Nick Hornby

Meeting on New Year's Eve on the roof of Topper's House, a London destination infamous as a last stop for suicidal people, a television talk-show host, a musician, a teenage girl, and a mother share the stories about their circumstances and decisions. By the author of How to Be Good. Reader's Guide available. Reprint. 500,000 first printing.

A Long Way Down

Maui Santos

This made me think about how suicidal people think, what makes them go on and cut that last thread of their life.

They say in this book that family is like your gravity but what if you have no more gravity in your life? How would you stay away from that edge of the building? Would you jump or would you walk away to find some new gravity to hold you down.

That's something to think about.

"You'd think this would be the story of four people who met because they were unhappy, and wanted to help each other. But it hadn't been...it had been the story of four people who met because they were unhappy and then swore at each other."

I loved this book so much. I loved it so much I asked (annoyed) all my friends to read it. I seriously did, and that was very unexpected. The plot, the characters, setting, everything.

Let me start off with the plot. I am not a fan of suicide, and I do not support it in any way. So these four people, who all have different stories but equally depressing lives, decide to ump of a building on the same day, same night, at the same time. Then it all became very awkward up there (not to mention disastrous, witty, funny and life-changing, and since they had nothing else worth doing, they decided to solve the immediate dilemma. Long story short, they find themselves stuck with each other with (honestly) just one thing in common: they have lost the will to live.

The characters are loco, unpleasant, jerks, and really lame, but are terribly endearing. Martin and Jess are always fighting (which I find massively entertaining), JJ is just lazy and Maureen is lovely (but lame, but through those 333 pages, you get to truly know and understand them. They are reluctant to be with each other while having the need to be with the only people who understand each other. The situations they find themselves in are hilarious, poignant and mostly end in fights and epiphanies for each. 

In the end, their lives are still quite sucky, there is no happy ending, and they were still stuck in the deep end. Yet the book ended perfectly for me, and the ending gave me immense satisfaction. This books showed me a a lot about depression that I didnt know about before, and the story is a perfect example of how there is so much more to life than we know. Hornby is funny, smart and incredibly poignant and I expect to read another one of his novellas.

A wise, affecting novel from the beloved, award-winning author of Funny Girl, High Fidelity, and About A Boy. New York Times-bestselling author Nick Hornby mines the hearts and psyches of four lost souls who connect just when they've reached the end of the line. A Long Way Down is now a major motion picture from Magnolia Pictures starring Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Aaron Paul, and Imogen Poots. Meet Martin, JJ, Jess, and Maureen. Four people who come together on New Year's Eve: a former TV talk show host, a musician, a teenage girl, and a mother. Three are British, one is American. They encounter one another on the roof of Topper's House, a London destination famous as the last stop for those ready to end their lives. In four distinct and riveting first-person voices, Nick Hornby tells a story of four individuals confronting the limits of choice, circumstance, and their own mortality. This is a tale of connections made and missed, punishing regrets, and the grace of second chances. Intense, hilarious, provocative, and moving, A Long Way Down is a novel about suicide that is, surprisingly, full of life.

Jayme Bosio

I found myself taking the long way home from work just to continue listening to this audiobook. The readers were amazing and really drew me into each character. I never laughed so hard at times which is odd considering this is a book about four suicidal people meeting on a rooftop on New Year's Eve.

Bec Taylor

I loved the multiple perspectives but craved more resolution, it was a bit too bleak for me.

Disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp wanted to jump off the top of a tower block, because he pissed his life away. He plans to end it all on New Year's Eve. Because first single-mum Maureen, then Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ, turn up and crash Martin's private party. They've stolen his idea, but brought their own reasons.

Georgia Carr

A Long Way Down is the story of Jess, JJ, Maureen and Martin. All from totally different walks of life, they meet at the top of a tall building on New Year's Eve. Why? Because they all want to jump off.

I understand what you're thinking: 'How can anyone possibly sit through 350 pages of not one, but four suicidal characters?' Trust me, I was a little apprehensive too. But here I am, 350 pages later. For a book with a very serious main idea, it's not like a PSA or a book of motivation for those in need. Hornby created a very strong cast of characters, people who are real and very different from one another.
 
Jess is a bitch, that’s true. Nonetheless, she’s got a backstory that explains her behaviour. Doesn’t forgive it, of course, but her actions and ridiculously outspoken attitude are understandable. JJ is lost, torn away from what he knows and the things he loves. He’s drifting and unable to latch, but he’s likable and probably my favourite out of the four just because he’s very easy to relate to. Maureen has a son who is disabled and brain damaged, and her life is meaningless to her. I found her story the most intriguing, how people just don’t care and how much she feels undeserving of anything better. Martin has (mostly unintentionally) screwed up a lot of different areas in his life and is feeling completely pointless and ridiculed by the press.
 
The entire book isn’t based on the roof, and it’s not all doom and gloom. I really enjoyed JJ’s narrative, and throughout the book, Maureen became close competition for my favourite. The different perspectives offered are a very interesting way to explore the events of the novel and I really appreciated the insight into each of their thoughts.

I read this book at the beginning of this year and gave it four stars for the whole angel thing. Since then, I've dipped into different places of the book for support and I've also watched the movie adaptation. It's because of these things that A Long Way Down has firmly moved into my favourites. I identify with these people on a level that I have only found in a few other books. It's just a great book and I will always love it.

Meeting on New Year's Eve on the roof of Topper's House, a London destination infamous as a last stop for suicidal people, a television talk-show host, a musician, a teenage girl, and a mother share the stories about their circumstances and decisions. By the author of How to Be Good. 175,000 first pirnting.

Amber Laha

Maïte Beernaert

Maya

Nina

Martha F.

Tobias V. Langhoff

katie terzoli

chrystyna

Daniel

Lisa

Erik Wallace

Rustė Tervydytė

Crystal L

Mehul Srivastava

'Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?' For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer's pretty simple: he has, in his own words, 'pissed his life away'. And on New Year's Eve, he's going to end it all. But not, as it happens, alone.

A Long Way Down

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