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Summary: The ups and downs of marriage...
Review: I liked this book because it was about a woman who contemplated divorce, chickened out, then had to deal with a really drastic change in her husband which rendered him just as annoying as he was before, but then somehow managed to make the marriage work out after all. I liked the fact that the way this book was written made me extremely sympathetic towards the wife in the beginning, but then made me sympathetic to her husband, and then back, and forth, and back and forth. Obviously it's a comment on all types of behaviors and "political-correctness" in its many forms and extremes. Always full of surprises, this book kept me on my toes, always wondering what would happen next. Furthermore, in light of the many novels about "real people relationships" steeped in overwhelming fantasy, it was refreshing to see this story end on a realistic, but positive note. It's worth the read.
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Summary: Frustrating Novel from Nick Hornby
Review: Moderate enjoyment. I do like Nick Hornby quite a bit, so this isn't a total waste, but I felt very frustrated as I read this book.First of all, Hornby doesn't do a great job of writing a book from a woman's point of view. There wasn't anything that made this any different from the male narratives of his other books. Also, there is no character arc in this book, and that is what I disliked the most. Katie (the main character) never, ever changes or sees things in a new perspective. As you read the book, you wonder where things are going, because as people around her become increasingly annoying and freakish, she never changes her monotone voice. I loved "About a Boy" and would say if you are looking for your first or second Nick Hornby novel, read that instead. Only true fans will get anything out of this, and its not a lot.
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Summary: What's Love Got To Do With It?
Review: Nick Hornby plunges into the psyche of a woman facing a spiritual crisis in his How to Be Good, an ambitious novel that occasionally brakes for wisdom in its compulsion to entertain. Kate, whose goodness is proved by her profession as a doctor, is unhappily married to David, a professional cynic who is "like me, highly skilled in the art of marital warfare." When Kate impulsively says the unthinkable (not "I want a divorce"), David is propelled into a series of actions which result in a fundamental personality change. Now that David is pursuing the path of spiritual purity, how is Kate to deal with her own failings as a human being? Hornby raises the question of what "good" is throughout the novel, focusing on two major possibilities. "Good" is intent and adherence to an ideal, or "good" is a series of charitable actions. Neither of these interpretations is enough to keep a marriage going in and of itself, and the clashes between different types of being good lead to scenes ranging from laugh-out-loud funny to wince-inducing. In the end, the exploration of the theme seems introductory rather than conclusory. What impressed me the most about this book was how well Hornby wrote from Kate's point of view. In the post Bridget Jones era of ridiculous anti-feminist female protagonists, Kate is refreshingly reflective and complex. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an entertaining and thought-provoking read who doesn't have the patience for the sex-booze-shopping-dieting genre.
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Summary: How to be....OK.
Review: Hornby's third fiction is both his most adventurous and most disapointing. While Hornby still manages to create interesting characters, though most of them seem to be rather hollow and poorly thought out. The novel reads rather rapidly, however it lacks the deep insights that made "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy" such great novels. Hornby's writing usually has real focus, but 'How To Be Good" seems to make it up as it goes along, resulting in a rather uneven, sloppy novel with no definite conclusion. Despite these faults though, there are some genuinely funny moments (the transformation in the kids is rather comical and worth reading). However, the novel is rather unpollished and unremarkable, and is definatly Horby's weakest to date. Read "High Fidelity" and "About A Boy" before you decide to venture into this territory.
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Summary: Being and Nothingness ... and Liberal Guilt
Review: Since many other reviews have summarized the plot, I'll skip the repetition. Despite finding this novel depressing and upsetting, I also found it strangely compelling. I think I'll read it again in ten years to see whether I've been beaten down by life and relate more to the story. The main characters are unsympathetic; husband David is a snide jerk pre-conversion and a sanctimonious jerk post-conversion; wife Katie has little spine and less sense of self. But nevertheless their story is very human and is a thought-provoking tale of the spiritual emptiness of modern life. Hornby is at his biting funniest when skewering liberal guilt, one of the main themes of the book. He achieves what surely was one of his aims -- having the reader give serious thought to his or her own life, values and choices. But the story's weakness is that although we see where Katie and David are now, we don't see how they got there. Why did Katie marry such a bitter, nasty man? What about the miscarriage from years ago that's mentioned but not explored? Why doesn't either character have a real (i.e. open, caring, mutually satisfying) relationship with anyone on earth? The ambiguous ending leaves a lot to think about, but the characters could have done with less existentialism and a whole lot of therapy.
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Summary: Funny, still light -- AND thought provoking!
Review: I thought this was a great book. Nick Hornsby is becoming one of my favorites, too. I was intrigued to see that he was making a woman the main character. I liked the fact that this book was still funny and not heavy, like his other books, but very thought-provoking. What DOES it really mean to be good? When you actually DO what everyone talks about, things get messy. It doesn't all work out either for you or the ones you're trying to help. Should you keep trying to be good? Why? I think this would be a great book club discussion. I recommend it highly!
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading but ...
Review: How To Be Good has all the makings of a great book. I think it hits on, in a humorous and quirky way, how a lot of women feel after 20 years marriage. It was outrageous in parts, but Hornsby pulls it off. He is a talented writer. I would highly recommend this to be read by every psychology 101 student - he captures the depressed mind/personality perfectly and in different ways in each character. Now...the reason I only gave it 3 stars... I am a tough critic and this book has some flaws. If he was a first time novelist, I would give it a 4 star. But Hornsby has the ability to do better. He misses the mark in a few places and leaves me feeling unsatisfied.(I guess that is the word.) In the beginning of the book the husband and wife have personality - passion, anger and conflict. By the end they are dull and with little emotion. One version of depression to another. With so much happening in between why not change them?
Rating: 
Summary: Not that Great
Review: Didn't like this one much, for many of the same reasons that others have said below. In the first few chapters I really didn't feel Katie thought and acted as a woman, which really irritated me, but this did get better. It was well written, as in readable, and thought provoking in places, but far too much went unexplained, and there was no satisfactory resolution. Too much just seemed to be allowed to happen without context or justification. I was glad to finish it!
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Summary: Not so good...
Review: I love Nick Hornby and I've read all his novels. There is something about this last one that I just couldn't connect with. Dr. Katie Carr is not all that sympathetic. There were times I wanted to shake her and send to see Dr. Phil. Of course, she lives in England. Nevertheless, I applaud Hornby for the risks he took in this book...and there are some interesting ruminations. In the end, I found myself not connected to Katie (Or David or Goodnews or Molly or Brian...etc) they way I was connected to Will and Rob of his other novels. My favorite part was seeing Dick from High Fidelity make a cameo here. Not a homerun, but I will be reading whatever he has cooking up next.
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Summary: Am I good?
Review: Katie Karr looks upon her self as a good person. She is a doctor, which for her proves that she is doing good. She is married to David, who is not good, and they have two quite normal kids.
Katies life changes the day she finds herself calling home from a car park telling her husband that she wants a divorce. This makes both Katie and David look at their lives with new glasses. And suddenly Katie finds she is married not to the angry, cynical, negative David, but to the David who is good, doing good deeds whenever he can, even giving away the kids' toys, the family meals, their spare bedroom. The plot in the story focuses on our ethical values. And the way this is done gives me mixed feelings. The values Hornby tries to point out as the positive and important ones (at least that's what I think he means) is the values of my life. I try to be good, I try to spend less to have more to give, I try to give of my time to people, I go to church. But the way Hornby writes about all this makes it look silly and somehow ironical. The book makes me feel bad, like Katie feels bad when she tries to look back on the life she has been living. And at the same time I feel that Hornby makes fun of me, and of people like me. Having said this I also want to say that this is an important book. It is a book people should read, not as an easy, leisure time book, but as a book giving help for the reflections about our lives. What is it to be good, what is it not to be good. And at the same time the book is funny, really funny. I have laughed alot reading about the predictable lives of Katie and David. This will not be my new bible, but I know that this book will live with me for some time. And may be even make some changes in my life for myself and for other people.
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