About a Boy by Nick Hornby

Title: About a Boy

Author: Nick Hornby

Publisher: Pengiun Books Ltd.

Release Date: May 11, 1998

Date Read: February 17 - 24, 2011

Rating: 4/5 stars

Goodreads

Summary

Will is thirty-six, comfortable and child-free. And he's discovered a brilliant new way of meeting women - through single-parent groups. Marcus is twelve and a little bit nerdish: he's got the kind of mother who made him listen to Joni Mitchell rather than Nirvana. Perhaps they can help each other out a little bit, and both can start to act their age.

Review

Loved it! About a Boy is the quintessential casual adult comedy novel. If you love romance, music, social commentary, the UK, the 90s, or intergenerational relationships, you'll love this. While I do like to read novels before I see the movies, I didn't know this was a book when I saw the movie years ago so my review is slightly tainted by already knowing I'd love it. I was torn between Marcus and Will as my favourite character because while they were so different in personality, age, mindset, etc. they were the same character inside. I felt that there was a slow transformation as Marcus became Will once he learned how to make friends and how to be more...well, it's hard to explain unless you read the book. Marcus reminded me a lot of myself at that age and how I didn't see the point in following along with society because it didn't make sense, and Will reminded me of where I am now, how he's afraid to question the flow because he thinks he'll be dragged under into depression. Overall the novel provided such a deep insight into the male mindset at adolescence and mid-life that I feel more closely connected with how men think and operate now. Such an amazing novel by Nick Hornby, loved it!

Favourite Quote: "Life was, after all, like air. Will could have no doubt about that anymore. There seemed to be no way of keeping it out, or at a distance, and all he could do for the moment was live it and breathe it. How people managed to draw it down into their lungs was a mystery to him: it was full of bits. This was air you could almost chew."

Recommended: High Fidelity (Nick Hornby), Bridget Jones's Diary (Helen Fielding)