Nick Hornby’s A Long Way Down Includes Intriguing Dialogue
First we are introduced to Martin a disgraced TV talk show host who has failed in life from his point of view with his family and colleagues. He then meets Maureen who is the mother of a son who is in a vegetative state and feels sorry for herself for not being able to do things because her son keeps her from doing so.
Next we meet Jess who is a teenager and shoots off her mouth quite often but she feels depressed like the others but for the reason that her sister abandoned her family. Finally we meet JJ who originally tells the group that he has a fatal disease but later reveals it’s about not becoming successful as a musician and loosing his girlfriend. They all agree in the end to help each other out like a support group.
The book delves into what methods the four of them endure along the journey to becoming a better person post suicidal attempts. After a certain point each character slowly regresses to feelings pre-suicidal but an intervention is enacted by Jess and it seems to take a bad turn but later each character realizes that they benefited from the intervention in some way and were able to turn their lives around. They found what the key to life is all about.
The story is an uplifting and inspiring ride into what it means to be depressed and how to come out of it stronger than before.
