Book report A long way down
Fabio de Moor
General information:
Title: A Long Way Down
Author: Nick Hornby
Number of pages: 257
Publisher: Penguin
First published in: 2005 (by Viking)
Summary
The story starts on New Year’s Eve, on top of Toppers’ House, a very high building. Martin Sharp, former host of a popular breakfast television show, is about to jump off the roof to kill himself, but before he gets a chance to do so, three other people show up: Maureen, Jess and JJ. They all want to take their own lives, just like Martin. They decide to tell each other why they want to commit suicide. Martin had sex with a fifteen-year-old a few years ago and therefore went to prison, causing him to lose his career and his popularity. The media are always making fun of him, so he doesn’t want to live anymore. Maureen is a single mother with a heavily disabled son, Matty. Because she constantly has to care for him, she barely has any contact with society and feels extremely lonely. Jess isn’t very clear as to why she wants to end her own life. She has some problems with her parents and her boyfriend, Chas, broke up with her without explaining why. Finally, JJ had always wanted to be a musician and was in a band with some friends, but the band quit and he doesn’t have anything to do or to live for. He doesn’t tell this to the others, because he thinks it will sound dumb in comparison, so instead, he lies and says he is suffering from a terminal disease.
Jess then proposes to go away from Toppers’ House and look for Chas so she can get her explanation. The others agree to do that, because it will prevent Jess from committing suicide. They eventually find him at a party. After talking to him for a short while, Jess realizes that she doesn’t need him to be happy, so they leave again.
They go to Martin’s house, where they find Penny Chambers, Martin’s former co-host and now, apparently, his date. Martin left in the middle of the date, so Penny is furious. When Martin fails to come up with a proper explanation as to why he left her and now came back with three strangers, she comes to the conclusion that he’s been dating someone else. She then leaves.
After sitting and talking in Martin’s house for a while, the four make an agreement. They will not kill themselves until Valentine’s Day, and when that day comes, they’ll meet again.
The next morning, however, the press has found out that the four were going to commit suicide. It is revealed that Jess is in fact the Junior Minister of Education’s daughter. He finds out about the suicide, too, and wants to talk with Martin. He gives him money to keep his daughter safe. Shortly after, the four meet again. They decide that the best option is to just stay quiet and wait until people have forgotten about them.
However, Jess wants to exploit the publicity the four are getting and calls a journalist. She tells her that they didn’t jump off the roof because they saw an angel and allows her to interview all four. She asks the other three to go to the interview and confirm her story. Maureen is opposed to this, because she’s a Christian. Despite that, they all go to the interview. They all tell the journalist that they saw an angel who looked like Matt Damon. Later, they admit that the story wasn’t true.
A few days later, JJ talks with Maureen about what she would want most. It turns out that she would like to go on a vacation, so the four go to Tenerife. The vacation isn’t a success, however. JJ meets a girl but due to the others, she breaks up with him. Moreover, Jess gets drunk and the police have to bring her back to her hotel.
Shortly after they return, it’s Valentine’s Day. They meet again on the roof of Toppers’ House, where they see another man who’s about to jump off. They try to convince him not to do it, but he jumps off anyway. Seeing this makes the group want to kill themselves even more than before, but they also realize that they wouldn’t be able to do it.
Jess decides that she wants to help the others to make their lives better. First, she visits Cindy, Martin’s ex-wife with Maureen. They try to persuade her to get back with Martin, but she has a new partner and thus refuses.
Jess then organizes a grand meeting at Starbuck’s. She invites Martin, Maureen and JJ and all their friend and relatives. Initially, the meeting doesn’t work out at all. Jess gets into an argument with her parents about her sister’s earrings. Her sister, Jen, disappeared some years ago and a few days after that, her earrings had disappeared as well and Jess’ parents accuse her of stealing them. Martin notices one of Matty’s nurses is flirting with Penny and starts arguing with the nurse. JJ gets in an argument with one of his former band members and goes outside with him to duke it out.
However, the meeting eventually turns out to be helpful. Maureen talks to Jess’ parents and brings up the idea that Jen may have taken her earrings herself. After that, she speaks to one of the nurses and he offers her a spot in a quiz team.
Jess meets a person who does not want to tell his name, because he believes names are only limitations. Jess sleeps with him and learns a lot from his views. She also talks with her parents and their relation improves.
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