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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
Enjoyed High Fidelity (both book and movie), enjoyed this movie, thought I'd try the book. A good read. I often like stories told from multiple points of view. I couldn't help hearing/seeing the actors as I read--so a good film adaptation. Perhaps even an improvement?
These are my 2007 bookcrossing meanderings on this book: I saw the film a few years ago and I got this quite cheap a while ago and thought I'd give it a go. I picked it up a few days ago to start as I've been reading Gould's Book of Fish which I'm struggling to get into so I thought I'd take a break and read something a bit easier on the brain.
It was an enjoyable, good read - kind of like the male version of well-written chick lit really - although the ending fizzled out a bit in a way for me but there you go. And the characters Will and Marcus were great fun. It was interesting to see how the vacuous, shallow Will dealt with Marcus as an adult - I mean, if they had met both as teenagers, Will would have bullied Marcus - but as an adult he really wanted to help him out of that hole. God, schools, in the UK at least, really are breeding grounds for nasty little wastes of spaces. And the book was realistic in the way that it didn't give miracle answers, certainly didn't suggest that having the right pair of trainers would solve all your problems, and also pointed out that teachers are useless if not making the problem worse: the headmistress quite tetchily telling Marcus he needs to stay out of the bullies' way (both misunderstanding completely why people bully and how life is for the victim) and essentially making it out to be his fault. And his unconfident English teacher who pathetically joins in with it in a lighthearted way in order to get the rest of the class on side.
I think it's also about this aspect of growing up - learning who you are, and also discovering that adults aren't perfect and most of the time they don't know what they're doing. I suppose when we're really little we'll see our parents as super heroes who know everything and can magically solve all problems. Marcus certainly comes down to earth with a bump with his mother's depression and his male role model, Will, who needs as much help as he does.
I still feel like I want to know more about what happened to them. Did Will ever get a job? What happened to Fiona in the end? And Rachel? And everyone else?
It was an enjoyable, good read - kind of like the male version of well-written chick lit really - although the ending fizzled out a bit in a way for me but there you go. And the characters Will and Marcus were great fun. It was interesting to see how the vacuous, shallow Will dealt with Marcus as an adult - I mean, if they had met both as teenagers, Will would have bullied Marcus - but as an adult he really wanted to help him out of that hole. God, schools, in the UK at least, really are breeding grounds for nasty little wastes of spaces. And the book was realistic in the way that it didn't give miracle answers, certainly didn't suggest that having the right pair of trainers would solve all your problems, and also pointed out that teachers are useless if not making the problem worse: the headmistress quite tetchily telling Marcus he needs to stay out of the bullies' way (both misunderstanding completely why people bully and how life is for the victim) and essentially making it out to be his fault. And his unconfident English teacher who pathetically joins in with it in a lighthearted way in order to get the rest of the class on side.
I think it's also about this aspect of growing up - learning who you are, and also discovering that adults aren't perfect and most of the time they don't know what they're doing. I suppose when we're really little we'll see our parents as super heroes who know everything and can magically solve all problems. Marcus certainly comes down to earth with a bump with his mother's depression and his male role model, Will, who needs as much help as he does.
I still feel like I want to know more about what happened to them. Did Will ever get a job? What happened to Fiona in the end? And Rachel? And everyone else?
I really enjoyed this book because of the life situations and coming together of the characters. This is one of my favorite movies.
I enjoyed it very much. I recently read a different book about an intentionally childfree adult who is won over by someone else's child and that one left me with a bit of an odd taste in my mouth, so I admit to being a little hesitant regarding this. I have read other titles by Hornby, though, which I liked very much so I had to give this one a shot. I found this story more believable than I had expected. Good character development, good plot line. A quick read, but worth it, and one I'm glad I took the time out for.
This made me think of Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger but I'm not sure why.
I enjoyed this book, I had seen the movie so I thought I knew what to expect. After the first chapter I stopped comparing the book to the movie and just enjoyed the book.
emotional
funny
I think I've seen the movie but didn't remember it was about this. I believe that it's important to have friends of different ages, so I'm glad to see Marcus and Will!
Nothing could top "High Fidelity," but this is a sweet story and I thought the movie was decent, too.
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes