About this title: Four depressed people meet by accident on a London rooftop, each preparing to jump and end it all. Struck by the coincidence--and bonded by their mutual despair--each of the four agrees to put off the deadly deed, reevaluate things, and get together to talk it over. As time goes by, friendships and enmities form, and the course of their lives is irrevocably changed. Nick Hornby looks at this situation with a determined lack of sentimentality, and even with some humor.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Date Published: 06/2005
ISBN-13:9781573223027ISBN:1573223026
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 352 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Date Published: 06/2005
ISBN-13:9781573223027ISBN:1573223026
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 352 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Date Published: 06/2005
ISBN-13:9781573223027ISBN:1573223026
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Good, In good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 352 p. Contains: Illustrations. Ex-Library expected imperfections. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Date Published: 06/2005
ISBN-13:9781573223027ISBN:1573223026
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 352 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Date Published: 06/2005
ISBN-13:9781573223027ISBN:1573223026
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Good, In good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 352 p. Contains: Illustrations. Ex-Library expected imperfections. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Date Published: 06/2005
ISBN-13:9781573223027ISBN:1573223026
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 352 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Date Published: 06/2005
ISBN-13:9781573223027ISBN:1573223026
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Good, In good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 352 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Date Published: 06/2005
ISBN-13:9781573223027ISBN:1573223026
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 352 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781573223027ISBN:1573223026
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very light edge and corner wear on dj. Light shelf wear. Some edge tanning. No marks. Tight, square book. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 352 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Very Good. 1594481938 Softcover book is in very good condition, 1st printing, mild shelf wear, no spine creases. Shop & Save With US. read more
"Someone recommended this book to me. And, to be honest, I thought that it would be really drug out and depressing. I mean, it's about five people who wanted to kill themselves. However, Hornby uses humor and gritty friction between the characters to lighten the novel as a whole, while not omitting the seriousness of their situations. I laughed throughout the novel. But, towards the middle of the book, I realized that as crazy as these characters might sound, I related to some of them. I related to their comments on life and to their reactions to one another. Each character seems to be able to more clearly analyze the other suicidal characters than he/she can analyze him/herself. I think this is true of everyone. It's always so much easier to see others' mistakes, their weaknesses, vulnerabilities, strengths. But, like the saying goes, we don't take our own advice. This book is extremely real. It deals with reality. The reality of five people who never would have known each other, and if they had, they wouldn't have liked eachother. Through the contrast of each character, we get to know them completely. What more can I say...it's a really good book. I was surprised."
"Four characters, and I mean that in every sense of the word, meet on New Years Eve in London and decide to jump off a roof and put an end to their troubles. Two men, two women, three Brits and one American, they suffer from such maladies as an embarrassing and public sex scandal, caring for a vegetative dependent child, the break-up of a band and a girlfriend, and general emotional baggage and family issues. None of those things seem like very good reasons to commit suicide, but that is exactly the point.
Some do not like Hornby and others might find the premise of this book to be a bit too morose to kid about. I think it is a testament to Hornby's unique style that the novel is both quite touching and often quite funny. If you can't laugh at a character that believes that being able to read "Martin Chuzzlewit" is a reason to stay alive and that jumping with "Revolutionary Road" might bring greater readership to that book, than you and I likely don't share the same sense of humor. I literally had to put the book down at various points during the intervention scene because I was laughing so hard.
If you think the book is solely about suicide, though, you are very wrong. The book is about these characters trying to cope. There is no sugary sweet and sappy ending and various things end without being fully resolved, but that is sort of like life. Some of the novel feels like Hornby was writing with the screenplay deal already in place with its very pithy dialogue, but quite frankly, that is Hornby's style. I am a fan, what can I say."
"Highly enjoyed this book. The plot was strong, and the characters and their situations were vivid and believable. Lots have people have been saying that they were annoyed by the fact that the four main characters are so stereotypical, but i actually think that that was what made the book work. It was because they were so typically different that their interactions were so funny and interesting...if that makes sense?
The only thing I would say, I was a bit put-off by the huge amount of swearing, but I appreciate that I am probably the youngest reviewer by at least ten years!
Although the characters are vastly different, and come from separate walks of life, they all find themselves in the same immediate situation; they are all contemplating suicide, standing on the roof of Topper's House, a popular suicide spot in their home-town.
The build of friendship and gradual trust between the four main characters is the theme of the book. The journey the unlikely 'gang' embark on is moving, if somewhat depressing."
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