How to Be Good

Rating:
Summary: Major letdown
Review: This is not the kind of novel I have come to expect from Nick Hornby. The premise was interesting and as always it is an easy and enjoyable read, but there was nothing special about this book. There is no sign of the Hornby brilliance that one can see in High Fidelity or even his short from Speaking with the Angel (Nipple Jesus). Of course the book has its moments when Hornby hits a point right on the button, but it is not sustained through out most of the novel. I felt completely unsatisfied with the ending of the book, which was completely anti-climactic. Hopefully this is not a trend that will be continued in Hornby's books. I think I need to read High Fidelity again just so I can remember How Good Hornby can be.

Rating:
Summary: how to be bad
Review: My top three tips for reading Nick Hornby's "How to be Good":

1. Stop reading any paragraph over three sentences. They never get any better.

2. Ignore all parentheticals, and skip any paragraph that begins with one. (They never matter.)

3. Better yet, save yourself the trouble and skip the whole book. It's 300 pages that begin with an unhappy married couple considering divorce, and end with an unhappy married couple looking out into the cold, dark night. Ugh.

I *loved* High Fidelity, so it pains me to say it, but this one just ain't worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: As good as it gets
Review: There are writers who can make you laugh out out loud. There are writers who who write books that you cannot put down. There are writers who have an uncanny insight into our psyche. And there is Nick Hornby.

This is my favourite read of 2002, so far.

Katie Carr is a doctor. She cures the sick. She is a 'good person'. Her husband on the other hand is twisted, angry and self centred. She decides that their marriage is over unless he can change, which he does - suddenly and totally. So much so that Katie can barely cope. She isn't expecting his anger to evaporate so quickly but hoped it would come after hours of therapy. She finds that 'the angriest man in Holloway' has turned into 'Jesus Christ, Ghandi or Bob Geldoff'. He gives away money to the homeless and challenges his neighbours to accomodate them in their unused bedrooms.

His newly acquired 'goodness' then highlights Katie's own prejudices, and our own. How good are we modern liberals willing to be?

The storyline is completely improbable - which is what makes it so entertaining. If you read anything this summer - read this.

Rating:
Summary: Who are you and what did you do with Nick Hornby
Review: I adored High Fidelity and About a Boy. Hornby is a genius at drawing characters who are lovable despite their flaws--because, let's face it, most of us are flawed and hope to be loved anyway. Yet with Katie Carr, Hornby has managed to paint a character completely devoid of feeling and totally self-absorbed. She hates her husband, yet won't leave him and continues to belittle him every chance she gets. Does she stay with him for the sake of the children? I wonder, since she seems to dislike her children as well. While funny in parts (parts that are few and far between), How to Be Good left me depressed and wishing for the old Nick Hornby, author of books that are seriously funny, hopeful, and believable.

Rating:
Summary: Dissapointment
Review: I have truly enjoyed Nick Hornby's other tales but this one killed me. It would have been a lot better if it were about 100 pages shorter. By the end I lost track of the characters and storyline and just felt like I was being preached to. Too bad - my recommendation is to read About A Boy and High Fidelity.

Rating:
Summary: Hornby just lost me
Review: I liked this book a lot less than his previous two, High Fidelity and About a Boy. Reading this book was like I was an involuntary tourist being dragged around the unfamiliar town, in several places that I wasn't quite convinced the best places to visit. Just a mismatch of the mindset, I guess. So long Mr. Hornby. You've just lost me.

Rating:
Summary: Nagging message spoils story
Review: Although I like Hornby's work in general, I was dissapointed by this book. Okay, sometimes it's funny, sometimes I could even identify with the characters or the situation, but all the time I was irritated by a nagging mosquito who was trying to deliver a message. The message is, I guess, that it is not easy to have a clear conscience and that we are all only human and should try to make peace in our own home and family first. Not an earthshaking revelation for me. And as this message is already Very Clear after the first two chapters, I kept hoping for an interesting new turn of thought, but alas, none came.

Rating:
Summary: Something a little different
Review: I liked this book because it made me consider what it takes to really be "good." It certainly isn't practical, and maybe not even possible to be "good," but what would happen if someone gave it a try? This is an unusual premise dealt with humorously; therefore, I enjoyed "How to be Good."

On the other hand, I don't think that Hornby does "a women's voice" particularly well, and the character of David seemed a lot like an older version of the main character in "High Fidelity," sans the musical obsession. Perhaps these men are all really just Hornby himself. No wonder he choose to tell this book from the wife's perspective, he must be trying to avoid the rut that he's stuck in, but it's not convincing.

I most enjoyed the middle section of "How to be Good," after David has his encounter with GoodNews. I thought that "How to be Good" just sort of petered out without any real ending, and it started a bit slow. But the middle part was funny and interesting, and worth the time it takes to get through the slow beginning.

I recommend "How to be Good" to anyone who likes Hornby, married persons, and people who would like to "Be Good."

Rating:
Summary: Disturbingly pleasant...
Review: Nick Hornby can write. I've read everything he's published, and I was not disappointed with How to Be Good. While it's an obvious departure from the themes pursued in his other fiction, the humor and warmth are still there. We also encounter another example of Hornby's use of the flawed hero. Do you love Katie or do you just want her to shut up? Whatever your decision, How to Be Good is a fun read, though not as good as About a Boy.

Rating:
Summary: Ideal airport lounge book
Review: First person singular narration by English suburban middle class- wife-mother of two-general practitioner who is feeling pretty flat about everything. The zip and zing has gone out of her life - poor diddums. So what are we going to do now? Oh I know. Let's put out. That might be fun. But this doesn't work. Let's move out of the family home then. This doesn't work either. Meanwhile hubby has suddenly turned "good" and wants to be a better person. Invites a character called Good News to stay in the family home, whom the daughter loves and the son hates. Has a meeting of neighbours to encourage the street to support the homeless, and each other - charity begins at home ("charity", it is made clear has the same Latin root as "love") so we have hubby promulgating the belief of "love thy neighbour". As someone once observed, "don't knock Christianity, it hasn't been tried yet". The consequent actions, and reactions of the participants is funny. A very easy read, quite funny, and perfect for the airport lounge or as a read on the train to work. Very enjoyable and relaxing read.