Shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize, A Long Way Down by bestselling novelist Nick Hornby is a tragicomic exploration of four strangers linked by an embarrassing shared secret . . .
The Long Way Down quotes below are all either spoken by William (Will) Holloman or refer to William (Will) Holloman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:). Storyline In a follow-up to the documentary series 'Long Way Round', actors and best friends Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman travel from John O'Groats, Scotland down to Cape Town, South Africa on motorcycles. They travel down through Europe and Africa, getting an up-close view of the local cultures.
‘Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?’
A Long Way Down is a novel written by British author Nick Hornby, published in 2005. It is a dark comedy, playing off the themes of suicide, angst, depression and promiscuity. The story is written in the first-person narrative from the points of view of the four main characters, Martin, Maureen, Jess and JJ.
A Long Way Down Synopsis: On New Year's Eve in London, four strangers find themselves on the roof of a building known for suicides. Martin is a famous talk show host just out of jail, Maureen is a lonely single mother, Jess is young, reckless and heartbroken, and JJ is an American realizing the failures in his life.
For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer’s pretty simple: he has, in his own words, ‘pissed his life away’. And on New Year’s Eve he’s going to end it all . . . but not, as it happens, alone. Because first single-mum Maureen, then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin’s private party. They’ve stolen his idea – but brought their own reasons.
Yet it’s hard to jump when you’ve got an audience queuing impatiently behind you. A few heated words and some slices if cold pizza later and these four strangers are suddenly allies. But is their unlikely friendship a good enough reason to carry on living?
‘A page-turning plot and rich, funny characters with several big laughs on every page…Hornby’s best yet’ Literary Review
‘Hornby’s best novel to date, impossible to put down…how can an examination of four people’s anguish be so enthralling?’ Ruth Rendell, Guardian
A Long Way Down Trailer
‘Masterful. . . some of the finest writing, and some of the most outstanding characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading’ Johnny Depp