A Long Way Down

A Long Way Down is an interesting novel by the British author Nick Hornby and it is about four people who are willing to commit suicide on new year’s eve. The four persons meet accidentally on a rooftop at Topper’s House. Their unexpected meeting ruins their plans of suicide and gets them to get down together without committing suicide but rather deciding to help each other. 

Personally, I believe that the title A Long Way Down is coming from the suicide that the four main characters try to commit and fail to do. Thus, the way down from the Topper’s House become a long one when they change their plans from committing suicide to getting down peacefully wanting to help each other.  

The events so far take place on the rooftop of the Topper’s House where the four main characters meet for the first time on new year’s eve. Furthermore, the reader understands that the events take place in modern times or in urbanized London. 

The four main characters in the book are Martin Sharp, Maureen, JJ, and Jess. Each character is unique in their own way and each one has their own problems that pushed them to get onto the rooftop of the Topper’s to commit suicide. Martin Sharp is a disgraced former TV presenter who got fired because he slept with a fifteen years old girl who he believed to be older than 15. Maureen is a single mother who got tired of taking care of her adult and disabled son. Jess, the rude teenager decides to commit suicide because her boyfriend dumped her. JJ is an American musician whose band separated and his girlfriend left him. Each character is unique in their very own way and mainly, they have nothing in common other than the intention of committing suicide. I believe every one of the main characters has their own story that makes them think about suicide, yet none of them has a good enough reason to do what they are planning to do. 

The language is not hard and is rather a descriptive one that the author uses to describe the fictional events and thoughts that Hornby created in the main character’s minds. Language is also characterized by being emotional and having a lot of feelings and inner thoughts. 

This is an interesting novel that addresses such a horrible matter as suicide in a comedy and energetic way. It first part of the novel reaches its peak point when the main characters are on the rooftop intending to commit suicide but this part is also full of life. That is, the lives of the four main characters.