can society cope with completely good people? (How to be good - Nick Hornby)

Member Name:

Product:	How to be good - Nick Hornby
Date:	14/06/02 (23 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: -

Disadvantages: -

If you?re in the mood for a laugh then make time to read Nick Hornby?s latest, How To Be Good. A tale of marital disillusionment that results in a hilarious reassessment of the central relationship in the book between Katie and her husband David.

The story is told through the eyes of Katie and much has been written about whether Hornby has captured the female psyche convincingly. I think he does carry it off but I found myself concentrating on this rather than the story when I started reading, eventually immersing myself in the book. I think he is helped by the fact that he uses role reversal here, Katie being the main breadwinner of the family while David writes his columns for the paper from home and sees to their two children.

Hornby?s great gift is writing about the mundane and everyday stuff in hilarious fashion. His writing is brilliant and while not my favourite book of his, I think I did find it the funniest, laughing out loud at several passages. For me there are two main themes; firstly, the relationship between the two central characters and their expectations of each other and their relationship and secondly, the examination of human kindness.

Katie realises what a miserable git she is married to. She embarks on a half-hearted affair that leads to her confession and David?s conversion. This latter is achieved with the help of a colourful character known as DJ Goodnews, one of life?s eccentrics. Having seen the light David goes from being Mr. Angry of Holloway to an attentive, considerate and compassionate individual, intent on saving his marriage. Unfortunately for Katie, so strange and alien does she find his behaviour, rather than bringing them closer together she becomes suspicious of his motives and finds herself mistrusting him.

The nature of the change in David forces the couple to examine what makes them good people and how far a person should go to attain goodness. Katie having considered herself always to
have been a good and genuine person (she?s a doctor isn?t she?), finds herself, by way of a reaction to her husband?s over the top ?goodness?, saying and doing things she wouldn?t have before and hating herself for it.

The other aspect of Hornby?s writing that I love are the children in his books, fantastic personalities. This is a great gift he has and the children in this book are no exception, great characters in their own right and very funny. As observers of the adults around them, you feel their voices are the only sane and coherent ones, at times.

In this book Hornby explores the materialistic world we live in, while poverty and homelessness exist on our doorsteps. He examines attitudes to material goods and reactions to having to give these up. He looks at men and women and the reality of how difficult it is to keep a relationship going. Is the book heavy going? No way, it is very, very funny.

Summary: