Nick Hornby - A Long Way Down - KRITIK

Hallo,

als Hausaufgabe müssen wir einen Artikel von `Steve Shymanik` analysieren.
Wir werden demnächst auch eine Kursarbeit die so ähnlich aufgesetzt ist schreiben.
Wäre gut wenn ihr mal drüber schauen könntet & mir sagt was ich ergänzen sollte.

Aufgabenstellung:
1.0Summarize the main ideas
2.0Authors point of view :
2.1 what does he say about the book?
2.2 how does it show in his language?
3.0Do you believe "that everything could have been wrapped up neatly"

Artikel von Steve Shymanik:
Suicide strikes me as a singularly solitary endeavor. But these four wankers all choose the one spot in all of London at the one time in all of the year when they’d be likely to encounter other suicidal roof-climbers. (One could argue that this was their subconscious desire, but Hornby doesn’t really earn this point.) Anyone could guess that this impromptu meeting would ruin the moment and they’d call off the jump and form sort of a dysfunctional support group. A Long Way Down features the trademark Hornby style: glib humor, numerous pop culture references, a deceptively facile writing style, and self-absorbed characters slowly learning to be more mature and selfless in a difficult modern world. This style began to show some wear in his last novel, How to Be Good, about a troubled married couple’s struggle to live both an ethical and happy life.

Still, it might work if we were dealing with real humor and genuine pathos. But the comical elements of A Long Way Down are surprisingly ineffective and the pathos is, well, pathetic. Part of the problem is that Hornby has chosen a very difficult narrative technique: alternating first-person narration. A casual, highly conversational first-person voice is generally conducive to Hornby’s style, but in this case he speaks to us directly in the guise of four irritating whiners:


1. Martin (who will surely be played by Hugh Grant in the movie), a disgraced early-morning television talk show host

2. Maureen (perhaps Emma Thompson?), a single mother of a severely disabled child requiring constant care

3. Jess (a slumming Keira Knightley), a foul-mouthed and clearly bi-polar teen who is the most annoying character I’ve encountered in years

4. JJ (think Ashton Kutcher), a 20-something American whose band broke up and girlfriend left him

Although their problems are not trivial (particularly Maureen’s), I didn’t believe for a moment that any of these characters was truly suicidal. Maddeningly, no one in the novel suggests that they might benefit from therapy or medication—the two primary routes to recovery. Slogging through more than 300 pages, one feels that the whole thing could have been wrapped up neatly with a little perspective and a prescription for Paxil

Mein Text bisher ( Bisher nur bis 2.2 )

The article is a comment/criticism about Nick Hornbys novel `A Long Way Down` by Steve Shymnaik.
His opinion is that the book is quite good but Nick hasn`t convert it well.
Hornby has chosen the alterning first-person narration which is in Steve`s opinion a very difficult narrative technique.
Steve says that it`s not realistic that four people met at the same spot and the same time with the same reason. For him it`s clear that they`ll not jump and form a support group.
There`s no suspense for him. A Long Way Down reflects Hornbys style: a lot of humor, "a casual & highly conversational first-person voice".
Steve doesn`t find the story humorous although Nick uses a lot of comical elements. For Steve they#re "surprisingly ineffective" and "pathetic".
He thinks that Nick should have wrote the story with only one first-person narrator and not with a alterning first-person narrator.
Steve also criticizes that the characters reasons for commiting suicide are not convicing enough.

BRAUCHE DAZU DRINGEND HILFE WEIL ICH NICHT GUT ANALYSIEREN KANN ALSO GEBT MIR TIPPS WAS DAS ZEUG HÄLT ;-)