Sunday, June 17, 2018

A LONG WAY DOW by Nick Hornby

Finished Sa 6/16/18

This is a trade paperback that I picked up at the library book sale a couple of weeks ago. Nick Hornby wrote HIGH FIDELITY and ABOUT A BOY, so I'm automatically in for a buck (at the very least!).

The premise is that four very dissimilar people meet on a central London high rise one New Year's Eve night. They are all there to end their lives and the story is about how they form a kind of friendship and purpose- to prevent all of them from ever jumping.

Martin- a disgraced morning television host, and modeled after the English equivalent of Regis and Kathy Lee. Martin was caught having sex with a fifteen year old girl and his world pretty much ended. Wife, mistress, daughters, and nearly the whole country has abandoned him.

JJ- the only American in the group, and he arrived on the scene to deliver pizzas. He's a former member of a rock band that had broken up and he's in England to restart his career, but having no luck. Stuck in dead-end jobs, and his girlfriend has left him. He thinks she's gone because she knows that he'll never become a rock star, but actually she wants him to continue as a real musician, and drop the false dream of stardom.

Jess- she is a mouthy and irreverent teenager who drinks, drugs, and sexes wherever and whatever. She cares nothing but the moment. It's later learn that she is the daughter of a fairly high-up member of the English political system. Her father is a high ranking minister of education.

Maureen- the oldest of the group at fifty-one. She has a severely disabled son, Matty. He is wheelchair bound, and has no interaction with this world. Maureen's entire life revolves around Matty's care, and she has realized that nothing that she does will ever make the slightest impression on Matty. What's the point?

Each chapter is arranged from the point of view of one of the four.

That night the group learns that Jess's problem is that her latest boyfriend has dumped her without a reason and she must track him down and find out why he left. The group finds him at a party, and the reader learns more about Jess and the rest of the crew.

They all agree to wait two weeks, keep in touch, and see what happens. They eventually decide to wait three months- 90 days. This is the length of a calendar season, and Martin claims that he's read that your whole outlook changes after a complete season passes.

They all take a vacation to Tenerife in the Canary Islands because Maureen has never been anywhere or ever really taken a vacation. I looked up the details on this place and learned that it's a Spanish possession and has the highest mountain in all of Spain. Seven islands in the chain and they are off the coast of northwestern Africa.

Maureen and Jess go to Martin's wife and daughters to try and save his marriage. Doesn't work.

Their 'biggest adventure' is probably the 'Intervention' that Jess arranges. She is able to have all of the important people in their lives to come to a meeting. She feels if everyone is able to get 'the facts', they can sort it all out. Doesn't work.

Jess has a sister that disappeared several years ago. No one knows where she is or if she is still alive. Jess had been accused of stealing Jen's earrings and Maureen posits that maybe Jen returned to get them since they were her favorites. Jess's parents agree because this gives them hope that their daughter still lives.

JJ meets with his ex, Lizzie, and Ed, his ex band mate. They convince JJ to continue as a musician and he begins busking on London streets. He meets another irritating busker while preforming. This guy will begin the same song that JJ starts- just a few bars behind JJ. Although it's never really stated in the novel, I wonder if this guy will go on to form a band with JJ.

The novel ends, but all of the four's lives begin. Or they begin to change, and this is the point.
The last scene is on the roof of the building, and they see the London Eye (big Ferris wheel), Martin remarks, "It didn't look as though it was moving, but it must have been, I suppose".

My interpretation is that your life might not appear to be moving, but it is, and if it's not, it's only that your perspective is off. Death or suicide is the final 'end', and 'keep on keeping on' because if you're stuck, things will always change.

Although I think that this is a reasonable approximation of what Hornby was getting at, I don't feel it's actually valid if you were dealing with a real individual who was depressed enough to end their life. The premise is a little too simplistic to actually work in the real world.

However, the novel was a pleasant read and the wry and dry narration was a real treat. Anything by Nick Hornby would be worth a look- many looks!

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