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Schule > Englisch > Nick Hornby - Slam > Summary of chapters and Characterization: Slam (Nick Hornby)

Summaries (1.)

Chapter 1

Chapter one of the novel "Slam written by Nick Hornby and published in 2001 introduces the reader into the world of the protagonist Sam. His parents are divorced and he lives together with his mum in a small flat. Furthermore he is a big skate fan especially of his huge idol Tony Hawk . He confesses that he talks to a big poster of him in his room if he has got problems which he can not discuss with his mum. In addition the reader gets to know that he is not very good at school (except for arts) and that he plans to study arts after high school.

Chapter 2

Chapter two deals with Sam who first continues presenting his environment and familiar background like his skating friends Rabbit and Rubbish and the misfortune in his family that people "slip up on the first step". Then Sam's mother invites him to a party of a friend where he meets a girl called Alicia for the first time. They fall in love and so they meet again for another date where they have sex together for the first time.

Chapter 3

Chapter three tells that Sam is addicted to Alicia. He spends as much time as possible with her and they often have sex. Sam's mother starts to worry about it because she thinks that they spend too much time together. So she suggests that Sam should spend one evening with her and not with Alicia. It is very difficult for Sam but he masters it. When Sam and Alicia have sex for the next time, Sam decides to impregnate her. Furthermore he meets his mum's new friend (Mark) for the first time and his mother gets to know Alicia for the first time as well.

Chapter 4

Chapter four shows the reader how Sam's feelings for Alicia become weaker and weaker even if she on the other hand does not feel the same way. Sam spends less time with Alicia and skates or plays video games. Nevertheless he meets Alicia because she invites him to join a day with her family. This is when he meets her parents who give Sam the feeling that he is not good enough for their daughter. They are academics and Sam comes from a split up dumb family. Still Sam is the one to help Alicia with school issues. In addition Sam realizes that his mother seems to come together with Mark. He explains his mother that he plans to split up from Alicia.

Chapter 5

Chapter five deals with Sam's 16th birthday and with Sam meeting Alicia who worries about herself because her period is late. So they meet at Starbucks but as Sam goes home to fetch money to buy a pregnancy test, he stays at home where he thinks about old stories of his dad. Then he searches answers on the poster of TH but he finds no fitting answers for how to act in this desperate situation. In the end Sam decides to take Tony Hawks poster down.

Chapter 6

Chapter six tells a futuristic dream of Sam in which he wakes up in a strange bed with Alicia and their son Roof. The baby cries and Alicia wants Sam to take care of the baby but he is not able to do so. They both go to college and Sam looks for the baby whereby he is totally overstrained. He also meets his old friend Rabbit and has a long conversation with him. Afterwards he eats something at McDonald's where he meets a black lady which has got a baby, too. She teaches him how to change nappies. Back home his mother has been waiting for him. They talk about college and Sam's daily routine while they have a walk with Roof outside. He recognizes his mother to be pregnant.

Chapter 7

Chapter seven is about Sam escaping to Hastings, away from all the problems with Alicia. There he looks for a job and finds one at a old man's house. The owner Mr. Brady is old, disabled and a bit grumpy. This is why he can't take care of himself any more and why he is in need for help.

Chapter 8

Chapter eight tells that Sam returns after he realized that nothing could be worse than the situation he finds himself in. As he arrives at home everything is a mess. He can't deal with the police and his drained mother and so he decides to observe Alicia secretly. He wants to know if she has got a bump or something like that. While he is hiding in front of Alicia's house, he meets Rabbit. All in all Sam thinks that he is not ready for the baby but he is also aware of the fact that he has to arrange with this situation.

Chapter 9

Chapter nine deals with Sam's conclusiveness or rather fear of his following live with the baby and the publication from Alicia's pregnancy in both families. The reactions of the adults are very similar. They are disappointed, sad and angry. In the end they understand that it is very important to stick together as close as possible in this current situation because Sam's and Alicia's families have now merged into a single big one. Nevertheless Alicia wants to leave the parental home and Sam realizes that he has to be responsible even if he does not like to.

Chapter 10

Chapter ten tells that Sam realizes that the relationship between Alicia and him has still a chance because after they visit the x-ray scan to control if the embryo is all right they kiss and Sam starts to think about their relationship in a complete new way. He realized that he made mistakes and Alicia and him become a couple again. Furthermore the school realizes that Alicia is pregnant. They try to support Sam and Alicia like Sam's dad . Alicia and Sam visit a "National Childbirth Trust class which emerges as a flop. In addition Sam's mother tells Sam that Marc moves in their house.

Thoughts (2.)

My first impression of the book was very positive. It was not only the writing style which fascinated me but the main story because Slam is a coming-of-age-novel this is why I could not understand everything from the start. While I continued reading the book I understood more and more the connections behind the main story (great feeling), for example the tricky title of the book. Furthermore the book never became boring because in every chapter there happened something unexpected . Another reason why I liked this book is the fact that it makes it easy for teens to identify with Alicia and Sam. We all know that kind of problems with parents and the difficult situations Sam and Alicia have to deal with in the book. In the middle of the novel I was surprised because everything seemed to be destroyed and I could not even imagine how the book would be supposed to end. I never expected a happy ending and I was totally astonished that all open questions got cleared up. In addition my opinion of many characters changed completely the more I read the book. A perfect example are Alicia's parents. As Sam met them for the first time I thought that they were smugly, rich idiots who think that they are something better than all the others. But in the end I understood that they just tried to protect their child. I always thought about Alicia and Sam. As Sam goes to Hastings in chapter seven, I on one hand was disappointed by Sam's reaction but on the other hand I directly thought of Alicia's behaviour and feelings, too. Is she doing well? Is she disappointed? The same things happened in my head when Alicia did something that hurt Sam or if Sam had problems with his mother, Rabbit, whoever. Nevertheless I do not feel different after I have read the book. After reading the book I surely think differentiated of the topic growing up and becoming parents but I knew before that it is a very difficult topic which nobody should underrate. In the end I would read the book again because there are still some questions which might be answered by reading it twice.

Quotes (10.)

"There are many differences between a baby and an I-Pod. And one of the biggest is, no one's going to mug you for your baby.

I chose this quote because it explains how valuable a baby is.

"I hate time. It never does what you want it to.

I chose this quote because it is a fact that time passes by faster if you are in a situation which you enjoy and of which you think that it should last forever . On the contrary, time passes by slower when you are in an awkward situation.

"Definitely avoid going out with ugly girls who say they want to be models. Not because they're ugly, but because they're mad".

I chose this quote because it shows my point of view of this topic.

"Someone like my mum would say, Oh, you're just a kid, you don't know what love is. But I didn't think of anything else apart from being with Alicia, and the only time I felt like I was where I wanted to be was when I was with her. I mean, that may as well be love, mightn't it?

I chose this quote because it shows how we teenagers feel. We often have very strong emotions but the grown ups do not take us seriously and treat us like small children.

"When I went back into the kitchen, I wanted to sit on my mum's lap. I know that sounds stupid and babyish , but I couldn't help it. On my sixteenth birthday, I didn't want to be sixteen, or fifteen or anyteen. I wanted to be three or four, and too young to make any kind of mess

I chose this quote because it reminds me about the way I sometimes feel if I am confronted with situations I can't manage.

Characters(5.)

I do not like to be one of the characters of the book because all the main characters have so many problems that I do not want to deal with. I mean if I, for example, was Sam then I would have problems in form of the baby, my girlfriend, my family, my future baby, school, the parents and many other things. Basically I think that the whole situation in the book is very complicated and I am happy with my life and how it is. If I had to change roles with one of the characters then I would choose a secondary character like Rabbit. His life seems to be more usual than Sam's life. The book does not tell much about Rabbit's character or his living conditions, therefore there are not too many things that disturb me. I guess he is as friendly as I am so I could imagine that I would be happy to take his place.

Questions(7.)

Basically I have no questions concerning the content of the book itself because the last two chapters answer all my important questions. The only thing where I am really interested in is how he got the idea of the story. I mean such a complex and detailed story is not invented by nobody without any help. The topic of the book "Slam is very difficult and in my opinion he describes the whole situation very realistic . Especially the monologues of Sam are very well written and would match with my thoughts in such a situation. So where does he have the information from? Are this his own experiences or maybe those of a friend? (I do not think that I am able to answer the questions by reading more about the authors life and work because these are very private information and I do not think that Nick Hornby talks about his youth in the media.)

Changed(11.)

The book did not change me personally but first I learned that Nick Hornby is a very good writer . Then I learned that I have to take responsibility for the things which I do and that childhood is over faster as you think. I already knew this thinks but this book realized me again how difficult this topic is so that
Emotions(3.)

The book invokes many different emotions in me because I was able to identify myself with the characters very well. Especially with Sam the narrator and main character. I was sad in situations like chapter seven because Sam does not face but forget and ignore his problems. Especially Sam's first reaction towards Alicia's pregnancy disappoints me because I believe that a boy has to stand by his girl no matter what kind of situation. Nevertheless I often laughed, too because Nick Hornby never forgets the humour, for example how Sam and Alicia explain to Alicia's family that she is pregnant. Most of the time I laughed about Sam's crazy and funny point of view, thoughts and monologues which deals with the serious and difficult topic of teenager pregnancy and becoming an adult, in a funny way. So it was easier to read about this difficult problems. In some situations I was very surprised about the plot because it happens a bunch of times that the story develops in a way I would have never expected. In between two pages of the book the story changes in an unexpected and different way, so the that the reader could never know what's going to happen next. In addition I was really irritated in the moments when he travelled into the future of the story. I was also torn between my emotions. Especially in the situations in the end of the story like in chapter 18 where Alicia and Sam struggle about the baby. I mean I can understand Sam: He is not even grown up and it is normal for a 17 year-old boy that he is interested in other girls but not only in Alicia. On the other side I can understand Alicia, too. She expects of Sam that he takes responsibility for their baby and so Sam has to tame his desire. In addition I want to say that my emotions and thoughts of many characters in the course of the book have fundamentally changed. The best example are Alicia's parents. After the Sam met Alicas parents first I thought that they are egoistic snobby and unsympathetic. I did not like them. But in the end of the book I understood that they just try to protect their child and that they just want the best for Alicia. So I thought I a different way to all the reactions and discussions what they did.

Recommendation(12.)

I would recommend this book to everybody who likes deeper matter literature and wordplays. It is especially suitable for people who have got prejudices against teenager pregnancies and people who are in the same situation like Sam and Alicia. I think Nick Hornby's style is not easy to read so it is no good idea if people who are not very familiar with the English language try to read it. Luckily, people all over the world are able to read the book because it was translated into several languages. Furthermore I would say that the book is not suitable for teens under 14 years because its a very difficult and serious topic and most of the teenagers are not mature enough to deal with the theme in the right way.

Other books(13.)

For sure I would like to read more books of Nick Hornby. He is a very good and famous author and I liked the way he writes. He indirectly integrates the reader into the story and he describes the characters and especially their emotions in a very detailed and interesting way.
Besides "Slam I have already read "The boy in the stripped pyjamas which really thrilled me. Especially the hopelessness and desperation but also the childish joy and simple way how they dealt with difficult situations made the book one of my favourite books I have read so far. Even if one of Nick Hornby's books does not interest me because he (to my opinion) writes about
a boring topic then I still have the possibility to stop reading.

Own live(4.)

For sure there are parts in the book which reminded me of my own life. The scene which touched me the hardest was the moment where Sam ran away from all his problems in chapter seven. It reminded me of the tragic accident of my grandfather last summer. My beloved grandpa had a very bad stroke and went into a coma for months. I tried to run away from the hospital and all the responsibility. It was impossible for me to see him in such a bad condition. In my case my mother was "Mr. Brady because she explained to me that I don't have to be afraid of going to my grandfather. She said: " Don't be afraid, grandpa looks like he is sleeping. So after weeks I visited him and it was very liberating for my heart and soul because I new that he needed me on his most difficult and his longest journey in his life.

Changes(6.)

I think that Nick Hornby has choosen names and locations that fit well. In my opinion, everything that is written in this book has got a deeper sense. If we changed something in the location or names or anything then the book had a completely different message and to that we are

Idea(9.)

Well, for sure I am interested in what happens with Rufus, Sam and all the others after I the content of the book. Are they doing well? What are they doing? Has Sam still contact to his son? Nevertheles got many questions to the content of the book eliminated while I wrote this reading log, because I thought about the plot, the conditions and the environment again so that the all my question to the

Characters(14.)

Sam:
I think Sam is basically a calm, friendly and intelligent boy who is just completely overtaxed. First of all he has a girlfriend which whom he has got sex for the first time. Second he just became father and third he is on his way to become an adult. Those three components are the reason why Sam behaves himself so strange. He is doubtful and does not really know what the right decisions are. Everything seems to be too much for him and this is why he flees to Hastings. Nevertheless I think that Sam is a good father who has got much more life experience than other eigtheen-years-old people.

Alicia:
In my eyes Alicia is a focussed, confident and beautiful young mother who knows how to handle every situation. Nevertheless she has got a big problem with her parents because Alicia and they have got a different opinion of her future. Furthermore seem Alicia's parents to worry about her in every situation and this is the reason for why Alicia is how she is. All in all I think that I still don't have understood the whole character. A perfect example for that is that I still wonder why she did not abort the baby.

Sam's mother:
Sam's Mother Annie seems to be a very caring and lovely mother. Her son means everything to her. She supports and helps Sam in every situation and hopefully she found the real love in Mark.

Mark:
Mark is obviously a friendly guy with a very strange humour. I hope for Annie that he is a loyal husband who cares about Sam too and completes the family.

Rabbit & Rubbish:
Rabbit and Rubbish are Sam's old skating friends who, although they did most of the time nothing but listening, helped Sam in difficult situations with Alicia.

Sam's father:
In my opinion Sam's father is a strange personality. He does not take his father role very serious and he never gave Sam useful tips or helped him in an active way. Furthermore I have got the impression that he missed Sam especially in Sam's childhood and youth.

Andrea and Robert (Alicia's parents):
Alicia's parents are very difficult and strange people. First they are friendly but when it comes up to the interests of their daughter or their own ones, then they only care about themselves. They are also very determined so they always know what happens next and they care to much about Alicia. In addition they think that they are something better because they are rich and snobby. Nevertheless their daughter has her own head and she is not very good at school which means that beef is inevitable. In their point of view Sam is the wrong boyfriend for Alicia but after a while they accept him.

Niki:
A girl that Sam dated in the middle of the book after he broke up with Alicia.

Alex:
Is Sam's latest girlfriend. I think she is pretty, friendly, funny and in Sam's point of view pretty gorgeous.. gorgeous"

Carl :
Alicia's new boyfriend who skates and is in about Alicia's age.

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