How to Be Good by Nick Hornby Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of How to Be Good
Book Review: *@$#!%@#! THE HOMELESS!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
I am kind of dumbfounded by the negative and low ratings, this book has received. While I have only read Fever Pitch, and only seen High Fidelity on film, my main foray into "How To Be Good" was incredibly satisfying.
I thought Hornby took a lot of chances with this book writing from the mindset of a female, and also from a very flawed character. The lifestyle portrait he describes of a falling apart married couple and the subsequent odd epiphany of her husband made for an ingenious story. A guy like DJ Goodnews is not a common stereotyped character you just find lying around in every book you come across.
There were sections that had me howling when I read it. I think what stood out the most and made this story unique was the way Hornby really nails what I would call "the liberal nightmare". In this book a character forces himself to live by his morals, and finds that while his wife in 'principal' has always felt this way and supportive of those ideas, she is abhored by the fact that now she is forced to put up or shut up on those beliefs or face constant consternation.
The ending is great, it's flawed, on purpose for a reason. We are all fragile and flawed in our beliefs and mistakes life is imperfect. Enjoy!
Book Review: A Classic For Our Time
Summary: 5 Stars
Nick Hornby captured in a fun way much of what I wrestle with on an ongoing basis. I was hoping he would come up with an answer at the end of the book...solve the delimma that so many of us struggle with...I battle with my own desire to create a better world and the sarcasm and cynicism that does not help create that...but helps us cope. I think there are not answers, it's just what is. Maybe the best we can do is hold onto each other in the black empty space out there...Book Review: A Hornby newbie left wanting
Summary: 3 Stars
I've seen the movie "About a Boy", but "How to be Good" is my first Hornby read and it left me a bit disappointed. It starts out good enough. Katie, the central character of the novel, wants to divorce her angry husband David. She describes accurately typical marital issues with enough levity as to not leave you wanting your own divorce since much of it should "hit home" to many long married couples. I laughed outloud quite a few times. But after her husband is changed spiritually by DJ Goodnews, Hornby began to address the title of his book through Katie- the eternal question of how to be good in today's society? How to reconcile your own middle class comfort with all the bad stuff that you know is out there in the world? Katie afterall is a doctor and so is by definition "good", but her husband begins to take it to the extreme and she finds herself questioning her own identity and her definition of "good".
Every person brings their own personal experience to a novel when they read it and mine was that I have been married to my own husband for 13 years now and I have children the exact ages of Katie's children in the novel- a 10 year old boy and an 8 year old girl. So, I had some problems with Katie's personal journey along the way- namely her apparant dislike of her children. Yes, she goes to great lengths to convince her kids that she and their Dad won't get a divorce, but she allows her children to be around all that crazy stuff that happens in the book? It was too far fetched for me to believe. I had to believe that any "normal" mother would have taken her kids and ran for their lives if the husband/father pulled anything like that. She was after all the bread winner of the family, David didn't even HAVE a job after his conversion, so it's not like she needed him around for financial support. Katie was very spineless in that regard and I lost a lot of respect for her. But then, if Katie had acted like I'd have acted, Hornby wouldn't have had material for the book. So, off I hopped back off my soap box to see where he'd take me. Goodnews and David annoyed me to no end with their save the world self-righteousness and I found my 2 favorite characters to be Tom and Barmy Brian! Even the ending left me wanting. Katie and David seemed to find a happy medium to the goodness issue, but the state of their marriage still seemed doomed to me. They were still destined to be unhappy and simply settling. I wanted to feel hope for their marriage and all I felt was sorry for the kids.
I'm sure that Hornby leaves the question of how to be good unanswered on purpose, because when you get right down to it, it's impossible to answer.It's just too subjective for there to be a right or wrong answer. This was why I was hoping for some sort of resolution to the marital issue.
The book certainly does make one question their own needs vs. wants, and whether one is doing what one can for the good of society outside the cozy walls of one's microcosm. It was a nice, easy, and often funny read that simply left me a little wanting at the end.
Book Review: A Little Crazy
Summary: 3 Stars
A friend loaned me How to Be Good and swore that I would love it. While I enjoyed it, I had a hard time accepting just how far David went to be good. Giving his children's unplayed with toys is one thing, giving their computers away was sad, but bringing Dr. Goodnews to live with them and all that follows just seemed crazy. Would Kate really have let this happen?
This isn't to say that How to Be Good wasn't a good story. It was hard to put down in the sense that I had to know what ridiculous thing David and Dr. Goodnews would do next. I just couldn't quite swallow a reasonable wife letting any of this happen.
Book Review: A Warmer Look at Modern Dysfunction and Marriage Woes
Summary: 4 Stars
This was my first Hornby novel ( after enjoying the movie versions of "About a Boy" and "High Fidelity" ) and I was quite impressed. His witty and humanist outlook provided a welcome change from the dryness and the bleak incisiveness of another Franzen or DeLillo novel. The lead character was believable as a privileged boomer who's increasingly unhappy with the way her life has turned out and confused as to why she should be, since she's done all the right things. But the winning part of the book is the redemption of the cranky, spiteful husband. His new temperate and enlightened attitude gives the ending a genuine warmth without being sappy or contrived. I can't understand why this novel only averages about 3 stars. Perhaps it is consisdered too familiar or too lightweight. Regardless, I heartily recommmend it.