| A Long Way Down | |
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US First edition cover of A Long Way Down |
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| Author(s) | Nick Hornby |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Riverhead Books |
| Publication date | 7 June 2005 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) & Audio CD |
| Pages | 352 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 1-57322-302-6 |
| OCLC Number | 56567128 |
A Long Way Down is a novel written by British author Nick Hornby, published in 2005. It is a dark comedy, playing off the themes of suicide, angst, depression and promiscuity.
The story is written in the first-person narrative from the points of view of the four main characters, Martin, Maureen, Jess and JJ. These four strangers happen to meet on the roof of a high building called Topper's House in London on New Year's Eve, each with the intent of committing suicide. Their plans for death in solitude, however, are ruined when they meet. The novel recounts their misadventures as they decide to come down from the roof alive - however temporarily that may be.
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Disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp, the lonely housewife Maureen (51 years old), the unsuccessful musician JJ and the rude teenager Jess (18 years old) meet at Topper's House in London at New Year's Eve. They all want to commit suicide by jumping from the roof. Their plans for death in solitude, however, are ruined when they meet. After telling their individual stories to the others, they decide to hold off on jumping and to protect themselves. Thus a group of four unfortunate and very individual people forms. Jess' condition not to jump is that they help her to find her ex-boyfriend Chas. So they take a taxi and drive to the party they suppose Chas to be at. After finding and talking to Chas they decide to go to Martin's place where they find Penny, who has obviously been crying. She accuses Martin of cheating on her because he had left the party they'd both attended that evening without any explanation.
The next morning the newspapers claim that Martin has slept with Jess after Chas gives them false information. Jess' father takes her to task because the whole thing is very awkward for him. He is the Junior Secretary of Education and has a reputation to lose. Out of fear that her father learns she wants to kill herself, she doesn't deny it.
The following newspaper edition is about a suicidal-pact between Martin and Jess. Jess' father asks Martin to clear up the accusations and he denies that he slept with Jess. After the conversation, her father asks Martin to protect Jess and gives him money. Afterwards, a reporter calls JJ wanting to know why they decided not to jump, but JJ refuses to discuss it.
Later Jess calls Maureen and they decide to organize a meeting at Maureen's place. At the meeting, Jess suggests that they try to profit from the suicidal-report in the newspaper. Her idea is to confess to the press that they saw an angel who saved them from jumping. Martin, Maureen and JJ don't like the idea and they try to convince Jess out of talking to the press. The next morning they find out that Jess told a reporter, Linda, that they saw an angel that looked like Matt Damon. Jess also promised Linda an interview with Martin, Maureen and JJ. Although they are upset with Jess' behavior, they decide to do the interview. Linda uses the interview to attack Martin in the press. Thus Martin is fired from his cable TV “FeetUp TV”. But he receives a second chance by promising to his boss that the other three will be guests in his show. The show is a disaster and Martin loses his job. At another TV show Jess admits that the angel-story was not true.
Later, JJ decides that the four of them have to go on vacation. Martin, Jess and JJ help Maureen to find a place for Matty. One week later they sit in a plane to Tenerife. On the second day, Jess sees a girl who looks very similar to her lost sister Jen. Jess bothers the girl and they have a fight. Out of frustration Jess gets drunk and the police have to take her back to the hotel. JJ meets a girl that knows his old band and they spend the night together. Martin decides to leave the hotel after a fight with Jess. During his absence from the others he thinks about his life and decides that he has made no mistakes and he decides to blame other people for how his life has turned out. In the taxi to the airport they talk about their vacation and plan another meeting for Saint Valentine's Day.
They meet at 8 o'clock on the roof of Topper's House on Saint Valentine's Day. While they have a conversation, they detect a young man who is planning to jump from the roof. They try to stop him from committing suicide but he jumps. They decide to go home and to meet the following afternoon at Starbucks.
Martin tells them about a newspaper article he read according to which people who want to commit suicide need 90 days to overcome their ambition. So they decide to wait with their decision until the 31st of March. Maureen and Jess decide to visit Martins ex-wife Cindy to bring her back to him. Cindy Sharp lives with her kids in Torley Heath and has a new partner Paul, who is blind. Cindy explains to them that Martin made many mistakes and that he didn't take care of his children. After that, Jess organizes a meeting in the basement of Starbucks. She invites all relatives of the four. All in all seventeen people appear, but the meeting is a disaster. Jess and her parents are screaming at each other because her mother claims her that she had stolen a pair of earrings of Jen out of Jen's untouched room. While they are fighting Jess runs out of the Starbucks. JJ and a former member of his band are leaving the basement to have a fight and Martin has an argument with one of Maureen's nurses because he claims him to flirt with Penny. Maureen is the only one of the four who is still present. She talks to Jess' parents and utters the speculation that Jen maybe had come back and took the earrings. The nurses Sean and Stephen help Maureen to bring Matty home and on the way Sean asks her if she is interested to join his quiz-team. At the quiz, and old man from the team offers Maureen a job in a newspaper-store. When Jess comes back from her trip to London bridge her mother apologizes for her behavior. Jess accepts the apology. Maureen, JJ and Martin have new jobs now. Martin teaches pupils and wants to start a new life, JJ is a busker and is happy to make music again and Maureen works in a newspaper-store. The ninety days have passed and they meet in front of the Topper's House again. They decide to go on the roof again. On top, while watching the London Eye they realize that their lives are not so bad. They decide to wait with killing themselves for another six months.
The Topper's House in the book should be the Archway Tower above the London Underground station in north London.
As with several of Hornby's earlier books, it seems likely that A Long Way Down will be adapted for the screen. Johnny Depp bought the rights to the book before it was even published and has since hired writer D.V. DeVincentis, who previously wrote the script for the film High Fidelity, to write the screenplay.[1] Depp is also quoted on the back of the paperback edition as saying that the book is "Masterful … some of the finest writing, and some of the most outstanding characters I've ever had the pleasure of reading." [2]
The book received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator Metacritic reported the book had an average score of 55 out of 100, based on 32 reviews.[3]
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