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Summary: A book review of About a Boy
Review: A book review of "About a Boy"
The novel "About a boy" is written by Nick Hornby. The story takes place in London and it reads about the relationship between a 36-year-old man called Will Freeman and a 12-year-old boy called Marcus. Will is a single and behaves still like a teenager. He goes to night clubs and knows which trainers to wear. In contrast to Will, Marcus is a bit to strange. He listens to Joni Mitchel and Mozart. He has no knowledge about fashionable clothes and he looks after his mum. The turning point in the novel can be seen in the changing characters of Will and Marcus. First they have no interest in each other, but after a while, they start to spend more time with each other.
In my opinion it is an interesting book. I like that there are vocabular notes to explain difficult words. The book is not difficult to understand in any case. It is exciting, too, because when you read a chapter you want to read more in order to get to know what will happen next. In some chapters there are funny things to read. I do not like that some chapters are so long, but that does not really matter much. I would recommend this book to another person, because it is very interesting and it is easy to understand.
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Summary: Summary of About a boy
Review: Summary of "About a Boy"The book "About a boy" written by Nick Hornby and published in 1998 deals with Marcus (12) and Will Freeman (36) ,who change in the course of the book. Marcus is an outsider.He hasn't got any friends because he is different from the other children his age.He has got just one person ,his mother Fiona.She is divorced and just split up with her boyfriend. But one day Marcus meets Will .Will is a very "cool" person because he knows what you must wear for being cool and he knows modern music bands.After some time become Marcus and Will become friends.
With a sense of humour the author explores the connections people make when the so-called ideal family model does not apply.Because of the snotty writing style everything seems realistic,the dialogs are very expressive.It's a great book,but I think you have to read it at least twice to notice every little detail.
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Summary: Abou a Boy
Review: Review of the book "About a Boy" by Nick Hornby: I had to read the book "About a Boy" in school. I'm sorry to say that, but if I had not to read the book I would have thrown it away after reading the first chapters. The book has really bad quality and doesn't get better throughout the whole book.
My reasons for this opinion are that the book is very boring and I couldn't notice any tension, It was almost like a torment to read through the book (Normally maximum reading time is one week for a book with 250 pages in this write-size but for this book I needed nearly one month).
Surely the book has a lot of irony and a few nice jokes, but it was hard for me to understand them(I'm German) in some important chapters, that's mostly because of the many unknown words und the colloquial speech (although some words are explained with other words in the annotations of the book- still that didn't help a lot).
In addition to that, the book didn't interest me at all in any case, I asked myself: "Who the hell wants to know something about a crazy boy, an ignorant, stupid mother and a man who seems to be very underdeveloped and their relationships to each other?".
All in all, the book can certainly be interesting and good for people, who like such a topic, but for all the people, who aren't interested in this topic, I can only give the advice: Don't buy the book.
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Summary: Not up to par
Review: I loved Nick Hornby's earlier novel High Fidelity but About a boy just didn't do anything for me. I had trouble staying interested in the story and even though the lead character does some wacky things, it just wasn't enough. Very unrealistic. Maybe my expectations were too high after loving High Fidelity.
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Summary: Review on "About a boy", January 20, 2003
Review: The book "About a boy" written by Nick Hornby tells the story of two different characters with two completely different ideas of what life should be. Will Freeman, a 36-year-old single, who does not want to keep any real relationship a long time and Marcus, a boy aged 12, who is supposed to be an outsider and has to cope with the suicide attempt of his mother Fiona. Both lives clash into each other when Will invents a son, named Ned and meets with a single parent group to get to know women, who waited for a long time for Mr. Nice Guy. In the park he meets with the single mother Suzie, who is looking after Marcus at this time. The humorous effect of the book is created by Will's sarcastical quotations and the difference between his thinking and acting. During the story, Will and Marcus can help each other to live their age. While Marcus learns to leave a bit of the responsibility he feels for his mother, Will starts to care about more than himself and his pleasure. This development is described by Nick Hornby in a very close way to reality, it's credible and touching. The book's message to look for more in life than your own pleasure or your outward appearance does not prevent the story from being funny and interesting to read.
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Summary: Area Man Jailed for Romantic Comedy Behavior
Review: I do think Hornby wrote this with a movie in mind. If I found out that a man in my single parent's group had fabricated a son simply to meet some desperate yet beautiful women, I'd call the cops. Certainly not say basically nothing, which most of the women in this book did. I am reminded of The Onion article, "Area Man Jailed for Romantic Comedy Behavior." After suspending disbelief, I found the first half of the book amusing enough to read while in the jacuzzi. :) Then I soon realized all of the characters were unlikable -- I almost wished Fiona would kill herself, Marcus was just a sullen brat, and nobody treated anyone else with decency. Even Rachel stood Will up on the date with Fiona when she was supposed to talk her out of killing herself. And how does Will react when finding out Rachel had no intention of coming? "Oh. Thank you." Thank you? Well perhaps that's a "normal" reaction when you, like everyone around you, is accustomed to being treated like dirt. I don't understand all the hype and hoopla about this book. The "plot" was toilet paper thin, which can be OK if the characters are intriguing and full-realized.
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Summary: Good book bad movie
Review: Hi, i think that the film based on the book about a boy is terrible bad.
I read the book, then I watched film and and after that I was very disappointed.
The film is another example for bad movies based on good books.
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Summary: This is a must read!
Review: I am ashamed to say that I did not read "About a Boy" until I heard about the movie. However, I did read the book before seeing the movie. I highly recommend this novel. ... Everyone remembers what it was like to be an awkward kid who didn't really know who they were outside of their parents. Not to give too much away but, the suicide of Kurt Cobain is mentioned in the book and how it affects one character.... READ THIS BOOK!Trust me, you will not be sorry for an instant. In short it is about being human.
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Summary: About a great book
Review: Having watched the movie around seven months ago, I decided that reading the book upon which About a Boy is based would be a good idea. After all, the movie was good and the books are usually better than the movies, so what could go wrong. Happily, not much. This novel is about two characters: Will and Marcus. Will is a shallow man who knows he is shallow and enjoys it immensely; thanks to an inheritance, he is financially independent, so he spends his days having fun and avoiding commitments. Marcus, on the other hand, is a twelve-year-old plaugued with a depressed mother and a school where he does not fit in. Will needs more depth in his life, and in ways, Marcus needs more shallowness. It is left to the reader to determine who is the boy in the title. This is a funny book but it also has real heart. Done incorrectly, Will could come off unpleasant, but Hornby succeeds in making him likeable. Marcus could come off as pathetic, but he is definitely better than that. Since this story is character-driven (what plot there is exists only to further character development), it is essential to have interesting, multi-dimensional characters and this book has plenty of them. Even Will, who strives to be one dimensional, has more to himself than he would like to admit. For those who have seen the movie, the first two-thirds of the book is very similar to the film; on the other hand, the last portion goes in a different but successful direction. Thus, whether you've seen the movie or not, this is a great read, fun from start to finish.
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Summary: good book
Review: My girlfriend recommended this book to me while i was in the hospital. I was skeptical to start, but i really got into it. Fun to read.
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