|
Loading... How to Be Good (2001)by Nick Hornby
None. I found the quality of prose, tone and pacing of this very uneven. It seemed to stutter between cynicism and sentimentality. The only characters that were vivid to me were the ones intended to caricatures. A novel about first world problems, I don't think it will make anyone sympathetic to the torments of liberal guilt. (  ) rhondagrantham | Jun 13, 2013 |  I picked this up for some light relief, having somehow forgotten just how cynical and vicious Hornby can be. Focusing on the trials and tribulations of an unhappily married doctor in North London, the central question here is how reasonable liberal ideals are and whether they can - or should - be put into practice. Hornby is always deft with observation and dialogue, so there's plenty to laugh at, but I found myself as irritated as amused by the self-absorbed cast. On other days, I think I would have enjoyed it - at present I found it too cynical and rather disheartening rather than the light relief I was looking for. (  ) imyril | Jun 2, 2013 | Idea I'm taking away from this book: I don't know. It was just fun and sweet. Accept people as they are, maybe; do what you can to make this world pleasant for as many people as you can, but for god's sake, don't forget yourself! Keep your own self relaxed and happy, even if it feels selfish to do so. (  ) arlongworth | May 22, 2013 | Very easy to read; I motored through it. The big "however" is that I had no particular response to the story, negative or positive. It's not a bad book, but also not really great. I think I had a problem with some of the basic premises, and that made it difficult for me to connect strongly. In particular, there was one assumption (that the actions of the husband and his "guru" were beyond logical criticism) that I simply didn't buy. Not until the large few pages does anybody click to the fact that their might indeed be reasonable objections, and I found that rather annoying. Also, the cover blurbs/reviews led me to expect something quite different. This is certainly not a "hilarious" book. There are a few laughs, but they're pretty far and few between. ( ) Vivl | Apr 5, 2013 | Enjoyable, funny. About spiritual conversion of a husband. marriage in trouble but stick it out. ( ) mawls | Apr 4, 2013 |
 Readers of ''High Fidelity'' will remember that Hornby wrapped up that sharp tale of modern love with a disingenuously bright bow of a last scene. Here, the pattern's reversed, and 305 pages of treacle (cut, it must be said, with acid humor) build to a final paragraph bearing more truth about marriage and family than all that preceded it.  "How to Be Good" is partly a wry marital comedy about how a spouse's change of heart invariably destabilizes his longtime partner's own identity, but it's also a thorny parable about the dangers of complacent, conventional self-satisfaction. It's also a very funny and shrewd novel, like Hornby's others, full of acerbic observations about book-buying habits, the virtues of friends who don't really listen to what you say, the tactlessness of children, movies that all seem to "involve spacecraft or insects or noise" and the poisonous bitchiness of those dissatisfied souls who hover in the margins of the creative life. A generation ago, Western society held an informal plebiscite to decide whether the common good would be better served by sane, decent people like Katie or lollapaloozas like GoodNews. The holy fools lost, and the vote wasn't close. It's anyone's guess why Hornby felt it was time for a recount. You might say that, by the end, the questions this engaging book opens are too big for the lives it describes; but then, as Katie concludes, aren't they always? Hornby's prose is artful and effortless, his spiky wit as razored as a number-two cut. There are some delightful comic set-ups, and his dialogue sings with empathy for the discordant voices of ordinary, struggling humanity
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0141803169, Audio CD)According to her own complex moral calculations, Katie Carr has earned her affair. She's a doctor, after all, and doctors are decent people, and on top of that, her husband David is the self-styled Angriest Man in Holloway. When David suddenly becomes good, however - properly, maddeningly, give-away-all-his-money good - Katie's sums no longer add up and she is forced to ask herself some very hard questions...Nick Hornby's brilliant new novel offers a painfully funny account of modern marriage and parenthood and asks that most difficult of questions: what does it mean to be good?(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 03 Jan 2013 10:30:29 -0500) The tale of a woman who, confronted by her husband's sudden and extreme spiritual conversion, is forced to learn "how to be good" -- for better wor worse. -- Cover. |
 Google Books — Loading...
Popular coversRatingAverage: (3.15)
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia in English (1)
8