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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's a sad tale of how one event can make you grow, come out of yourself, shake you out of the usual and move on Ito the next phase of your life. Depressing. I could totally picture Hugh Grant as the main character.
While I felt tempted to give this novel 3 stars, I added one because I enjoyed reading it. It's such a warm and wise story, filled with brilliant one liners and the iconic Hornby humour. I rarely laugh out loud when reading, but much to my dismay I found myself chuckling in coffee shops and train carriages.
I couldn't put this book down right from the word go! Nick Hornby deals with serious philosophical subjects - depression, love, growing up and Ben the meaning of life - but not for one moment is his writing heavy or draining. He takes a cleverly funny approach to all these subjects through an eccentric twelve-year-old boy and a narcissistic thirty-six-year-old man - the most unlikely pair of friends - and shows the great bonds that form between people in the most unlikely ways when people care for others. Will tries to stay isolated in a little bubble of artificial happiness as he has no problems there and nobody else's problems can enter. Once he lets other people into his bubble, he is scared, he feels worried about other people, he has problems, and yet his life has so much more substance.
This is a quick, funny, thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone who's ever wondered what "the point" is, even if this book doesn't exactly provide you with a straight answer.
This is a quick, funny, thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone who's ever wondered what "the point" is, even if this book doesn't exactly provide you with a straight answer.
O mais interessante é ver como a história original do Nick Hornby distoa completamente do filme. É mais triste, como a vida - especialmente dos personagens envolvidos.
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hornby is brilliant at engaging the reader (in his fictional works at least) and this was the perfect book to pull me out of my 6-month reading slump. It's such a fun and energetic book that handles so many different themes and topics while keeping an airy and light feeling. The protagonists are very very interesting people and they are so incredibly nuanced. I also appreciated how well they showed a character on the spectrum without pointing and making it obvious. There are a lot of subtleties with which Hornby tells the audience about dark and deep topics. It's also a very well-paced book, every scene energetically carries to the next and you never feel bored reading it. Both POV characters start out the book as unlikeable and you slowly grow fond of them which is a sign of a great book. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to have a fun read or get out of a reading slump!
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes