How to Be Good

Rating:
Summary: Not nearly Nick's best work, but it has it's moments.
Review: As much as it pains me to say it, for Hornby is one of my favorite contemporary writers, How to be Good represents a step backward for Nick Hornby.

The saga of the somewhat dysfunctional Carr family of suburban London, the book is Hornby's first effort at writing from the female perspective. While I want to credit him for broadening his horizons, I have to say in all honesty, this doesn't work well. It's not that Nick doesn't have a real knack for illustrating the ironies and idiosyncrasies of modern relationships-he does. And it's not that his acerbic and caustic-but right on the money-wit has deserted him-it hasn't. It's just that his take is a peculiarly male one that does not translate consistently well to the female point of view. Therer are moments where it looks like Nick is A l m o s t T h e r e, but in the end the sense of things just isn't quite right. Part of the problem is the male-female point of view, but there also seems to be some sort of dynamic to the married state Hornby can't quite seem to get a handle on-his relationships oddities seem more "natural" in their weirdness when framed outside the institutional realm.

On the other hand, Hornby at not-quite-his-best is still very often much better than most other authors, so while the book represents a bit of a disappointment, it nevertheless is a very entertaining and amusing diversion. It contains Hornby's usual cast of slightly-off-the-wall characters, provides many laugh-out-loud moments and does raise some interesting points regarding the state-of-the-relationship 15-20 years on-the boredom, the complacency, the weariness that can overwhelm a marriage and a family. It also provides an interesting take on exactly what it means to "be good" and what motivates people insofar as assessing what "goodness" means to them personally.

So, all in all, while not Hornby's best work, it's still a pretty enjoyable effort overall. I'm certainly glad I read it.

Rating:
Summary: it could have been so much better
Review: THe first 75 pages of this book are really excellent: a marriage in crisis is portrayed with humor and pain, the characterisations of the family bitingly realistic.

THen, like way too many contemporary novels, it suddens adds this ridiculously lite surrealistic tone, and completely loses credibility. Badness get "[taken] out" of people and personalities miraculously change, etc. The novel then turns onto a strange and rather too general question of how to become a "good" person, which bored me, but that is a matter of taste. From a very good start, it lost for me.

This is a talented writer. Perhaps my wish for more realism, which he can clearly accomplish with wit and style, is outdated. But I did not like the way the book degenerated into a kind of sit com.

Alas, I am so often disappointed by the new "happening" novels.

Rating:
Summary: A different sort of tale from Hornby.
Review: Nick Hornby's novels previous to HOW TO BE GOOD have been excellent examples of what might be called book-length sitcoms. HIGH FIDELITY was turned into a quirky, Americanized film starring John Cusack, and ABOUT A BOY enjoyed a cinematic adaptation starring Hugh Grant. These books had a straightforward, comedic quality about them that made them ideal for transfer to the big screen; they were high-concept works that were clever, fresh, and funny.

It's hard to imagine HOW TO BE GOOD making the same journey. This novel is something new for Hornby: while it's as humorous and incisive as his previous work, it's also more naturalistic, and lacks the "hook" of a novel like HIGH FIDELITY. Not that this is a bad thing; Hornby demonstrates that he's able and willing to grow as a writer, and if HOW TO BE GOOD is a little shaky, that's simply because it represents the author's first steps onto a larger literary stage.

For the first time, Hornby writes from a woman's perspective. His protagonist, the relentlessly ordinary and middle-class doctor, Katie Carr, has two children and the angriest husband in the world: David. The life Katie and David lead is one of venom and spite. David makes a living (and a hobby) out of spewing vitriol in every direction. His marriage to Katie has been dead for years, but neither of them see much point in breaking up. When Katie has an affair and confesses it to her husband, events come to a head.

Ultimately Hornby's Katie wants a husband who isn't so angry. Beyond that, she has no idea what to do with the life she's assembled. Everything seems about to collapse when David sees a faith healer called DJ GoodNews about a recurrent back problem. GoodNews fixes David up, and throws in a total personality change for good measure. The new David is a saintly figure who can't eat a meal without feeling guilty about the starving homeless, who lays awake at night trying to figure out how to give more of his belongings away, and therefore now drives his wife even more mad than he did before.

HOW TO BE GOOD becomes, at about the halfway point, an examination of one question: how good does someone have to be to be really considered a good person? It's a heavy topic, and when Hornby weaves in the issues of how to preserve a marriage, be a decent parent, and build a meaningful (if modest) life, the novel seems almost too slight to bear the weight of all that thought. As a result, the book is sometimes not that funny, but it never fails to elicit at least the odd laugh, or even a knowing nod of the head. Given that this is new thematic ground for Hornby, it's commendable how well HOW TO BE GOOD manages to remain consistently entertaining.

In the end, this novel cannot be considered one of Hornby's best. Even his nonfiction sport memoir, FEVER PITCH, rates more highly. HOW TO BE GOOD does have its heart in the right place, though, and as the book itself states, that's sometimes good enough.

Rating:
Summary: Was expecting more....
Review: This was my first literary contact with Nick Hornby. I've seen the films High Fidelity and About a Boy and loved the sarcastic wit in both, so I think I had high expectations for How to be Good. While the sarcasm and wit were there, and for that matter, highly enjoyed, I couldn't help but feel the novel was lacking in substance. Most of the book was comprised of Katie's resentment toward her husband, which is funny at times, but also extremely depressing to the point where the humor begins to lose its merit and what we are left with is a fear of marriage and the monster it can turn into. And then a bit of boredom. With that said, there is some great writing in there - Nick Hornby is talented in that regard, but at times I was aware that it was a man speaking for a woman, which was sometimes hard to swallow. I'd say the major strength of the novel was the self-effacing humor - the complete self-awareness the main character holds, which is evident in the first paragraph of the novel. That approach really appealed to the reader's sensitivities - helped me relate to Katie and also view and understand her complexities. It's worth a read, but I imagine High Fidelity and About a Boy are more worth your time. I still plan to continue to read Nick Hornby - I have a feeling this was not the Nick Hornby book to start off with.

Rating:
Summary: What is means to be "good."
Review: I'm a Nick Hornby fan, so when I read a review of his latest novel, "How to be Good," and noted that his protagonist was a woman, I wondered whether or not he could pull it off. There were times as I read when I thought that a woman (Katie) would NEVER have said or thought the way Hornby depicted. I rated the book four stars--rather than five--as a result. I just don't think Hornby produced a convincing, consistent female voice. I think Hornby should stick to writing from the male point of view--he is, after all, SO GOOD at that!

Hornby's protagonist, Kate Carr is a doctor, married with two children. She finds her work unsatisfying, her children difficult, and her marriage impossible. She is in the throes of an affair that is a symptom of her unhappiness. Her husband, David is a bitter, angry man who while finishing "The Great Novel," earns a little money by writing a column for the local newspaper. The column serves as an outlet for his nasty rantings and personal pet peeves.

After hurting his back, David seeks the services of a faith healer called "GoodNews"--this starts initially as a dig at his wife--but the non-traditional treatment meets with miraculous results. Not only is David's back painfree, but he also undergoes a rather odd transformation, and he moves his new guru, GoodNews into the house. David gives up writing his novel, dumps the newspaper column, and begins to concentrate on "being good" full time.

David's reformation threatens his relationships just as much as his previous nastiness. He forces his children to give away possessions, coerces neighbours into housing homeless kids, and gives away family meals.

Hornby writes with his usual wonderful sense of humour while addressing serious questions regarding the nature of charity, the use of charity, and personal sacrifice. Is it selfish to work for, pay for and maintain a house while others are homeless? Are those who are so willing to give away possessions guided by something other than charity? What makes someone "good"? Is "being good" just another form of social control? Personally I found the transformed David (the good one) much more annoying than David, the obnoxious version. I am still mulling that over.

Rating:
Summary: Don't bother.
Review: In this work, Hornby manages to score a few sound satirical points against many of the assumptions that permeate modern "liberal" middle class society and typical nuclear family life. But despite the apparent intention of the novel to teach a moral, do not expect profound or novel insights - whatever wisdom stands to be gained fails to rise beyond the level of platitude: It is revelatory only to the exceptionally blind or misguided.

The dialogue is reasonably competently contrived, though sadly, one is constantly left the impression that Mr. Hornby assumes a sub-par intellect in his readership. Characters' motives and intentions are frequently explained in the text, when it was already evident simply from the dialogue. Dialogue itself is frequently extended beyond the point where a real speaker would have ventured lest they make their hidden intentions too clear to their fictional audiences. One expects better from an experienced author.

The pace of the plot is adequate. The build-up to the husband's hilarious assumption of perceived sainthood is perhaps a little too long and contains insufficient satirical grist to be interesting in itself. But his conversion is a satisfyingly climactic event for which it is worth prolonging the anticipation. Thereafter his ascension to vertiginous heights of self-delusion remains amusing for a few chapters. Lack of credible motivation for such a prolonged streak of irrational behaviour, however, leaves this text meandering the dreamscape of farce, confuting its veneer of realism. It becomes tedious in later chapters. The denouement is sufficiently anti-climactic and presaged to desire your avoidance. (Sort of like the end of this review).

In a nutshell: The husband's conversion to nut-hood is funny and spellbinding. The rest is shell - not worth chewing on.

Rating:
Summary: How a Depressing Situation Can Be Entertainingly Presented
Review: One of my English professors said that good writers are usually great listeners. If my professor's hypothesis is true, then Nick Hornby must be a fabulous listener. I state that point because his book, How To Be Good, is a triumph of realistic dialogue which adroitly portrays the emotion behind a marriage's disintegration.

Since the book is centered around Dr. Katie Carr, it is her dialogue and "inner voice" that drive the story. Her dialogue and the supporting narrative are filled with the pain, anger, apathy, and humor that one feels as a relationship slowly disintegrates. The book would be very good if it were only the main character who displayed such sparkling talk. However, all of the book's characters are made alive by the same kind of dialogue. It's easy to relate to Katie's husband's confusion, her son's anger, and her houseguest's calmness simply from the words that they utter.

However, How To Be Good is not just simply an exercise in effective dialogue. It is also an interesting examination of what constitutes "good." As Hornby points out, Katie is a doctor. This profession is typically considered to be "good" because its practitioners heal or alleviate suffering. Yet, Katie's good seems to pale in the face of her husband's more aggressive form of "goodness." Before making him out to be a saint, Hornby shows how her husband's actions not only bring some unintended negative consequences, but also fail to prevent the disintegration of his family. By showing these actions and situations, Hornby reminds the reader that there is no single answer to the question "how does one be good" because mankind hasn't found that single answer yet. In taking this honest stand, Hornby treats his readers with a respect that wouldn't be found had he finished the book with a tidy ending which had everyone living happily ever after.

How To Be Good is a complex work. On the surface, it is a study of the slow, painful failure of a relationship. Underneath that exterior is a clever examination of "good" and how that term is defined. It takes a skilled author to combine thorny themes like these and create an entertaining book. Thanks to his deft touch with dialogue and a strong sense of narrative, Hornby has created such a book. How To Be Good should be required reading for anyone who appreciates a good story told in a realistic, emotionally challenging manner.

Rating:
Summary: Occasionally funny, but too righteous "to be good"
Review: The opening of "How to Be Good" is everything a satire should be: extremely funny, engaging, and provocative. Hornby has posited an interesting premise: what if you got what you wished for--in this case, what if your angry, curmudgeonly spouse met a dubious messiah and suddenly and miraculously became (morally) "good"? How would your life be affected? How would you react? Would it really be what you wished for; would it really be all that "good"?

In spite of its subject matter, however, "How to Be Good" is not a work of psychological fiction. Short of a severe trauma (or a trip to Damascus), humans don't undergo complete character transformations overnight. Asking what the world would be like if we could alter our personalities without provocation is like asking what would happen if, tomorrow, we could suddenly be invisible. In effect, like H. G. Wells, Hornby has written a social commentary disguised as a fantasy novel, a fable of modern suburbia.

But Hornby commits the cardinal sin of satirical writing: the rest of the novel--after the first 25 pages or so--is only occasionally humorous, and most of the humor derives from situational absurdity rather than wit or substance. Presented from the wife's point of view, the narrative lacks cleverness or even drollness, and it quickly degenerates into whining protest (the statement "I'm a good person, I'm a doctor . . ." is repeated in various forms at least fifty times) and monotonous self-analysis ("It could well be that I am going mad; or, on the other hand, that I am simply confused and unhappy; or, on the third hand, that I know exactly what I want but cannot bring myself to do it because of all the pain it would cause . . ."). Hornby seems to have a rather uncharitable view of how women think; his caricature borders on misogyny--although, admittedly, the men in this book do not fare much better.

Hornby seems to want very badly to write a novel with a Message. "How to Be Good," unfortunately, is as profound as Richard Bach's "Illusions" and its reluctant messiah--and just about as subtle in its Hallmark piousness. He scatters ill-conceived sermons at various random targets--liberalism, popular culture, intellectualism--and even though the sanctimonious tone is frequently unbearable, it's rarely quite clear what he is trying to say. In the end, "How to Be Good" is a morality tale without much of a moral.

Rating:
Summary: Not as brilliant as HiFi/AboutABoy, but truly worth reading
Review: Nick Hornby is really a very clever man. He knows that he would hardly write something as good as "Hi Fidelity" if he tried to do something similar to it. So, he is looking for inspiration in his own maturity, and his writing shows it clearly.
If "About A Boy" still had a "thirty-something-but-somewhat-teenage" protagonist (just like Hi-Fi), "How To Be Good" is a clear transition to a more "forty-something-middle-class-problems" world.
Further, Hornby dares to use the voice of a woman (the doctor and wife with personality crisis Kate Karr) to tell the story. Moreover, "How to be good" contains themes as diverse and uneasy as depression, racism, cultural criticism, alternative medicine and the homeless.
Although he unexpectally did a very good work with his new universe, its difficult for him to handle it as well as he have done with the male universe of music, soccer and unwillingness to grow older. Maybe it's gonna take a couple of books for him to be as secure and precise as before.

Rating:
Summary: I'd give it 3 and a half if I could...
Review: My girlfriend and I did a swap - she read the Sorrows of Young Werther, by Goethe, one of my favourite books, and I read this. She got the better deal.

Not that this is a bad book, far from it. It strikes me as the sort of book that preceeds something truly great. Perhaps Hornby's next will be something special.

Anyway, on to the book. I don't think it's a laugh-out-loud kind of book, rather a sardonic-chuckle satire, mostly about how we all want to do good, just as long as it doesn't inconvenience us too much or we don't have to go without, and then how we rationalise that. But like most good satire, it's not just attacking one thing, but rather anything and everything it notices. Geniune do-gooders are satirised too, for their insufferable smugness. As a criticism I might say that I didn't find David or GoodNews (a vaguely Socratic figure - he doesn't believe in beds), the two main do-gooders, to be as smug as the other characters made them out to be, which could be considered a flaw if it wasn't for the nagging feeling I have that Hornby was well aware of that. It would be a good point if it was intentional - a common defense against do-gooders is that they are horribly smug even when they are not. It makes the complacent feel better to see a flaw, whether it's a creation of their own minds or not.

The needy are also satirised, as Hornby takes pains to point out that you can only help those who want to help themselves. And religion is too, or at least the sort of joyless organised church religion that prevails in the west.

But the satire takes first place in this novel, and the characters and plot are often sacrificed to it. I didn't get any real sense of who any of the characters were, except for the main one. The plot would have benefitted if we had seen just a bit more of the old cynical David before seeing his conversion. And the ending, while it could be seen as a clever remark on life, really comes off more as that Hornby couldn't decide how to finish so just stopped writing one day.

Still, it's worth a read, particularly since it's not very long.