A Long Way Down was beautiful. Now, I'm a bit biased, because Nick Hornby is my favorite author (he of High Fidelity, Fever Pitch, About a Boy, How to be Good and others). His style vibes very well with my interests and he writes with quick-moving dialogue that cuts to the heart of things without worrying how it "might look". I saw him speak on a book tour several years ago. He's a soft-spoken, very witty guy.
This latest book is about four people (three Brits, one Yank) who meet on New Year's Eve on a roof, from which they were all planning to commit suicide. The book follows how their relationship develops and how they each look at life and grow to look at one another. As does Barbara Kingsolver in The Poisonwood Bible, he writes by looking at events through one of the four character's eyes, but switches every few pages.
One thing I know about Mr. Hornby is that he has an autistic child and put together a book recently, a collection of short stories the proceeds of which went to a foundation for autistic children. I bring that up because one of the characters, Maureen, has a child who is basically a 20-year-old vegetable. She is forced to deal with him every day and night. Her desire to kill herself almost made me stop reading, but thank goodness I stuck with it.
When Mr. Hornby writes about Maureen's feelings for and issues with her son, it's poignant, but there are many others in A Long Way Down. A few examples:
- Maureen is crying at one point in the book and she thinks: "I was crying because all I wanted in the world, the only thing that would make me want to live, was for Matty (her incapacitated son) to die. And knowing why I was crying just made me cry more." (That one gets me emotional just typing it.)
- Referring to one of the character's ex-wives: "Cindy joined one of those dreadful reading groups, where unhappy, repressed middle-class lesbians talk about some novel they don't understand, and then spend the rest of the evening moaning about how dreadful their men are."
- JJ, the Yank, referring to being a sad person: "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."
- And, the cherry on top by the Yank again: "Anyone who thinks text messages are funny isn't going to kill himself, there isn't enough going on internally."
This book was another one of those that I lamented turning the page because I knew I was closer to finishing it. Mr. Hornby's most engaging writing skill is his wonderful dialogue. It's on full display in this book; it was delightful.
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