A Long Way Down? Only If You Take The Stairs!! (A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby)

Member Name: mattydalton

Product:	A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby
Date:	14/05/06 (1037 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very easy to read, well written and very witty

Disadvantages: You might stay up to late reading it !

A Long Way Down is the latest in a string of big hit books written by the oh-so witty Nick Hornby. Previous titles you may have heard of include About A Boy, High Fidelity and Fever Pitch. If you have read any of his books before then you will already know how funny this guy is. If you haven’t then I suggest you find out.

This story tackles one of the most morbid of subjects in one of the most hilarious, yet poignant, ways. At times you will be sat almost crying at the tragedy of a situation whilst, at others, you will be laughing out loud, to the amusement of others, at the sheer stupidity of another.

The story comprises of four main characters and they are Martin, Maureen, Jess and JJ. Each of the four characters is hell bent on suicide and this is, most definitely, the only thing they have in common. Never before have I known four such diverse characters flung together in such a way. The relationships that exist between the four are most strange.

THE MAIN CHARACTERS

Martin

Martin is a former breakfast TV presenter who has recently been released from prison after serving a stretch for sleeping with a fifteen year old. As if that wasn’t bad enough on its own, he was married at the time. Subsequently his marriage broke down and his wife wanted nothing to do with him. On top of this he had two daughters who he very rarely saw and I get the impression he found it difficult to see them as he was so embarrassed.

He is very sarcastic throughout the book and displays a cocky sort of attitude to a lot of situations. He is a reasonably bright man who chose the wrong path in life. Since his release from prison he has been the subject of a torrent of abuse from complete strangers and now he feels like there is no point in living. He sees this as facing up to his responsibilities when, in reality, he is just running away from them as he so often does.

Maureen

Maureen is a middle aged mother of a disabled kid who can do nothing for himself. He cannot even talk. After being the unlucky victim of falling pregnant on her first, and only ever, time her then bloke did the typical bloke thing and ran a mile, never to be seen again. A few months later Maureen discovered she was pregnant. A devout Catholic girl, Maureen harboured deep feelings of guilt about the situation and, when Matty (her son) was born the way he was, she blamed herself for her situation declaring it was God’s punishment for her sin.

Throughout the story we are constantly reminded of Maureen’s dislike for the use of swear words. She is a very timid character. Having been shut up in her own house with just Matty for company for so many years she has grown apart from the world that we live in. She is totally alienated to modern life and provides a complete contrast to all three of the other characters.



JJ

JJ is yet another very different character within the novel. He is an American former member of a rock band that never quite made it. His whole life is music and he came over to England in the hope of elevating his career. He met a girl who he fell in love with but, when his rock band split up due to a lack of funds and limited success, he split with his girlfriend and ended up working as a pizza delivery guy.

JJ finds this life unbearable. He has never prepared for the eventuality that he will never make it as a star and feels cheated by life. His working visa has expired and he cannot work legally in the country but doesn’t have the funds to return home either. He is in the worst possible catch 22 he could imagine. Life is one long miserable day after another for him and he feels totally isolated in a strange country with no friends and no girl.

Jess

Jess is the young rebel within the group. Every other word is a swear word and she is the complete contrast to Maureen. She is inconsiderate about peoples’ feelings and is very immature in the way that she behaves. If there is a wrong thing to say then you can guarantee that Jess will say it.

The root of Jess’ problems seems to be that she feels she doesn’t fit in. Her sister disappeared totally a couple of years previous and, although her car was discovered abandoned, has never been found. She has recently split up with her boyfriend Chas and he won’t give her the time of day so she has no idea why they have split. She struggles to keep hold of friends who seem to tire with her offensive outbursts and radical views.

THE PLOT

The relationship that exists between these four characters is an awkward, yet totally hilarious, one. There are constant arguments between the four and it seems as if no friendship could ever exist between four such different personalities. There is something, however, that draws them together and bonds them.

The story starts out with Martin sitting on the ledge of the roof of Toppers’ House. It is named this because it is the local hotspot for suicides. He has been knocking back the booze for some time, readying himself for the big jump. As he is about to take the plunge, Maureen stumbles upon the same roof and, after having watched him for some time, decides to speak to him.

Martin is startled and it seems the time has gone. Maureen says that she wants to use his ladder after him so that she can go the same way. Martin doesn’t want an audience so after a humorous exchange they decide that Maureen can go first. As soon as Martin has climbed back over the railings onto the roof Jess turns up, typically behaving like a nutter.

Being of such a young age, Martin and Maureen decide that she has too much to waste and refuse to let her do it. Jess has never had suicidal thoughts before but has been at a party in the building in the hope of finding Chas. When he doesn’t turn up she gets the whimsical idea to go up onto the roof and jump. I truly believe that she never had a true intention, though it is impossible to tell with such an unstable character.

As the argument ensues, enter JJ. He is working as a pizza delivery guy and is supposed to be delivering a pizza to the party that Jess has been at but has decided to survey the roof first, with a view to jumping himself. After much deliberation the four decide that maybe it might be a good idea to tell each other why they are up there. At this point it is obvious none of them are going to actually jump. After some time they decide to make a pact to meet up there again on Valentines’ night – the next most common night for suicides.

From this point we are treated to many humorous conflicts between the four as they depend on each other more than they thought they ever could. Four people who would never give each other the time of day have suddenly been flung together with only the one thing in common.

All this happens within the first twenty pages or so, so you can be safe in the knowledge that I haven’t spoilt the plot. The book itself is about two hundred and fifty pages long in small print and it took me about ten hours to read in three sittings. I found each time I picked the book up I read about eighty pages before forcing myself to put it down.

I loved the style in which the book was written. Every couple of pages we would have each character’s take on a situation, in the first person narrative, and they would reveal a little more about themselves each time. It was refreshing to read a book laid out in this way and was a totally new experience for me.

The thing that captivated me most, I think, was that Nick Hornby has managed to create four such diverse characters yet, each time he switched between characters, there was a definite different tone to each character. The attitude, phraseology and ideas of each character were totally evident.

Having been depressed for a long while not so long ago, and having suicidal ideas, the idea of this book had me captivated anyway. It is obvious that the author would have spoken to people who have been in this situation to explore the thought process and feelings experienced at their times of need. There were several passages that I could identify with and at one point he hit the nail square on the head. It was like reading my thoughts written by somebody who had never met me.

The passage in question is about a third of the way through the book when JJ reveals his innermost thoughts about the idea of suicide. He says, “A man who wants to die feels angry and full of life and desperate and bored and exhausted, all at the same time; he wants to fight everyone, and he wants to curl up in a ball and hide in a cupboard somewhere. He wants to say sorry to everyone, and he wants everyone to know just how badly they’ve all let him down.”

VERDICT

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely read it again one day. I would highly recommend it to everybody. It is a story of good triumphing over bad and draws people to show more concern for others – this sort of thing could happen to anybody, as demonstrated by Hornby’s choice of such different characters. I really enjoyed the layout of the book and I thought his writing style was marvellous. I cannot wait to read more of his books as this one kept me captivated from start to finish.

9.5/10

Summary: A hilarious book on a very depressing subject