes tv; I love
Douglas and Connie Petersen have been married for twenty-five years and have a seventeen year old son, Albie. They have planned a month long Grand Tour of Europe and its spectacular art, their last family vacation before Albie leaves for college. But even before they leave, Connie wakes Douglas in the middle of the night and tells him that she thinks their marriage has run its course and she might leave him when they come back from Europe. The news is a terrible blow to Douglas, whose world has been made brighter for so long by the arty and worldly Connie's presence in it. Since the vacation is still going ahead, Douglas intends to try and repair the damage with his wife, damage he has been ignorant of for the most part, to rescue his marriage and to try and connect with the spoiled, sullen Albie as well.
But what vacation goes as planned? There are tender moments but there's also bickering and misunderstanding and wrong-footedness too. There's a spectacular lack of communication and unrealized expectations. Douglas narrates the novel looking back at the trip and even further back at his long history with Connie. He is as straight and milquetoast as you might expect a biochemist to be but has a wonderfully witty turn of phrase, even when he doesn't realize he's being funny. He is unflinchingly honest about his own acknowledgement of his mediocrity and the fact that he should never have ended up with a vibrant and unique Connie. He details and defends his conventionality as he realizes that it is this constrained, uber-planned manner that has him so often at odds with his free-spirited wife and son. And yet he cannot let go of the very safe conventions that are such a part of his fabric. As the three Petersens travel around Europe, he tries very hard, commenting on the famous art in ways that just make Connie and Albie shake their heads. But it has always been a bit of mother and son against dad in their family and this trip just highlights that all the more. None of it is entirely unexpected though. It's only when the whole thing goes tits up that Douglas starts to really think deeply about the future and his relationships with both Connie and Albie.
Nicholls skillfully weaves both the trip and the previous twenty-five years together in Douglas' first person narration. And using Douglas to narrate makes the reader much more sympathetic to someone who might otherwise be the less appealing character. Douglas' confused honesty, his attempts to do or say the right thing and yet still missing the point entirely, his introspection about his fundamental differences with Connie and why staying with her is so important to him, and his sincere desire to be the hero of the family all combine to make him a pitiable and yet engaging character. As he narrates, the reader also gets a good sense of Connie and Albie's characters too, especially when Douglas looks back with regret for choices he made along the way. Nicholls is a fantastic writer and the fate of this mismatched family is one that really gets under the reader's skin. There are moments of predictability for anyone who has themselves been in a long relationship but they heighten the realism of the tale and then are often turned on their heads in the end anyway. The story is a poignant look at marriage and parenting, a beautiful rendering of growing up and out-growing the life you've created.
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books. And on and on. In all the ways that really matter though, our view of the world, our desires for the future, our theories on how to raise our kids, we are very similar. Twenty-five years on, I suppose we could have grown alike rather than started that way but I suspect that the fundamentals were always there. And that is why it was so very curious and intriguing to read about Douglas and Connie, characters in David Nicholls' newest novel, Us, who started out fundamentally different and who have never really bridged that gap in all the years of their marriage. Douglas and Connie Petersen have been married for twenty-five years and have a seventeen year old son, Albie. They have planned a month long Grand Tour of Europe and its spectacular art, their last family vacation before Albie leaves for college. But even before they leave, Connie wakes Douglas in the middle of the night and tells him that she thinks their marriage has run its course and she might leave him when they come back from Europe. The news is a terrible blow to Douglas, whose world has been made brighter for so long by the arty and worldly Connie's presence in it. Since the vacation is still going ahead, Douglas intends to try and repair the damage with his wife, damage he has been ignorant of for the most part, to rescue his marriage and to try and connect with the spoiled, sullen Albie as well.
But what vacation goes as planned? There are tender moments but there's also bickering and misunderstanding and wrong-footedness too. There's a spectacular lack of communication and unrealized expectations. Douglas narrates the novel looking back at the trip and even further back at his long history with Connie. He is as straight and milquetoast as you might expect a biochemist to be but has a wonderfully witty turn of phrase, even when he doesn't realize he's being funny. He is unflinchingly honest about his own acknowledgement of his mediocrity and the fact that he should never have ended up with a vibrant and unique Connie. He details and defends his conventionality as he realizes that it is this constrained, uber-planned manner that has him so often at odds with his free-spirited wife and son. And yet he cannot let go of the very safe conventions that are such a part of his fabric. As the three Petersens travel around Europe, he tries very hard, commenting on the famous art in ways that just make Connie and Albie shake their heads. But it has always been a bit of mother and son against dad in their family and this trip just highlights that all the more. None of it is entirely unexpected though. It's only when the whole thing goes tits up that Douglas starts to really think deeply about the future and his relationships with both Connie and Albie.
Nicholls skillfully weaves both the trip and the previous twenty-five years together in Douglas' first person narration. And using Douglas to narrate makes the reader much more sympathetic to someone who might otherwise be the less appealing character. Douglas' confused honesty, his attempts to do or say the right thing and yet still missing the point entirely, his introspection about his fundamental differences with Connie and why staying with her is so important to him, and his sincere desire to be the hero of the family all combine to make him a pitiable and yet engaging character. As he narrates, the reader also gets a good sense of Connie and Albie's characters too, especially when Douglas looks back with regret for choices he made along the way. Nicholls is a fantastic writer and the fate of this mismatched family is one that really gets under the reader's skin. There are moments of predictability for anyone who has themselves been in a long relationship but they heighten the realism of the tale and then are often turned on their heads in the end anyway. The story is a poignant look at marriage and parenting, a beautiful rendering of growing up and out-growing the life you've created.
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LibraryThing member DoingDewey
I haven’t fallen this in love with a work of fiction in a long time. The main character was particularly lovable. He’s sweet and smart, but shy and socially awkward. He’s also really funny and (bonus!) he’s a biochemist. I realize this might not appeal to every reader, but as a scientist
Even more important than the details of the character was the way the author brought his emotions to life. The emotional scenes weren’t sappy. They weren’t big or demonstrative or flashy. The language wasn’t flowery or sentimental. Somehow, without any of that, the author just slowly, softly built up the main character’s everyday emotions until I ached for his heartaches and celebrated his happinesses. The ending was perfect for this beautiful, believable story. Although it was bit predictable, it wasn’t too neatly wrapped up but it did leave me with a hopeful feeling that made me happy. This book was blurbed by Jojo Moyes and I’d definitely recommend it to her fans, as well as anyone who just wants a book that will leave them smiling.
This review first published at Doing Dewey.
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myself, I enjoyed that a lot. The author had clearly done his research about biochemists. The main character describes what he does in a very believable way and spends a lot of time thinking about science in relation to his life.Even more important than the details of the character was the way the author brought his emotions to life. The emotional scenes weren’t sappy. They weren’t big or demonstrative or flashy. The language wasn’t flowery or sentimental. Somehow, without any of that, the author just slowly, softly built up the main character’s everyday emotions until I ached for his heartaches and celebrated his happinesses. The ending was perfect for this beautiful, believable story. Although it was bit predictable, it wasn’t too neatly wrapped up but it did leave me with a hopeful feeling that made me happy. This book was blurbed by Jojo Moyes and I’d definitely recommend it to her fans, as well as anyone who just wants a book that will leave them smiling.
This review first published at Doing Dewey.
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LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
This is the story of a family. Douglas, the father, is of that repressed and careful character that is a staple stereotype of English men. He loves his wife and son, he really does, but he shows it in reprimands and awkwardness. He's also a biochemist who is frustrated and confused by his seventeen
David Nicholls, like Nick Hornsby and Helen Fielding, writes entertaining books that aren't quite literary fiction, but also aren't easy to dismiss as trifling. Nicholls has an easy style of writing, which allows him room to explore difficult themes and ideas lightly. Here it's the end of a marriage, the inability of people who love each other to communicate, even when they truly want to. This should be dire, but it's enjoyably readable. There's also a great deal about art, from the point of view of someone who has a hard time seeing more than what is concretely on the canvas, who has the misfortune to travel with two people who have made visual arts their primary interest. There's a fair bit of slapstick comedy here, but it doesn't overshadow the heart at the centre of this story.
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year old son's love of photography and sloth. He doesn't mean to be unsupportive, but he does think that Albie should really look for a field of study that he is more likely to be successful in than photography. His wife, Connie, had seen him at the beginning of their relationship as reassuring, like the Shipping Forecast, but now seems to regard him more as just dull. She has suggested that they separate when their son leaves for university, but not earlier. Leaving them to face one last family vacation; a Grand Tour of Europe. David Nicholls, like Nick Hornsby and Helen Fielding, writes entertaining books that aren't quite literary fiction, but also aren't easy to dismiss as trifling. Nicholls has an easy style of writing, which allows him room to explore difficult themes and ideas lightly. Here it's the end of a marriage, the inability of people who love each other to communicate, even when they truly want to. This should be dire, but it's enjoyably readable. There's also a great deal about art, from the point of view of someone who has a hard time seeing more than what is concretely on the canvas, who has the misfortune to travel with two people who have made visual arts their primary interest. There's a fair bit of slapstick comedy here, but it doesn't overshadow the heart at the centre of this story.
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LibraryThing member lit_chick
“I think our marriage has run its course. Douglas, I think I want to leave you.” (5)
… so Connie Peterson informs her husband, Douglas, on the first page of Us. The next 400 pages are more of Connie making up her mind, Douglas trying to change it, and their adolescent son, Albie, making it
Douglas Petersen is a 54 year old biochemist who lives in London with his wife, Connie, a one-time artist who I think fancies herself as something of an urbane Bohemian, and their adolescent son, Albie who regards his father with complete disdain. The summer before Albie is to enter college, Connie has the misguided idea that the three of them would enjoy a lengthy holiday together: “A Grand Tour (of Europe), to prepare you for the adult world, like in the eighteenth century.” (31) Prior to her marriage, Connie had enjoyed her own such tours, several of them, which she humourously sums up as "Been there, done him." (36) Predictably, the Tour is a disaster: Connie leaves and returns to London, but not before Albie picks up, or is picked up by, Cat in Paris – a stoned, promiscuous, gluttonous accordian player. Douglas, meanwhile, is determined to continue with The Grand Tour …
In case it is not amply clear already, Us is not one I can recommend. I suspect it might have been a good spoof/humourous read, but the thing is – it wasn't funny. What a surprise that it was nominated to the 2014 Booker Prize Longlist. On what criteria, I wonder? Readability? Some years ago I read Nicholls’ One Day and quite enjoyed it, but such was definitely not my experience here.
… so Connie Peterson informs her husband, Douglas, on the first page of Us. The next 400 pages are more of Connie making up her mind, Douglas trying to change it, and their adolescent son, Albie, making it
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clear that he could care less what they, particularly his father, decide to do.Douglas Petersen is a 54 year old biochemist who lives in London with his wife, Connie, a one-time artist who I think fancies herself as something of an urbane Bohemian, and their adolescent son, Albie who regards his father with complete disdain. The summer before Albie is to enter college, Connie has the misguided idea that the three of them would enjoy a lengthy holiday together: “A Grand Tour (of Europe), to prepare you for the adult world, like in the eighteenth century.” (31) Prior to her marriage, Connie had enjoyed her own such tours, several of them, which she humourously sums up as "Been there, done him." (36) Predictably, the Tour is a disaster: Connie leaves and returns to London, but not before Albie picks up, or is picked up by, Cat in Paris – a stoned, promiscuous, gluttonous accordian player. Douglas, meanwhile, is determined to continue with The Grand Tour …
In case it is not amply clear already, Us is not one I can recommend. I suspect it might have been a good spoof/humourous read, but the thing is – it wasn't funny. What a surprise that it was nominated to the 2014 Booker Prize Longlist. On what criteria, I wonder? Readability? Some years ago I read Nicholls’ One Day and quite enjoyed it, but such was definitely not my experience here.
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LibraryThing member lesleynicol
Scientist Douglas Peterson, a conservative, nerdy, unimaginitive "fuddy duddy", meets Connie, an attractive, adventurous artist, and surprisingly they fall in love and marry.
The story opens when they have been together for twenty years and have a 17 year old son, Albie, and are planning to take him
(Why it took her 20 years to decide this is beyond me, 20 days with him would have been too much for me)
However as everything has been booked and paid for, they agree to still go on what will be "their last trip as a family" As no doubt every reader predicted, the trip is a disaster, especially for their teenage son. Albie (not a very likeable17 year old) treats his father with disdain and Douglas is completely incapable of trying to understand him and just wants him to conform.
Douglas has pre-planned the trip right down to the very last detail and soon becomes over-run with his eager organisation. It all comes too much for Albie who "takes off" on his own after an argument with his father and without telling his parents where he is going. His father in an uncharacteristic departure from his normal behaviour sets out to find him and Connie goes home.
The book is at times hilarious and at others quite heart wrenching as we follow these three 'misfits"
Whether it has a satisfactory ending is for the reader to decide.
This is not by any means one of the best books I have read, but I quite liked the writing style and found it quite a good read for the summer holidays.
The story opens when they have been together for twenty years and have a 17 year old son, Albie, and are planning to take him
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on a "grand tour' of Europe, before his departure to University. All plans have been made when Connie tells Douglas she is tired of the marriage and wants to leave h)im. (Why it took her 20 years to decide this is beyond me, 20 days with him would have been too much for me)
However as everything has been booked and paid for, they agree to still go on what will be "their last trip as a family" As no doubt every reader predicted, the trip is a disaster, especially for their teenage son. Albie (not a very likeable17 year old) treats his father with disdain and Douglas is completely incapable of trying to understand him and just wants him to conform.
Douglas has pre-planned the trip right down to the very last detail and soon becomes over-run with his eager organisation. It all comes too much for Albie who "takes off" on his own after an argument with his father and without telling his parents where he is going. His father in an uncharacteristic departure from his normal behaviour sets out to find him and Connie goes home.
The book is at times hilarious and at others quite heart wrenching as we follow these three 'misfits"
Whether it has a satisfactory ending is for the reader to decide.
This is not by any means one of the best books I have read, but I quite liked the writing style and found it quite a good read for the summer holidays.
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LibraryThing member pgchuis
I gave up on this about a third of the way through (they were on the Amsterdam leg of their tour) because it was depressing me. The story of Douglas and his wife Connie, who go on a trip round Europe with their 17 year old son, Albie, just after Connie has told Dougles she plans to leave him when
In both time frames Douglas seems passive and unassertive. He lacks Connie's knowledge of art and, despite the fact that he has his own areas of expertise and interest, this makes him feel inferior. He is intimidated by her flaky friends. He tries to change to be acceptable to her. Connie has the upper hand and does not appear to make any concessions. She takes Albie's side in any debate or disagreement and undermines Douglas at every opportunity. It all got too much for me. I wish Douglas had married some one different, who had valued him, but I have no interest in ploughing through more humiliation and unkindness.
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Alibie goes to college in the autumn. The narrative follows their travels, but with extensive flashbacks to Conne and Douglas' first meeting and the early years of their relationship. In both time frames Douglas seems passive and unassertive. He lacks Connie's knowledge of art and, despite the fact that he has his own areas of expertise and interest, this makes him feel inferior. He is intimidated by her flaky friends. He tries to change to be acceptable to her. Connie has the upper hand and does not appear to make any concessions. She takes Albie's side in any debate or disagreement and undermines Douglas at every opportunity. It all got too much for me. I wish Douglas had married some one different, who had valued him, but I have no interest in ploughing through more humiliation and unkindness.
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LibraryThing member Beamis12
3.5 Douglas, a bit of a nerd but so still in love with his wife, I immediately took to his character. Loved the dry wit in which this story is told and all the talk about art on their travels through Europe. But I had a big problem relating to the main premise of this novel. After being told his
Yet, the story is an engaging one, well written for sure. Never took to the character of Connie, thought her selfish though she maintains she still loved Douglas. A good look though at a marriage where one spouse wants something different than the other. So a good read if one can suspend belief, or maybe their are marriages and people out there who can put side their thoughts and emotions to go through something lime this. Just know I couldn't but the writing and some of the insights made this very readable and I did want to see what happens at the end of their trip. Douglas just seems too good to be real.
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wife wants to leave him, she talks him into going on their planned trip with their son albie. I tried to picture myself or my husband going off on a major holiday after this type of discussion and just couldn't. We have been married many years, just as Douglas and Connie in the book, and both of us would be so devastated we probably would not be emotionally functional.Yet, the story is an engaging one, well written for sure. Never took to the character of Connie, thought her selfish though she maintains she still loved Douglas. A good look though at a marriage where one spouse wants something different than the other. So a good read if one can suspend belief, or maybe their are marriages and people out there who can put side their thoughts and emotions to go through something lime this. Just know I couldn't but the writing and some of the insights made this very readable and I did want to see what happens at the end of their trip. Douglas just seems too good to be real.
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LibraryThing member ccayne
Enjoyable read. Amazing to me that they married at all.
LibraryThing member nbmars
This is a difficult book for me to review, because there are basically only four characters in the book, and I absolutely could not stand three of them. It was actually painful for me to read it, just because I didn’t like them so much. But that has no bearing on whether or not the book is
The story is narrated by Douglas Petersen, 54, whose wife of 20 years, Connie, tells him at the beginning of this book “I think our m marriage has run its course. I think I want to leave you.” But their only child, a 17-year-old son named Albie, is about to go off to college, and they have already planned a “Grand Tour” of Europe for the three of them before Albie leaves in the fall. They decide to go through with it, “for Albie’s sake.”
Alternating with Douglas’s account of what happened on this trip, he goes back in time to chart the course of his marriage to Connie. Granted, this is just his point of view, and I suppose if this book were by Gillian Flynn we might get a book in two halves with Connie’s perspective represented. But not hearing her take on the marriage except from Douglas’s eyes, I grew to detest Connie, Albie, and Kat, the girl Albie picks up mid-trip in Europe. Moreover, I can’t imagine what kept Douglas and Connie together for even a moment, not to mention twenty years, except that Douglas seemed overwhelmed by Connie’s looks, and - as a science geek without much experience with women - he idolized her and felt lucky to be the object of her attention. Or derision and contempt, depending on how you see it. Albie’s behavior was [also] execrable, and Connie’s endorsement of it irresponsible and cruel. And Kat actually made Albie look good by comparison. While I liked Douglas more than the others, his constant bowing and scraping to these cruel and boorish people led to a diminution of my respect for him.
Many reviewers have found Douglas “lovable” and “humorously self-deprecating.” I just had to shake my head.
Evaluation: I disliked this book, but it was very much tied to my loathing of the characters. If you don’t mind dysfunctional families and non-likable protagonists, you will appreciate this story much more than I. It made the Man Booker 2014 Longlist.
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well-written or tells a good story, and in fact, many reviewers have loved this book.The story is narrated by Douglas Petersen, 54, whose wife of 20 years, Connie, tells him at the beginning of this book “I think our m marriage has run its course. I think I want to leave you.” But their only child, a 17-year-old son named Albie, is about to go off to college, and they have already planned a “Grand Tour” of Europe for the three of them before Albie leaves in the fall. They decide to go through with it, “for Albie’s sake.”
Alternating with Douglas’s account of what happened on this trip, he goes back in time to chart the course of his marriage to Connie. Granted, this is just his point of view, and I suppose if this book were by Gillian Flynn we might get a book in two halves with Connie’s perspective represented. But not hearing her take on the marriage except from Douglas’s eyes, I grew to detest Connie, Albie, and Kat, the girl Albie picks up mid-trip in Europe. Moreover, I can’t imagine what kept Douglas and Connie together for even a moment, not to mention twenty years, except that Douglas seemed overwhelmed by Connie’s looks, and - as a science geek without much experience with women - he idolized her and felt lucky to be the object of her attention. Or derision and contempt, depending on how you see it. Albie’s behavior was [also] execrable, and Connie’s endorsement of it irresponsible and cruel. And Kat actually made Albie look good by comparison. While I liked Douglas more than the others, his constant bowing and scraping to these cruel and boorish people led to a diminution of my respect for him.
Many reviewers have found Douglas “lovable” and “humorously self-deprecating.” I just had to shake my head.
Evaluation: I disliked this book, but it was very much tied to my loathing of the characters. If you don’t mind dysfunctional families and non-likable protagonists, you will appreciate this story much more than I. It made the Man Booker 2014 Longlist.
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LibraryThing member DubaiReader
The Grand Tour of Europe.
This started out really well, with several quips that had me laughing out loud. However, the original impetus seemed to wane as I read further, and I lost interest somewhere in the middle of Europe.
Douglas is a geeky scientist, living a reclusive life. He presumes that this
By the time the trip around Europe takes place, Albie is seventeen and a moody teenager; this is to be the last family holiday, an educational experience for Albie before he leaves for university to study photography.
Needless to say, very little goes to plan and a large part of the book is Douglas's attempt to hold things together, as Albie does his own thing and Connie announces that she will be leaving Douglas once Albie goes to university.
An interesting study of family relationships, but I got bored as the amusing quips seemed to reduce in number and I'd had enough of trailing around Europe.
This started out really well, with several quips that had me laughing out loud. However, the original impetus seemed to wane as I read further, and I lost interest somewhere in the middle of Europe.
Douglas is a geeky scientist, living a reclusive life. He presumes that this
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is how his future will pan out, until he meets Connie at one of his sister's awful dinner parties. She is vivacious, arty and hip, and he can't believe his luck when she seems to reciprocate his interest. They marry and have a son, Albie.By the time the trip around Europe takes place, Albie is seventeen and a moody teenager; this is to be the last family holiday, an educational experience for Albie before he leaves for university to study photography.
Needless to say, very little goes to plan and a large part of the book is Douglas's attempt to hold things together, as Albie does his own thing and Connie announces that she will be leaving Douglas once Albie goes to university.
An interesting study of family relationships, but I got bored as the amusing quips seemed to reduce in number and I'd had enough of trailing around Europe.
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LibraryThing member AJMojo
Us is a book that, at first sight, has a very well used subject at its core – married couple, mid-life crisis, marriage breaking down once the kids have left home. It’s a tale that’s been told so many times you’d think there was nothing new to say about it. However, David Nicholls
There’s much to love about this story, narrated by Douglas, as he unfurls for us in exquisitely wrought details the twists and turns of a life; the choices made and the consequences that follow, the joys and the tragedies that shape and mould personalities and relationships. There is so much to tell too, that we can’t help but feel we know these people personally; their penchants, their eccentricities. By the end of the book we certainly know Douglas inside and out; his self-confessed inadequacies, love of order, his logical mind that won’t let him feel the art, his earnest attempts at intimacy with an artistic and impenetrable son with whom he can’t seem to get to grips, all make him sweet and endearing, despite his tightness. The trip becomes overrun with his eager organisation, to make things better and fumbling attempts to hold onto the woman he has loved for twenty years.
Us is a book that really makes me think about individuality. How different our own children can be and not necessarily a cute combination of all the best qualities of each parent. How difficult some parent-child relationships end up and while we might want to plan for that child’s best interests, the choices ultimately have to lie with them if they are to be happy. Just because someone doesn’t follow our suggestions or advice doesn’t mean they don’t love us. The key to Douglas finding peace was in allowing people to be themselves without having to control and direct them.
There is an emotional roller coaster running through the book, Us is at once funny and heart wrenching, while having a slapstick quality in parts; the scrapes Douglas finds himself in at times made me laugh out loud. It is primarily a book about change and notably Douglas does change once he is off on his own and plays to his strengths in the midst of a very stressful (but at times very funny) sequence of events proves to be a turning point. When he forms a tentatively romantic connection with a Danish tourist called Freja, I began to see a definite glimmer of hope in the darkness for him and I relished the possibility that an improved and stronger Douglas might exist post-Connie.
A bonus feature of the book was The Grand Tour itself and Nicholls’ descriptions. The Grand Tour of the Victorian age harbours such overtones of wild poets and Gothic romance for someone like myself who lives on the other side of the world and can’t just hop on a ninety minute flight around Europe to any of its centres. So it was good to read Nicholls’ characters battling with the heat, stomping along the well trodden tourist paths, endless queues for all the high spots, and the blasé way the modern age takes travel for granted, while priceless Roman antiquities are just more things to be ticked off a list.
Many people will have read One Day, David Nicholls’ ultra-beloved best seller from 2009, and be wondering if this book will be able to live up to that legacy. I believe it has done so. Us is an emotional, funny, touching, revelatory look at relationships, at what makes us imperfectly human and the many different types of love of which we are capable.
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effortlessly bats away such concerns and envelops us instantly and entirely in the life and love, the thoughts and deep angst of his central character stuffy, uptight, nerdy scientist Douglas Petersen. Douglas’ wife Connie has told him she wants to leave him, just as their only son is about to leave for university but their proposed summer holiday, the Grand Tour of Europe, has already been booked and paid for and so all three of them embark on what is likely to be their last trip as a family. Douglas hopes to use the break to win back Connie and avoid the breakdown of everything he cherishes.There’s much to love about this story, narrated by Douglas, as he unfurls for us in exquisitely wrought details the twists and turns of a life; the choices made and the consequences that follow, the joys and the tragedies that shape and mould personalities and relationships. There is so much to tell too, that we can’t help but feel we know these people personally; their penchants, their eccentricities. By the end of the book we certainly know Douglas inside and out; his self-confessed inadequacies, love of order, his logical mind that won’t let him feel the art, his earnest attempts at intimacy with an artistic and impenetrable son with whom he can’t seem to get to grips, all make him sweet and endearing, despite his tightness. The trip becomes overrun with his eager organisation, to make things better and fumbling attempts to hold onto the woman he has loved for twenty years.
Us is a book that really makes me think about individuality. How different our own children can be and not necessarily a cute combination of all the best qualities of each parent. How difficult some parent-child relationships end up and while we might want to plan for that child’s best interests, the choices ultimately have to lie with them if they are to be happy. Just because someone doesn’t follow our suggestions or advice doesn’t mean they don’t love us. The key to Douglas finding peace was in allowing people to be themselves without having to control and direct them.
There is an emotional roller coaster running through the book, Us is at once funny and heart wrenching, while having a slapstick quality in parts; the scrapes Douglas finds himself in at times made me laugh out loud. It is primarily a book about change and notably Douglas does change once he is off on his own and plays to his strengths in the midst of a very stressful (but at times very funny) sequence of events proves to be a turning point. When he forms a tentatively romantic connection with a Danish tourist called Freja, I began to see a definite glimmer of hope in the darkness for him and I relished the possibility that an improved and stronger Douglas might exist post-Connie.
A bonus feature of the book was The Grand Tour itself and Nicholls’ descriptions. The Grand Tour of the Victorian age harbours such overtones of wild poets and Gothic romance for someone like myself who lives on the other side of the world and can’t just hop on a ninety minute flight around Europe to any of its centres. So it was good to read Nicholls’ characters battling with the heat, stomping along the well trodden tourist paths, endless queues for all the high spots, and the blasé way the modern age takes travel for granted, while priceless Roman antiquities are just more things to be ticked off a list.
Many people will have read One Day, David Nicholls’ ultra-beloved best seller from 2009, and be wondering if this book will be able to live up to that legacy. I believe it has done so. Us is an emotional, funny, touching, revelatory look at relationships, at what makes us imperfectly human and the many different types of love of which we are capable.
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LibraryThing member muddyboy
This book could be entitled "Warning to a Woman Considering Marrying a Fuddy Duddy". The book's protagonist truly loves his wife and son but he is so crazily set in his ways that he would send an average "normal" person screaming out the exit to get away from him. He is a scientist and his wife is
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an artist and she along with their son feel smothered by his notions of how things should and shouldn't be done. He really loves his wife and I feel the power of his love keeps the marriage going until the beginning of this book when she informs him she thinks it is time for them to split up. The crux of the novel is his desperate attempt to save his relationship with her and to establish some kind of connection with his wayward son. He is charming at first and maddening by the end. Show Less
LibraryThing member tciuffo
How a supposedly well planed vacation can go wrong.
LibraryThing member CasualFriday
I loved, loved, loved, loved this book narrated by a man trying to hang on to his family after his wife unexpectedly tells him she wants a divorce, on the eve of the family's grand tour of Europe.
Douglas Peterson is the nicest fictional guy I've met in years. But he is also, and this is a word I
Most of my pleasure in the book came from my sympathy for the protagonist. Doug's voice is intelligent, often very funny, self-aware, fearlessly honest about his own failings, and more than generous about those of his wife. (I'll let readers form their own opinion of Connie and Albie.)
A added pleasure was the European setting. It's the tourist-view of Europe, and since I'm a tourist I just loved the descriptions of the various sites I've seen.
Douglas Peterson is the nicest fictional guy I've met in years. But he is also, and this is a word I
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haven't used in perhaps 50 years, a square. From the very beginning of their courtship, his wife Connie has been more bohemian, adventurous, creative, and she just gets bored and exasperated by Doug's staid ways. In Europe, with their sullen son Albie, Douglas is the one who studies the guidebook, and Connie is the one who looks forward to the legal weed in Amsterdam.Most of my pleasure in the book came from my sympathy for the protagonist. Doug's voice is intelligent, often very funny, self-aware, fearlessly honest about his own failings, and more than generous about those of his wife. (I'll let readers form their own opinion of Connie and Albie.)
A added pleasure was the European setting. It's the tourist-view of Europe, and since I'm a tourist I just loved the descriptions of the various sites I've seen.
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LibraryThing member klack128
I enjoyed Us, and I enjoyed the narrator of Us. That being said, throughout the entire novel I alternated between feeling sorry for Doug, and wanting to scream at him. Which, I think, proves how well-written the book was. I think if we're honest with ourselves, many of us are like Doug--aware of
I liked the structure of the novel, with the plot alternating between Doug and Connie's early days, and then to their Grand Tour in the present day with their son. I felt the book was realistic. It didn't idealize things, nor did it take an overly negative view of life--the characters felt real, with their admirable qualities and their flaws, and their misunderstandings of one another. And while there was a lot of sadness throughout the book, there was also growth, and hope.
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our flaws, even as we put them on display and are unable to refrain from correcting them. I liked the structure of the novel, with the plot alternating between Doug and Connie's early days, and then to their Grand Tour in the present day with their son. I felt the book was realistic. It didn't idealize things, nor did it take an overly negative view of life--the characters felt real, with their admirable qualities and their flaws, and their misunderstandings of one another. And while there was a lot of sadness throughout the book, there was also growth, and hope.
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LibraryThing member PIER50
An entertaining, funny, insightful, sad, moving and ultimately satisfying reed. David Nicholls is one of the best around when it comes to writing about relationships
LibraryThing member LARA335
Douglas, a slightly Pooterish sort of scientist, and his artistic wife and teenage son go on a European tour. Told from Douglas's point of view, interspersed with recollections of moments in his 25 year-old marriage.
David Nicholls skilfully and sympathetically draws Douglas as a nice, well-meaning
David Nicholls skilfully and sympathetically draws Douglas as a nice, well-meaning
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man who inadvertently exasperates his wife and son. A funny, humane and involving novel, which also had me googling the paintings being viewed on the 'grand tour'. I loved 'Starter for Ten' that had as it's main character a socially-awkward, teenage-Douglas type male. Was severely disappointed by 'One Day', so delighted to pick up on a similar character in middle-age - who is still causing a ruckus at a quiz. Show Less
LibraryThing member lisapeet
A good argument against giving yourself 25 pages to decide if you like a book, or however many pages old you are, or whatever rule you use. I had commented that it looked interesting when a friend at work was reading it, so a few months after she pressed the book into my hands I figured I'd give it
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a go, with a little trepidation. And in fact it struck me, at first, as one of those domestic hapless-man-in-crisis sagas, a literary kind of emotional slapstick—and with a distinctly mopey British tone, to boot. It took me a good 75 pages to find that it had a decent plot and, more important, the family dynamics were three-dimensional and actually touching underneath the witticisms. And it's self-aware, which I always appreciate in a book if it's not too unbearably self-conscious—Nicholls called it out for what it was, a three-pronged coming of age story, and in the end I liked it quite a bit. Show Less
LibraryThing member critterbug
I love how David Nicholls tells a story. His humor and his delivery are exceptional. His characters are relatable and I find I am vested in the story and don't want it to end.
LibraryThing member a_forester
This novel kept me in suspense and at the same time made me marvel at its nuances. I found the writing to be appealing; simple and profound at the same time. It was also entertaining and painful at once. I could see myself as both characters, the man and the woman in the relationship and this
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intrigued me as a reader and a writer. Show Less
LibraryThing member a_forester
This novel kept me in suspense and at the same time made me marvel at its nuances. I found the writing to be appealing; simple and profound at the same time. It was also entertaining and painful at once. I could see myself as both characters, the man and the woman in the relationship and this
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intrigued me as a reader and a writer. Show Less
LibraryThing member flydodofly
Delightful, alive, very funny, very true. I have enjoyed it from beginning to end.
Quotes:
- Perhaps this was why those museum audio-guides had become so popular; a reassuring voice in your ear, telling you what to think and fell. Look to your left, take note, please observe, how terrific it would be
- Light travels differently in a room that contains another person;...
- Alcohol loosened inhibitions, and inhibitions were worn tight here.
- Perhaps they were a perfect match, like a pair of drumsticks.
- There's a saying, cited in popular song, that if you love someone you must set them free. Well, that's just nonsense. If you love someone, you bind them to you with heavy metal chains.
Quotes:
- Perhaps this was why those museum audio-guides had become so popular; a reassuring voice in your ear, telling you what to think and fell. Look to your left, take note, please observe, how terrific it would be
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to carry that voice with you always, out of the museum and throughout your life.- Light travels differently in a room that contains another person;...
- Alcohol loosened inhibitions, and inhibitions were worn tight here.
- Perhaps they were a perfect match, like a pair of drumsticks.
- There's a saying, cited in popular song, that if you love someone you must set them free. Well, that's just nonsense. If you love someone, you bind them to you with heavy metal chains.
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LibraryThing member gogglemiss
Really not sure about this. A mixture of brilliant observations, funny situations, heartbreaking and maddening moments, make this a very up and down, story jarring my emotions constantly. The narrator was a bit of a dullard, but, which made the novel more interesting.
LibraryThing member jayne_charles
I'm not sure there is any better author than David Nicholls when it comes to portraying real life and all its imperfections and disappointments while still making us laugh. This was a tremendously entertaining read, centring on a family on the brink of breakup - teenage son off to college and mum
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wanting a separation from dad. A final 'holiday of a lifetime' touring European art galleries with these characters could have been a bore-a-thon in the hands of a lesser author, but this sparkled from start to finish. I particularly liked the portrayal of Douglas; as a socially awkward person myself I sympathised with him a lot. The chapter about the quiz night was wonderfully cringe-making: I could see that he was in the wrong in a way, and yet I would have behaved exactly as he did. And as for the chapter about the future, and how we are all going to hell in a handcart - it was so well written I wanted to read it again and again, yet it was chilling too, albeit finished off with a line that gives the reader a good chuckle. Great book. Show Less
LibraryThing member gendeg
This novel would flip flop for me: often fun and then dull; sometimes eye-rollingly histrionic, sometimes pleasantly rom-com-ish. Even though it has some of the effervescent qualities that made David Nicholls’s earlier book, One Day such a compulsive, enjoyable read (e.g., the zingers in the
Us is about a failing marriage told from the perspective of the husband. Douglas and Connie are a middle-aged couple whose marriage is on the rocks. With them is their sullen, mouthy 17-year old teenaged son, Albie. Douglas and Connie have completely different parenting styles, a source of the tension between father and son, a tension that has amortized badly over the years.
Us takes place over two timeframes: the past and present. The present is dreary: a strained family trip through Europe, where everything in the characters' interactions feels forced and pulling-teeth painful. The past is a little better (but doesn’t the past have a bit of a shine to it, anyway?). As they go about their “Grand Tour” of Europe, with Douglas reflecting on his troubled marriage, it triggers memories for him of how he and Connie met and how mismatched they were (the couple here, as in One Day, is never really a fit and follow the opposites-attract rule) and it forces him to analyze where the cracks might have started.
These two narratives are expertly braided together, showing off Nicholls's skill as a writer. You have this train wreck of a vacation, where the reader is constantly wondering, “will they make it or not?”; and at the same time, the past casts its long shadow, and each hitch in the trip becomes more glaring and painful the more we know about the past. Douglas, in his priggish fixed thinking, is unable to let irritants be or to let bygones be bygones. His biggest flaw? That he “reeked of disapproval.” Through the grand cities of Europe, Douglas manages to grate on his wife and his son a little more each day, but the full brunt of their alienation from him doesn't come to a head until his appalling behavior in front of a table of business travelers at his son's expense.
But for all of Douglas’s annoying qualities, he is also enormously self-aware of his flaws and this lends him an endearing humanity (Nicholls seems to have a knack for making his male leads simultaneously odious, clueless, and charming.) He is also incredibly funny. The running dialogue in his head about his actions and the going-ons around him are some of the best.
But the funny moments aside, for me, one of the more interesting things in the novel is how Nicholls treats time and memory in the narrative. Nicholls is one of the best writers out there when it comes to pacing (always pleasant and sprightly) and working with past-present narrative shifts, able to weave the big themes of time and memory without a trace of heaviness or pretension (this ain't Proust).
"Imagine time as a long strip of paper. This is not the shape of time of course. Time has a no shape being a dimension or conceivably a direction or vector, but imagine for the purpose of the metaphor that time can be represented as a long strip of paper or a roll of celluloid perhaps. And imagine that you are able to make two cuts in the strip, joining those ends to form a continuous loop. This strip of paper can be as long or as short as you wish, but that loop will roll forever. For me, the first snip of the scissors is easily apparent and comes about halfway across London Bridge on the night I first met Connie Moore. But the second cut is harder, and is that not the case for everyone? The edges of unhappiness are usually a little more blurred and graded than those of joy. Nevertheless, I find my scissors hovering…”
Still, in the end, Us was disappointingly predictable, replete with all the familiar beats of what you might expect of a marriage doomed and the ‘deserted’ spouse trying to make sense of it all and seeking some sort of redemption. You can almost tick off the five stages of loss here; Douglas goes through the various shades of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. Us is a well-crafted, fun read but had none of the magic and charm I came to expect from the author of One Day.
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dialogue; startling deep insight about the failings of love and friendship; the right balance of humor and tragedy), it just never really popped or surprised.Us is about a failing marriage told from the perspective of the husband. Douglas and Connie are a middle-aged couple whose marriage is on the rocks. With them is their sullen, mouthy 17-year old teenaged son, Albie. Douglas and Connie have completely different parenting styles, a source of the tension between father and son, a tension that has amortized badly over the years.
Us takes place over two timeframes: the past and present. The present is dreary: a strained family trip through Europe, where everything in the characters' interactions feels forced and pulling-teeth painful. The past is a little better (but doesn’t the past have a bit of a shine to it, anyway?). As they go about their “Grand Tour” of Europe, with Douglas reflecting on his troubled marriage, it triggers memories for him of how he and Connie met and how mismatched they were (the couple here, as in One Day, is never really a fit and follow the opposites-attract rule) and it forces him to analyze where the cracks might have started.
These two narratives are expertly braided together, showing off Nicholls's skill as a writer. You have this train wreck of a vacation, where the reader is constantly wondering, “will they make it or not?”; and at the same time, the past casts its long shadow, and each hitch in the trip becomes more glaring and painful the more we know about the past. Douglas, in his priggish fixed thinking, is unable to let irritants be or to let bygones be bygones. His biggest flaw? That he “reeked of disapproval.” Through the grand cities of Europe, Douglas manages to grate on his wife and his son a little more each day, but the full brunt of their alienation from him doesn't come to a head until his appalling behavior in front of a table of business travelers at his son's expense.
But for all of Douglas’s annoying qualities, he is also enormously self-aware of his flaws and this lends him an endearing humanity (Nicholls seems to have a knack for making his male leads simultaneously odious, clueless, and charming.) He is also incredibly funny. The running dialogue in his head about his actions and the going-ons around him are some of the best.
But the funny moments aside, for me, one of the more interesting things in the novel is how Nicholls treats time and memory in the narrative. Nicholls is one of the best writers out there when it comes to pacing (always pleasant and sprightly) and working with past-present narrative shifts, able to weave the big themes of time and memory without a trace of heaviness or pretension (this ain't Proust).
"Imagine time as a long strip of paper. This is not the shape of time of course. Time has a no shape being a dimension or conceivably a direction or vector, but imagine for the purpose of the metaphor that time can be represented as a long strip of paper or a roll of celluloid perhaps. And imagine that you are able to make two cuts in the strip, joining those ends to form a continuous loop. This strip of paper can be as long or as short as you wish, but that loop will roll forever. For me, the first snip of the scissors is easily apparent and comes about halfway across London Bridge on the night I first met Connie Moore. But the second cut is harder, and is that not the case for everyone? The edges of unhappiness are usually a little more blurred and graded than those of joy. Nevertheless, I find my scissors hovering…”
Still, in the end, Us was disappointingly predictable, replete with all the familiar beats of what you might expect of a marriage doomed and the ‘deserted’ spouse trying to make sense of it all and seeking some sort of redemption. You can almost tick off the five stages of loss here; Douglas goes through the various shades of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. Us is a well-crafted, fun read but had none of the magic and charm I came to expect from the author of One Day.
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Awards
Booker Prize (Longlist — 2014)
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2016)
Audie Award (Finalist — Fiction — 2015)
British Book Award (Winner — Author of the Year — 2014)
Irish Book Award (Nominee — 2014)
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (Longlist — Fiction — 2015)
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Fiction — 2014)
The Observer Book of the Year (Fiction — 2014)
Library Journal Top Ten Book (2014)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — Fiction — 2014)
Language
Original publication date
2014
Physical description
416 p.
ISBN
034089699X / 9780340896990
Local notes
A novel about love and family, husbands and wives, parents and children.