A Long Way Down

Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down is a (comic? attempted comic?) novel about suicide -- four strangers meet at the top of a high rise, on New Year's Eve, each planning to jump, each for different reasons.

Each chapter presents a separate character's viewpoint, so we get to get inside everyone's head. Unfortunately, none of the characters are all that distinct -- there's a mid-fifties ex-TV star, a mid-fifties mother of a disabled son, an early thirties American wannabe rock star, and a teenager. So in theory, four quite distinct personalities, both due to different generations and different circumstances. Of course, much of the insight comes from "you'd think people in my situation would feel this, but instead, I feel this," from each character, which is interesting the first dozen times, but drags a bit as it continues. And it certainly continues.

It's not that that this is a bad novel, as in ineptly executed -- I'm just not sure the way it treats suicides is . . .sensitive enough? Realistic enough? Compelling enough? The forced interaction between the characters can get painful at times. I'll give Hornby credit for not wrapping everything up with a neat little bow at the end (everything is fixed and it's like nothing ever happened!), but that's about it.