A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

A story about four depressed people on the verge of killing themselves may not seem to be an obvious life-affirming story, but this is what A Long Way Down attempts to be.

It attempts it anyway, but just doesn’t quite pull it off. Throughout the book the reader is constantly left waiting for those words of wisdom from Nick Hornby about why life is precious and how it can dramatically change if viewed differently.

Written in past-tense looking back at the fortunes of four people. Martin, a disgraced TV presenter who was sent to prison for having sex with an under-age girl, Maureen a mother of a severely disabled son, Jess who feels her middle-class parents blame her for the disappearance of her sister and JJ, a fallen rock star who struggles to cope with his life out of music.

A quote from Jess is the closest thing to being prophetic – “Telling me I can do anything is like pulling the plug out of the bath and telling the water it can go anywhere it wants. Try it and see what happens.”  

 
Hornby does show great skill in being able to write four different ways from the four different personalities which provide the narrative throughout the entire story. 

Each one is written in a ‘diary’ format and in the case of Jess is occasionally inscribed exactly how she would have spoken, which can be annoying to read but that’s the idea.

What is pleasing is the way each character’s notes take on the story a step forward, rather than viewing the same scene again and again but from a different person’s perspective.

All four have contemplated suicide and almost went through with it, but by bumping into each other in the process, they go on a 90-day journey to 'find themselves' and realise they never would actually throw themselves off the building.

The issue is that the characters feel weak and unlikable, leaving the reader not falling in love with A Long Way Down. It’s one of those take or leave books, good but not one which will be remembered months after reading.  

A Long Way Down is a long way from being Hornby's best novel.

The Review of Books score 3/5