How to be good door Nick Hornby

1. Explain the relevance of the title and think of a meaningful alternative title.

The title of this book is How to be good. The title refers to the main character of the story, Katie. She is a doctor in London. She always tried to be good. That is why she became a doctor, so she can help people. She is a good mother and she cares about everyone. She want a good live, but her husband is a man who doesn’t do anything good for his environment.
Another good title of this book would be something like How Katie lives.

2. Give a character description of two of the main characters in the book and include what you like and do not like about them.

The main character of this book is Katie. She is a doctor and she lives in London with her husband, David, and her two children, Tom and Molly. Katie is that kind of person who tries to do everyting good and a person who tries to be nice to everyone. She tries to live good. Katie feels unhappy in her marriage and she wants a divorce. She also gets an affair with Stephen.
I like Katie. She is a very nice person and tries to be good for her environment.

Another important person in this story is David. David is the husband of Katie. He is like the opposite of Katie. He is mean and not nice to everyone. He doesn’t want a divorc, because he loves Katie, although he knows they haven’t a good marriage. But in this book, after a couple of weeks, David changed. He met DJ GoodNews and that changes his way of life. He suddenly is nice to everyone.
I think I like David as well. Once he was a ‘bad guy’ but now he changed and I think it is amazing how somebody can changed that way.

3. Select two important events from the story and explain why you think these events are so important

The first important event is when Katie tells David she wants to divorce. This actually happens in the first pages of the book. She tells him that she don’t want to live with him anymore. David still loves Katie and he doesn’t want to divorce. This is one of the most important events because if this wasn’t happening, they will live happy together and their lives would be very different.
The second import event In this book is when David meets DJ GoodNews. From then, David is an other person. If he has not met him, he would still be that mean person he was. Now, he gives away Katie’s money and the children’s toys to the homeless.

4. What is the setting of the book and how important is this for the story?

The story is set in England. Katie and her family live in London. The setting is not very important. This could happen in every city in England. It would not change the

5. Write a letter to the main character in which you point out a major mistake in his behaviour: explain what was wrong about the way he acted and tell him how you would have gone about it.

Dear Katie,
Thank you for the letter you sent me last week. I’m sorry to hear things aren’t going well between you and David. I will let you know, I’m there for you if you need me. You can always call me. I know things haven’t been easy for you.
I think if I was in that situation, I would have handled smarter. I think it wasn’t smart to get an affair with Stephen. I can’t understand how you can do something like this to your husband. He loves you so much, although he hasn’t maybe the perfect husband. You have to figure this out with him. I hope he will forgive you for what you’ve done.
I look forward to hear something from you.
Lots of love,

6. Write a review of the novel in which you make your own opinion clear. Give an appreciation score (waarderingscijfer) for the book and motivate your score

The book How to be good was a nice book to read. It is a great story. When you read the book, it is like Katie is talking to you. It gives the story a nice twist. You can read what the main character thinks and feels. It is a good book to read. It is not very difficult and I enjoyed reading the book. I will give this book an 8, because it was a very nice book to read. The writer makes you want to keep reading it.

7. Have a proper summary. Either write it yourself or use an existing one critically

http://www.enotes.com/how-to-be-good

Nick Hornby's How to Be Good was published in 2001 by Harcourt Press. The plot focuses on David Carr, who decides to become a man of virtue on the advice of his spiritual adviser named GoodNews. David’s choice prompts unwelcome responses from his family. His wife, Katie, is the narrator and becomes quite frustrated when David gives away the family’s Sunday meal. He also gives away his son’s computer.
The transformation of David is deeply upsetting to Katie. She has always taken the part of being the good one as a doctor, mother, and wife. She does not know how to handle this switch in roles and transformation in her husband.

Reviewers have criticized the book for being mirthless despite the potential for humorous material. Katie’s long narration upsets the pace and potential of the novel. Her dilemmas are understandable but her response with endless chatter is not welcome by many readers. 

Katie is not without her own faults. Before David made his conversion she was having an affair and asked for a divorce. This event in their marriage followed year of the “other” David who was sarcastic and selfish. He wrote a column for the local paper called “Angriest Man in Holloway.” In the column, he aims his frustrations at restaurant critics, old people, grievance counselors, and homeopaths. David Carr is a bitter old man before his time.

As the tension grows with his new conversion to sainthood, David moves into the spare room. He visits people on their street to encourage them to invite homeless people into their homes. He ceases to continue with his current novel in favor of developing a new book with GoodNews called How to Be Good.

Eventually Katie moves out of the house and into a rented room, then she moves back. In a sense, Katie gets in David the person she wanted: someone as good as herself. She is forced, however, to re-examine her own “goodness." In the end, How to Be Good is a funny and clever novel filled with social observations that readers have come to expect from Hornby. The characters wrestle through their emotions and re-examine what they value and what is “good.” Readers are taken on this entertaining ride, and likely question these concepts for themselves, too.