A Long Way Down: A Novel
Written by Nick Hornby
Narrated by Scott Brick, Simon Vance and Kate Reading
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
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. A Long Way Down is now a major motion picture from Magnolia Pictures starring Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Aaron Paul, and Imogen Poots.
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 mother. 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.
Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby (Maidenhead, 1957), licenciado por la Universidad de Cambridge, ha ejercido de profesor, periodista y guionista. En Anagrama se recuperaron sus tres extraordinarios primeros libros, Fiebre en las gradas: «Memorable» (José Martí Gómez, La Vanguardia); Alta fidelidad: «Con una importancia equiparable a lo que representaron para la juventud de su tiempo El guardián entre el centeno, de J. D. Salinger, o En el camino, de Jack Kerouac» (Enrique Blanc, Reforma); y Un gran chico: «Una lectura sumamente recomendable; un tipo que escribe de maravilla» (Jorge Casanova, La Voz de Galicia). Luego se ha ido publicando su obra posterior: Cómo ser buenos: «Un clásico de la literatura cómica. El humor y la mordacidad con los que Hornby se enfrenta a la historia no están reñidos con la penetración psicológica y la profundidad» (Ignacio Martínez de Pisón); 31 canciones: «Muy inteligente y ligero en el mejor sentido. Encantador también, ya lo creo» (Francisco Casavella); En picado: «Brillante novela coral de un autor de libros tan brillantes como modernos» (Mercedes Monmany, ABC); Todo por una chica: «Nick Hornby es capaz de levantar una de sus fábulas urbanas contemporáneas y de adornarla con la principal virtud de su literatura: el encanto» (Pablo Martínez Zarracina, El Norte de Castilla); Juliet, desnuda: «Dulce y amarga a la vez, muestra al mejor Hornby» (Amelia Castilla, El País); Funny Girl: «Fina, mordaz e inteligente... Una auténtica delicia» (Fran G. Matute, El Mundo), y Alguien como tú: «Encuentra su fuerza narrativa en la capacidad comunicativa de Hornby, en la calidez y la verdad con que retrata situaciones que todos hemos vivido o podríamos vivir» (Sergi Sánchez, El Periódico).
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Reviews for A Long Way Down
112 ratings101 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nick Hornby is one of my favorite authors, and this is one of my favorites of his. The premise is ingenious. Hornby has an uncanny knack for creating characters that include a piece of us all. I identified with every single person in this story and was unable to put the book down until I learned the fate of each.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fantastic read. Hornby's best by far.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was one of the longest-standing books on my TBR, and I'm SO GLAD I finally read it. It's about four very different strangers who meet on top of a tall building on New Year's Eve, each planning to jump off - only they don't. Instead, they grudgingly head back down the stairs together, and after a rocky night, end up making a pact to stay alive until Valentine's Day and see how things go. I loved the four voices - disgraced TV presenter Martin, downtrodden Maureen, madcap young Jess and musician JJ (he was my favourite) - and the way this single shared experience unites them, separates them, brings them meaning but also trouble, creates opportunities but also slams doors. It was real and blackly humorous and strangely uplifting and I can't wait to read my next Nick Hornby novel!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5If you like Augusten Burroughs or David Sedaris, this is a book for you. This book is going to be made into a move in 2014/2015, which is one of the reasons I picked it up. Its a very quick read with realistic characters that you don't really care about but want to keep reading about.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Four disparate characters meet on a London rooftop one New Year's Eve; each has come up there with the intention of jumping off. All have their own reasons for suicidal despair. Martin's life is in shambles since his conviction for having sex with an underage girl. Maureen can't stand taking care of her profoundly disabled son any more. JJ has lost both his band and his girlfriend, and teenage Jess has problems with sex, drugs, and parents. The four characters become comrades in the quest to determine if life is indeed worth living.This novel is charming in its way (as charming as a novel about suicide can be), but I couldn't help but feel that all four of the main characters were a little flat. I never felt that any of them was really likely to take the plunge, so to speak. I've never read a book by Nick Hornby before, but I can't imagine that this is the well-known author's best work.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Listening to the audio...this was oddly good with four different readers. I found the analysis by each of the characters about what was happening...thought provoking, to say the least. I have read/listened to nothing else by Hornby so now maybe, from what others have said, I'll look into that.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5There is only 1 chapter of this book on here. Not sure why???
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I started this hoping for some light reading. I quite enjoyed the author's 'About a Boy' although there was more bad language than I was comfortable with. But the book opens with four unlikeable people, all thinking about ending their lives, in a cold-blooded way. This is not my idea of a setting for comedy. I looked at a few reviews, and saw that readers are divided between finding this hilarious, or rather sordid. I suspect my opinion would be with the latter group, so decided to abandon it.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Terribly misguided. This is where he jumped the shark for me. So few authors seem to understand how to deal with the subject of suicide. Cardboard stereotypes, plot holes, and ?Angels? Wow that was bad.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I had looked forward to reading this because I thought it was going to be a funny book. (I know suicide isn't funny) but the premise of this sounded like a fun read. It wasn't fun, but it was thought-provoking. A couple of characters were totally annoying, but even they give us something to think about.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Whilst there is the occasional flutter of intelligence in this book, on the whole I couldn't help thinking it would have been a whole lot better if the four main characters had just jumped....
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/53.25 starsMaureen, JJ, Jess and Martin meet on a rooftop on New Year's Eve, where they've each planned to jump. They have nothing in common, except for this. But, this one thing is enough for them to decide to form a "gang", exchange phone numbers, and plan to meet back on the rooftop on Valentine's Day. It was o.k., and a little bizarre. The four of them are so different. In any "normal" circumstance, they wouldn't even take note of each other, let alone talk to each other, or plan to meet up again. The book switches perspectives between all four characters, but it's easy to follow since each section is marked by whose perspective it is.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I wanted so hard to like this book. It was quirky, humorous, and inventive, but I truly, utterly hated the characters. Yes I sympathized with them on occasion, but at the end of the day... I still didn't care about them!The whole premise of this book is that four completely opposite and radically different people all ran into each other on top of Topper House as they attempted to off themselves on New Year's Eve. Each of these four individuals had different reasons for wanting to jump off the roof and end their miserable lives. Over the course of the night they discover why they're each so ready to die and decide to hold off on the suiciding until Valentine's Day where they can re-evaluate if they're ready to leave this world or not. There is Martin, a fresh out of jail former newscaster, who had an affair with a fifteen year old and lost his wife and daughters in the process. Little old Maureen, a devout Christian who can no longer bear the thought of never going anywhere and only caring for her severely disabled son who is little more than a vegetable. JJ, a down and out musician who just broke up with his band and his girlfriend. And finally Jess, a punk ass little eighteen year old who is always in trouble and takes it out on everyone around her.This diverse group decide that if they can hold off on jumping to their death for one night and find something to live for then maybe there is still something to look forward to after all. The story is broken into short sections each narrated by a different character. It was unique, I'll give it that. But like I said, I couldn't relate with any of the characters. They were almost too flawed for me. Which is, I guess, the point.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Four people found themselves commonly attempting to commit suicide on the same roof and then shifted to finding valuable friendship with each other instead. Stories of loss, depression and frustration of each of them and the unexpected cure from the bond of friendship were narrated. Let second chances be an option. :)
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I've heard this wasn't his best book, but having read no other Nick Hornby books to compare it to, I have to say this was excellent. I really felt for the characters, even if some of them are "tossers", and it was easy to read and get through the story. Not only this, but I felt every character's truisms held true not just for them, but for the world at large. The characters were relatable and in different degrees, pitiable.
It also helped that I'm in a tough place in my life right now and, while not suicidal like the main characters, also depressed and miserable. And I feel like this book may have helped me get through it like the main characters did. Not through a sudden burst of knowledge, which won't happen, but by the little things.
I must read more of his books. This was amusing, ironic, and enchanting. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A very enjoyable book despite its topic - 4 people intent on suicide who meet each other on the roof of a building on New Years Eve. This book has been made into a film but the book is so much better as it is more realistic and doesn't tie off all of the loose ends with pretty, happy bows. There is hope but in a very real way if that makes any sense.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is the fifth Hornby book I've read. High Fidelity and About a Boy were hugely entertaining, despite their unbelievable characters, although to tell you the truth I don't remember much about either of them, and sometimes get the books and movies confused; How to Be Good and Juliet Naked were less entertaining, with even less plausible characters, but had some interesting ideas and held my interest. This book is something more. I loved it. I'm not sure why. The characters felt true, albeit unusually self-aware, self-absorbed, and intelligent; but it's their interaction and the way each brings their own strength to the group that I most enjoyed. This group becomes much more than the sum of its parts.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It was time to read this one -- there's a movie happening! I can't say I was terribly looking forward to this one. It sounded morbid and farfetched. I was a bit hesitant to read about a bunch of characters who are feeling like committing suicide on the top of a building but all magically meet at the same time and become friends. I'm sure that happens all the time, right? Overall, I found that it was very insightful to people who aren't happy all of the time. Isn't that everyone? The book was also funny at times. The group on the roof finds that they are enough for the time being, to keep going -- they have a purpose to support each other in not jumping. They decide to start an unsuccessful book club, go on vacation together, and really just talk to each other. Is one thing enough for a group of people to have in common? In the end, there are no fairy tale endings, just the will to keep going, and finding the support wherever it may be. It wasn't cheesy or farfetched after all. I liked it. My favorite character is JJ, the bookish, American, pizza delivery guy in England that wants to be a musician on the cover of Rolling Stone. But maybe he was my favorite because I didn't have to decipher his Britishisms. (That is another reason I usually avoid British books -- but the Britishisms here aren't that difficult to interpret... Hornby may have intentionally made the book accessible to people all over the world by leaving out some of those Britishisms.) I found I was looking forward to JJ's chapters the most because of all his book and music references. He kind of reminded me a bit of Hornby's Rob character from 'High Fidelity'.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was a super quick read, and was darkly funny in the way one expects from Hornby's books. Still, it was not entirely satisfying. The characters did not grow or change or learn or experience anything new. Their growth was theoretical (other than Maureen perhaps). I hate when people complain that characters were not likable, likeability is overrated, but it is worth mentioning that these characters are not likeable, and also not interesting (which is the true sin.) And with no compelling character development one looks for some insight, some lesson. Sadly, any insights the author might have wanted to share are pretty trite. In sum: "People, people who need people, are the luckiest people in the world." Or possibly: "Reach out and touch/ Somebody's hand/Make this world a better place/ If you can." No disrespect to Streisand or Ashford & Simpson, but that is really not enough. A story about suicide should not just be a series of good one-liners. AmIright?
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nick Hornby writes like people talk and his books are about ordinary people trying to live ordinary lives. A Long Way Down presents one his most dramatic premises -- four people intending to commit suicide run into each other on the top of the same building.
Hornby takes a unique approach of alternating perspectives every chapter. The effect is not unlike a documentary, in which interviews with several people are woven together to create a single forward narrative.
Because of the three act structure, large amounts of dialogue and relatively static set pieces, I could really imagine this acted out on the stage. In that way, it felt a little less "novel-y" than other novels, but if that kind of thing doesn't bug you, then full speed ahead.
I should add that this is a funny book. Yeah, okay, it's about suicide. But it's great fun watching the characters' personalities clash. In many ways they don't like each other, but at the same time they realize they need each others' help to keep going.
I really got to liking each of the characters, too, even though they'd done things (and continue to do things) that are not completely likable. And really, it's a testament to Hornby's talent that he can pull off a comedy about wanting to kill yourself so effortlessly. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Laugh out loud funny. The strength of the 3 different narrators - Scott Brick, Simon Vance and Kate Reading made this a fantastic listen!
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5A quick read. Alternate character narration. Overall, tawdry, a britcom-in-the-making. Too much slap in the slaphappy.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I won this book in the Goodreads giveaway and was looking forward to reading it since I thought the description sounded interesting. A Long Way Down is the story of 4 people that meet on the roof of the Toppers House where they have gone to commit suicide and their ensuing relationships and connection as a result of that night. What could have been an excellent storyline fell apart quickly. The plot was pointless and weak and the characters quite annoying. There was nothing likeable about any of them and I longed for one of them to jump just to add some interest. I struggled to finish this book and have to say I was quite disappointed and probably will not read any other Hornby books.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5fun read about 4 people who meet trying to commit suicide
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book opens with four strangers making their way to the top of a building in London on New Years Eve, each with the intention of jumping off and ending their life. Instead of jumping, they end up forming unlikely, odd relationships with one another. The narraration switches between each of the characters. It was a very enjoyable read. I laughed out loud a lot, and the characters were quite likable, despite many of their not so likable qualities.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It took me ages to get through this book and I wouldn't have persevered only I was hoping they'd all kill themselves at the end. Anyway, there are some great Hornby one-liners. That's all I can say to recommend this one, which disappointed me after reading About A Boy, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The characters in this one were just annoying. And their voices weren't different enough from one another - they are all Hornby of course - but even Maureen sounded a bit too much like Jess without the expletives.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"Why it didn't occur to any of us that a well-known suicide spot would be like Piccadilly Circus on New Year's Eve. I have no idea, but at that point in the proceedings I had accepted the reality of our situation: we were in the process of turning a solemn and private moment into a farce with a cast of thousands.
And at that precise moment of acceptance, we three became four. There was a polite cough, and when we turned round to look, we saw a tall, good-looking, long-haired man, maybe ten years younger than me, holding a crash helmet under one arm and one of those big insulated bags in the other.
“Any of you guys order a pizza?” he said."
This book is about fate. About people coming out of themselves and coming together with others. Filled with humor and life lessons. Hornby captures the essence of the old saying "make a plan and God laughs". Lol funny for fans of dark humor. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5“Everyone knows how to talk, and no one knows what to say.”One New Year's Eve, four very different people meet on the top of a 15-story building in London each, for varying reasons, intending to commit suicide by jumping off. This is a well known 'jumpers' spot but none of them has calculated that they might encounter company. This is the story of what happens next or perhaps what doesn't and in Hornby's distinct style is something of a playful novel about suicide.The book has no chapters and is narrated by the voices of the four would-be suicides. Martin, the disgraced morning TV show presenter, recently released from prison where he served a sentence for having sex with a 15-year-old girl. Maureen, a single mother with a profoundly disabled son,who feels imprisoned by caring for him. Jess, a troubled 18-year-old, daughter of a politician father with a missing older sister and JJ, a failed American musician who failed to go to college and now delivers pizza.From the beginning Hornby finds uncomfortable comedy in the four characters situation. Suicide is usually a solitary act so when Maureen discovers Martin already on the edge apparently ready to jump, she taps him on the shoulder " to ask him if he was going to be long", thus giving the reader an insight into the book's tone even if they have never read any of the author's other works."............You'll be wanting to do it on your own, I'd imagine.'" 'You'd imagine right.'" 'I'll go over there.' She gestured to the other side of the roof." 'I'll give you a shout on the way down.' "All four come down from the rooftop alive and together, meaning this is not a book about suicide at all. It's more about what happens when you don't kill yourself. The four characters become a little gang who promise to support one another. One of Hornby's strengths is his sharp sense of how completely the small preoccupations of our lives become inevitably entwined with the big, serious stuff. Frankly I found the first third or so of this book a little slow but as the four of them try and help each other rebuild their lives, with some inadvertent consequences, Hornby at least avoids the temptation to suggest that everyone's' life can be successfully patched. On a down side this does mean that the ending appears a touch aimless.I read several of Hornby's other books in the past and generally enjoy his writing style. I found this a reasonably enjoyable read and at times I read it with a smile on my face but perhaps not one of his best IMHO.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5-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 mother. 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. Hornby tells the story of four individuals confronting the limits of choice, circumstance and their own mortality. This book pretty much restored some faith in modern novels for me. The unique four-character narrative and the flow of the text, dialogue and story make it riveting and comfortable at the same time. The situations are outrageous and moving but not unbelievable. Well-written all around, a very tight package. It is easy to see why they keep making movies from his work.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Review: This is the story of Martin, Maureen, Jess, and JJ who meet on top of a 15-story building, New Years Eve, with the intent of suicide. Martin is a well known TV Morning show host who has ruined his life with some pretty poor decisions, Maureen is a 51 year old woman who has grown tired of her life, Jess is the second daughter of a politician and is really messed up and JJ is a pizza deliverer who happens upon the other three when he comes up to the roof to check out the possibilities before he delivers the pizza. This book is dark humor and contains excessive swearing which I do not feel adds to the story but actually deflects if you’re a person who is put off but then I guess the author doesn’t give a …., does he. Well I read this book expecting to hate it. It’s the October 2014, F2F book club pick. The first sentence, “Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?” is the approach I used for reading this book. Does suicide deserve to be the subject of dark humor? What is the purpose of dark humor? Well dark humor is that which makes light of that which is otherwise a serious subject so, okay, guess that it works. Because I work in mental health and have had several patients who suicide, I am a suicide survivor. The statistics say that mental health professionals will experience suicide in their practice from 28 to 50%. The book starts out with the argument of suicide as logical decision. Who has four people representing younger people and older people and male female and examines reasons why these people ended up on the roof and why they got there and why they took the long way down (walked down). Quotes: “Just ….things are different. Things change. The exact arrangement of stuff that made you think your life was unbearable...It’s got shifted around somehow.”“He said that two seconds after jumping, he realized that there was nothing in his life he coudln’t deal with, no problems he couldn’t solve--apart from the problem he’d just given himself by jumping off the bridge.”“They love life, but it’s all **** up for them, that’s why I emt them, and that’s why we’re all still back into life, and being shut out of it like that…..It just ****ing destroys you, man. So it’s an act of despair, not an act of nihilism. It’s a mercy killing, not a murder.”“These things can only be coincidental if you think you have no power over your life at all”.Last words “It didn’t look as though it was moving, but it must have been, I suppose.” My thought on this, this last sentence takes us back to why someone might want to jump...they quit seeing that things change. What I didn’t like: well of course the swearing, I actually didn’t mind the sexual content, I thought it was well done and fairly true to life. The author did a lot of name dropping. He listed large quantities of books, a lot of them from 1001 Books, movies, TV and rock star personalities. There was a lot of English sayings that if I didn’t google them, I was only guessing what they might mean.