A Long Way Down

‘...when you realise that you’re stuck with who you are, and there’s nothing you can do about it.’ - Jess

Nick Hornby’s bestselling 2005 novel is the only book that I’ve read in a while that I just read and enjoyed instead of constantly looking for something to analyse or go into depth about.

The novel, which tells the story of four people who plan to kill themselves in the same spot on New Years’ Eve and effectively thwart each others’ plans, is one that I have been putting off for while for no other reason that I just hadn’t got round to it. I first heard about the film when I saw the trailer for the film adaptation of it in 2014 and thought nothing of it since then. Having read the book now it’s not one that I immediately think needs a film as it is not overly filled with action and nothing is really left open ended but I do want to see how the insanity of Jess comes across on screen.

Though the Toppers Four of Maureen, Martin, Jess and JJ seem an unlikely bunch they all write/speak in the same manner with sarcasm, wit and complete honesty as the book has chapters written from the perspective of each character however, unlike ‘When Will There Be Good News?’ their stories didn’t overlap but instead connected well. Their similarities did cause me at first to feel that were flat characters but, they only seem to speak like this from their own perspectives as when they talk about each other their true characters appear to come out more. I guess this is just a testament to how we see ourselves is much different any maybe even not as accurate as the way others see us. For instance JJ losing his band and his girl are what pushes him over the edge (though literally he didn’t get that far) while Maureen has the more serious issue of a disabled son. I discovered as I went on each character was completely different from JJ’s use of American English to Jess’ lack of knowledge on how to write speech.

I don’t have anything else to say quite frankly other than that it was a good read. The ending could’ve been better I suppose as although I get that it’s supposed to show them as a ‘band’ and their new outlooks on life, it’s just a bit abrupt for my taste.(Oh the irony.)