Nick Hornby (1957)
Nick Hornby was born in 1957. He is the author of Fever Pitch and of the three novels: High Fidelity, About a Boy and How to be Good. All four books have been international bestsellers and all are available in Penguin. He has also edited two anthologies, My Favourite Year and Speaking with the Angel. In 1999 he was awarded the E. M. Forster Award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives and works in Highbury, north London.
(Front of the book: About a boy.)
About a boy. First publication: 1998
Explanation of the title:
The title about a boy can be explained in two ways: The book tells about a boy named Marcus who is a teenager that acts like an adult. And the book also tells about Will Freeman who is an official adult but still lives in a childish world. So they are both boys in their own way and the story tells about each of them.
Genre:
This book is a novel.
Characters:
Marcus: Marcus is a boy who acts like an adult. His mom and dad are divorced so Marcus and his mom moved to London. He's being bullied because the other kids think he is very weird. He wears strange clothes, has a strange haircut and he sometimes hums out loud instead of in his head without knowing.
Will Freeman: Will is a single man who lives in an isolated world reading magazines. He doesn't work at all but does whatever he wants and especially not caring about other people. He didn't have a relationship in months.
Plot:
About a boy is a book that describes the lives of two "boys"; Marcus, who is a little boy acting like an adult, and Will, an adult acting like a child. Marcus has troubles at home because he's being bullied at school and he doesn't want to tell his mum about it. She seems very sad and on her own. Will is living in his own world without working because his father once wrote a famous Christmas song and Will still gets money of it. He thinks the easiest way to get to women is to be a single parent so he joins SPAT, an organisation where young single parents meet. He makes up that he has a boy.
At one of the SPAT meetings in the park Will meets Marcus and he thinks Marcus is the most responsible kid he has ever known. Will and Marcus become friendly to each other after Will saves Marcus because Marcus killed a duck with a piece of bread. Their friendship begins to start after Marcus' mother tried to kill herself with an overdose of sleeping pills. Marcus intrudes in Will's life even though Will doesn't want him to, but he gets used to it. Marcus shows Will what it is like to be caring and responsible and Will shows Marcus what it's like to be a "kid". For example they to the barber and give him a descent haircut. Let him listen to Nirvana; tell him about trainers and all that stuff.
They are both starting to grow into their normal age behaviour. At the end of the book Will and Marcus both know that everything is going to be all right.
Narrative structure:
The story is chronological and takes place in London and a little part in Royston. Somewhere in 1994 between two school terms. It's without flashbacks or anything like that. About a boy is written in the omniscient point of view. The narrator shows you all the relevant information. Especially by showing us what Marcus and Will are thinking and saying even though they're not together. Half of the time the story is being told by Will and the other part by Marcus. They alternate with each other.
Theme:
I think one of the themes from About a Boy is accepting the responsibilities that come with your age. For Marcus it meant starting to behave like a normal child not always thinking what might happen, not always being concerned about his mother but being a child and acting like it. For Will it meant stop acting like a child and become a more caring and responsible adult.
Opinion:
I liked the book very much. I read it on the beach and half of the time the whole beach was watching at me because I laugh so hard. It has a lot of humour and reads very easily. I haven't seen the movie yet but I really want to. The part I liked the most was the part where Marcus kills a duck with a piece of bread. It was so funny.
I didn't expect that the book would end this way. I thought that Will would get a relationship with Marcus's mother but he doesn¡'t. At the end of the book it's just very obvious that Marcus is a normal child again and Will is now an adult who can have a long relationship with a woman.
Nick Hornby was born in 1957. He is the author of Fever Pitch and of the three novels: High Fidelity, About a Boy and How to be Good. All four books have been international bestsellers and all are available in Penguin. He has also edited two anthologies, My Favourite Year and Speaking with the Angel. In 1999 he was awarded the E. M. Forster Award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives and works in Highbury, north London.
(Front of the book: About a boy.)
Explanation of the title:
The title about a boy can be explained in two ways: The book tells about a boy named Marcus who is a teenager that acts like an adult. And the book also tells about Will Freeman who is an official adult but still lives in a childish world. So they are both boys in their own way and the story tells about each of them.
Genre:
This book is a novel.
Characters:
Marcus: Marcus is a boy who acts like an adult. His mom and dad are divorced so Marcus and his mom moved to London. He's being bullied because the other kids think he is very weird. He wears strange clothes, has a strange haircut and he sometimes hums out loud instead of in his head without knowing.
Will Freeman: Will is a single man who lives in an isolated world reading magazines. He doesn't work at all but does whatever he wants and especially not caring about other people. He didn't have a relationship in months.
Plot:
About a boy is a book that describes the lives of two "boys"; Marcus, who is a little boy acting like an adult, and Will, an adult acting like a child. Marcus has troubles at home because he's being bullied at school and he doesn't want to tell his mum about it. She seems very sad and on her own. Will is living in his own world without working because his father once wrote a famous Christmas song and Will still gets money of it. He thinks the easiest way to get to women is to be a single parent so he joins SPAT, an organisation where young single parents meet. He makes up that he has a boy.
At one of the SPAT meetings in the park Will meets Marcus and he thinks Marcus is the most responsible kid he has ever known. Will and Marcus become friendly to each other after Will saves Marcus because Marcus killed a duck with a piece of bread. Their friendship begins to start after Marcus' mother tried to kill herself with an overdose of sleeping pills. Marcus intrudes in Will's life even though Will doesn't want him to, but he gets used to it. Marcus shows Will what it is like to be caring and responsible and Will shows Marcus what it's like to be a "kid". For example they to the barber and give him a descent haircut. Let him listen to Nirvana; tell him about trainers and all that stuff.
Narrative structure:
The story is chronological and takes place in London and a little part in Royston. Somewhere in 1994 between two school terms. It's without flashbacks or anything like that. About a boy is written in the omniscient point of view. The narrator shows you all the relevant information. Especially by showing us what Marcus and Will are thinking and saying even though they're not together. Half of the time the story is being told by Will and the other part by Marcus. They alternate with each other.
Theme:
I think one of the themes from About a Boy is accepting the responsibilities that come with your age. For Marcus it meant starting to behave like a normal child not always thinking what might happen, not always being concerned about his mother but being a child and acting like it. For Will it meant stop acting like a child and become a more caring and responsible adult.
Opinion:
I liked the book very much. I read it on the beach and half of the time the whole beach was watching at me because I laugh so hard. It has a lot of humour and reads very easily. I haven't seen the movie yet but I really want to. The part I liked the most was the part where Marcus kills a duck with a piece of bread. It was so funny.
I didn't expect that the book would end this way. I thought that Will would get a relationship with Marcus's mother but he doesn¡'t. At the end of the book it's just very obvious that Marcus is a normal child again and Will is now an adult who can have a long relationship with a woman.
REACTIES
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1 seconde geleden
C.
C.
haha dankjewel, ik was te lui om de film op school te kijken en er aantekeningen van te maken (zoals elke engelse film die we kijken xP) dus kijk ik altijd op scholieren.com. en altijd vind je gewoon wat je zoekt! ECHT EEN TOP SITE!! xD
12 jaar geleden
AntwoordenN.
N.
is er dan toevallig ook iemand hier die een samenvatting heeft van 'about a boy'
12 jaar geleden
Antwoorden