A Long Way Down Audiobook By Nick Hornby cover art

A Long Way Down

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A Long Way Down

By: Nick Hornby
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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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.©2005 Nick Hornby; (P)2005 Penguin Audio and Books on Tape, Inc. Dark Humor Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Psychological Fiction Heartfelt Witty Comedy Mystery Feel-Good Funny Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

“One New Year’s Eve, four people with very different reasons but a common purpose find their way to the top of a fifteen-story building in London. None of them has calculated that, on a date humans favor for acts of significance, in a place known as a local suicide-jumpers’ favorite, they might encounter company. A Long Way Down is the story of what happens next, and of what doesn’t.” —The New York Times Book Review

“It’s like The Breakfast Club rewritten by Beckett.… What makes the book work is Hornby’s refusal to give an inch to sentimentality or cheap inspirational guff.” —Time

"A dramatic, sad and thoroughly side-splitting novel." —Newsday

"Wildly enjoyable. A daring high-wire act. It's serious literature...no, it's popular entertainment...no, it's both!" —Seattle Times

"Time's stealthy tread, its unseen ability to heal some wounds while inflicting others, gives Nick Hornby's darkly comic new novel, A Long Way Down, its genuine power." —San Francisco Chronicle
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I cannot give this book enough stars! Both the story and the performance were fan-BLOODY-tastic. I enjoyed the three different readers, playing the parts of the four characters. Kate Reading and Scott Brick are two of my favorite narrators and now I have another favorite - Simon Vance. Each of them brought so much to the reading. I don't feel as if they were actually reading it at all, but more like they were really Martin, JJ, Jess, and Maureen, speaking for themselves. This is the second novel by Nick Hornby that I have listened to (the first was "Juliet, Naked", another excellent listen) and I will be trying to locate more very soon.
This book though, really resonated with me. I am a parent of two children with special needs, though they are by no means as profoundly disabled as Matty is, and I found Maureen's story to be especially poignant; however, I was also able to relate to the other three characters (even Jess) almost as well. The characters are very human, very real, and more often than not, quite comical. I especially love the interactions between Martin and Jess. Martin is twice Jess's age and way higher on the IQ scale, but can never seem to come out on top of any arguments they have. One of my favorite quotes from this novel is from Jess when she says "everyone knows how to talk, but no one knows how to listen". I feel like that, too. Often. There were parts of this novel where I laughed out loud and then there were other bits that moved me to tears. I used the bookmarks feature on the Audible app (along with the ability to add a note) more on this than any other I've listened to. I know there were whole sections that I've only begun to really "get" so it'll definitely require another listen sometime in the future. I am recommending this book to family and friends, anyone I know who's life isn't what they'd expected and hasn't turned out quite in the way they'd hoped it would.

Almost Like A "Breakfast Club" For Adults

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A great laugh of a book, 'what a laugh!' as the English love to say... yet really sad at the same time. When listening to it, you do find yourself laughing out loud quite a bit. But being someone with depressive tendencies of my own, I couldn't help feeling that overall this book did bring my mood down a bit.

The different voices/actors used for the different characters really make this a great audio listen. I think I would have preferred this book on audio, as opposed to reading it.

Laugh and cry

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Didn't know it was about suicides when I ordered it. I enjoyed their coming to grips with the disappointments and humiliations in their lives....together.

Surprisingly enjoyable and life affirming

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I’m a fan of this author but found this to drag out a bit. Loved the narration and characters and is well threaded together.

Drags a bit

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Great writing, wonderful narration. Having male and female narrators makes it easy to get absorbed in the material - I don't know why more audiobooks don't do that. I laughed out loud while listening to this book. I'm sure people in downtown Chicago thought, "what's that guy laughing at?" The characters were believable, and I found myself hoping they would succeed.

More audiobooks should be like this one

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