How to Be Good by Nick Hornby Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $2.99 You Save: $12.01 (80%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of How to Be Good
Book Review: Beats high fidelity
Summary: 4 Stars
Having picked this up out of chance to get a book to take on holiday with me i was'nt really sure of what to excpect, what i found was a comical book that runs through smoothly and is quite hard to put down. I found the book very well written and well maintained and i would recommened it for anybody looking for a read thats not too heavy duty and is enjoyable, i was suprised that high fidelity is the one most people seem engrossed in as this has a much better plot though high fidelity is good it lacks what this offering has. So if you want a lucid book then this is always a good read.Book Review: Being and Nothingness ... and Liberal Guilt
Summary: 3 Stars
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.
Book Review: Being good, blah blah blah...
Summary: 3 Stars
This was a half-hearted effort. Hornby wrote it as if he had no experience whatsoever at being married, separated, a parent, etc. He gets it half-right and writes it mostly well, but it is still off the mark somehow. It is an entertaining read, but it doesn't seem TRUE at all. Nobody with kids is that far-fetched. Still, it was a fun read and probably people with no kids would buy the goofy characters. (Real parents know it's not like that.)Book Review: Both thought-provoking and laugh out loud
Summary: 4 Stars
I loved this book. I wont go into a synopsis of the plot, others have said it so much better, but it gave me so much to think about. The book centres on what being good means. Where does charity start - in the home or should we be looking outwards more? Or are we all just far too selfish to ever be good so all we can do is just do what we can and accept our limitations? Is being a little bit good enough or does it just end up being self-serving and hypocritical? How do we balance all the demands on us including our own?The book doesnt really answer these questions - I am not sure there is an answer and in the end the characters struggle to come to terms with their immediate problems with few resolutions but maybe more of a clear idea of where to start trying.
Book Review: Brilliant Book!
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved this book. I read it in three days. Nick Hornby is a master at writing the way people actually speak. I laughed out loud at almost the entire book. It was wonderful. All of Nick's books are well written and easy to read.