A LONG WAY DOWN BY NICK HORNBY
It’s dark. It’s witty. It’s poignant.
A humorous novel about 4 people wanting to kill themselves. Doesn’t sound quite right now, does it? Well, you have to read it to see it for yourself.
It’s New Years Eve. An occasion to celebrate. A time to spend with your loved ones. A perfect time to jump off a skyscraper.
With a drink in his hand and his legs dangling from the edge, he’s ready. But before Martin Sharp could move those few inches, he realises he has company. Maureen, who offers to wait for him to jump so she could go next. Before they could get past this discomfited moment, a young girl comes running toward the edge, and is tackled to the ground before she could take off. While they take time to figure out what’s going on and who would go first, JJ stands at the doorway holding boxes of pizza.
Their common will to take their lives is what brought them together, on the fateful night of New Years Eve.
Once they settle down and reason why they would want to do such a thing, they settle on doing this together. 14th February. Valentine’s day is the day they chose to give it another go at this “taking your own life thing”. Until then they stay together to stop one another from trying.
The new year for Jess doesn’t start off as well as she thought it would, for a complete different reason than her not being there at all. Her father, who is a public figure, reads an article about Martin and Jess in the papers. Already wounded and desperate to get away from her home she doesn’t deny a word of it.
Martin accused of crimes that sent him to prison and in the process lost his family, his daughters.
JJ, an American on English grounds, delivering pizza.
Maureen, a middle aged woman with her crippled son who needs to be looked after 24X7. She has no life left, and hasn’t been on a holiday in the longest time. For her, they all decide to take that one last holiday.
Something changes after they return. They witness something that gives them a reality check.
This book will make you think of how the small things could question your will to live and how, now a days the young take everything to the heart and how much they value their own lives.
