A Long Way Down Author:Nick Hornby In his eagerly awaited fourth novel, New York Times-bestselling author Nick Hornby mines the hearts and psyches of four lost souls who connect just when they've reached the end of the line. — 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 mo... more »ther. 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.
In four distinct and riveting first-person voices, Nick Hornby tells a story of four individuals confronting the limits of choice, circumstance, and their own mortality. This is a tale of connections made and missed, punishing regrets, and the grace of second chances.
Intense, hilarious, provocative, and moving, A Long Way Down is a novel about suicide that is, surprisingly, full of life.
What's your jumping-off point?
Maureen
Why is it the biggest sin of all? All your life you're told that you'll be going to this marvelous place when you pass on. And the one thing you can do to get you there a bit quicker is something that stops you getting there at all. Oh, I can see that it's a kind of queue-jumping. But if someone jumps the queue at the post office, people tut. Or sometimes they say "Excuse me, I was here first." They don't say "You will be consumed by hellfire for all eternity." That would be a bit strong.
Martin
I'd spent the previous couple of months looking up suicides on the Internet, just out of curiosity. And nearly every single time, the coroner says the same thing: "He took his own life while the balance of his mind was disturbed." And then you read the story about the poor bastard: His wife was sleeping with his best friend, he'd lost his job, his daughter had been killed in a road accident some months before . . . Hello, Mr. Coroner? I'm sorry, but there's no disturbed mental balance here, my friend. I'd say he got it just right.
Jess
I was at a party downstairs. It was a shit party, full of all these ancient crusties sitting on the floor drinking cider and smoking huge spliffs and listening to weirdo space-out reggae. At midnight, one of them clapped sarcastically, and a couple of others laughed, and that was it-Happy New Year to you, too. You could have turned up to that party as the happiest person in London, and you'd still have wanted to jump off the roof by five past twelve. And I wasn't the happiest person in London anyway. Obviously.
JJ
New Year's Eve was a night for sentimental losers. It was my own stupid fault. Of course there'd be a low-rent crowd up there. I should have picked a classier date-like March 28, when Virginia Woolf took her walk into the river, or November 25 (Nick Drake). If anybody had been on the roof on either of those nights, the chances are they would have been like-minded souls, rather than hopeless f*ck-ups who had somehow persuaded themselves that the end of a calendar year is in any way significant. « less
This book was just terrific. As a reader, i was immediately immersed in the plot and in love with all the characters. It seems like a rather dreary thing to be reading about, but its really nice how their relationships form and grow. Great read!!!
Fantastic book - explores the reasons all of us have for living (or not), in a readable way. What would you do next if you had reached the point when you felt you had nothing to live for - the answers are surprising, and certainly not sappy sweet.
Nick Hornby has used a unique and sometimes humorous approach to a dark subject, suicide. The four main characters, J.J., Jess, Maureen and Martin share a death wish and as the story unfolds, you will see they share so much more. It could have been a dark, somber book, but instead Nick Hornby's writing style and presentation of the story in the first person make this a great read!
Eh. I wasn't crazy about this book...it was actually one of the first ones I swapped and sent back out. It's the story of 4 people who all want to kill themselves by leaping off a building and instead, they all 4 become friends (?) and change each others lives. I felt the reasons they wanted to die were kind of lame. And the youngest character REALLY got on my nerves (as she did the characters in the book also).
Very enjoyable book by a delightful author. Four stories that come together in an unusual way. Hornby shows how people can come to the brink or despair and lift each other up, even though all are just limping through life. As with many of his other books, would make for a funny, quirky movie.
I didn't like the main two characturs in it, not a fast paced story but a very funny story. Best selling UK writer. Sad and Deeply moving, about a set of strangers who meet and whether a group of losers and pizza can really see you through a long night of the soul.
The pacing was all wrong for me. I enjoyed the storyline and the character development. I read the book in preparation for the movie...watched the trailer. I think the movie may turn out better than the book.
While the premise of this novel was certainly intriguing enough - four disparate individuals meet on a popular London rooftop on the night each has individually decided to kill him/herself - enjoying it hinges on connecting with the characters in some fashion, whether it's emotionally or otherwise. Their troubles vary, but it's hard to be sympathetic for characters you genuinely don't like. Half the time, I felt like these characters had brought all this hardship on themselves (well, not Maureen), and listening to their constant whining over their situations grew thin halfway through the book. I liked the way the book was structured, with short sections dedicated to each character in that character's 1st POV, which gave it a theatrical quality, like each sat on a stool on a stage and when it was their turn, the spotlight would come on him/her while they told their tale. But enjoying a story's structure and premise isn't enough to make it a keeper. I needed to connect and care about the characters in some way to do that. And I didn't.
Nick Hornby is always so fun to read, even if the story is about four depressed people who meet attempting suicide! This Hornby required way more patience and suspension of disbelief than usual; the premise was super super contrived and if it were another, less hilarious writer, I would have been totally irritated.
The four members of this gang of survivors feel to varying degrees guilty, discouraged, hopeless, and out of control: JJ the failed American rocker; Martin the scandalized newscaster; Maureen, single mother to a 19 yr old son born in a vegetative state; and Jess the obnoxious angst-ridden teen. The way this mismatched foursome manages to support and exhasperate each other is somehow entertaining and uplifting.
The first 3/4 of this book was entertaining, though it seems like the author really rushed the ending just becuase he was sick of writing the book. I love the rest of the authors books, but this one wasn't that great.
XLNT read. Each character's "voice" is different. I like that the punctuation matches their personalities. The story is funny "ha ha" and funny "strange" -- not as involved a study as is "A Confederacy of Dunces" but not entirely lighthearted. Learned a few things. I feel I need to just accept each character - but maybe say a little prayer for them, just in case, you know?
I've read a few Hornby books and this one is good in a similar way. Characters all with serious flaws that at times you pity and at others you loath. I thoroughly enjoyed the book!
My overall impression of the book is: "meh." It'd be a good read for a holiday on the beach because it's light and airy and attempts to be funny (and is, at quite a few parts, but mostly I could tell that he was just trying too hard, you know?). The premise is really interesting: four strangers each go to commit suicide atop the same building, and each is fully confident of his/her convictions behind such an act, but upon running into each other, they begin to doubt the validity of the others motives. So, they're each saying "I deserve to die," but that "you don't, because you're too young/a parent/haven't thought things through/too crazy/etc to die yourself." Essentially, they save each other. But one of the characters (Jess), really the main one who drives the story line along, is awful and rude and completely impossible to relate to, so that made the the ability to really "get sucked into" the book difficult. I had high expectations and I thought this book was just "okay".
Great book. It was very entertaining. It is about four complete strangers who run into eachother on a rooftop on New Years Eve. They are all there to commit suacide for very different reasons. They end up walking down together and agree to meet up and help eachother out. It may sound depressing but it really is a great funny and touching read.
This novel was very well written. Told from four different characters points of view on why their lives have become not "worth living". You would not expect the topic matter to be humorous but it is a funny and uplifting read.
