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83rd out of 1,670 books
—
3,880 voters
How to Be Good
by
Nick Hornby
In Nick Hornby's How to Be Good, Katie Carr is certainly trying to be. That's why she became a GP. That's why she cares about Third World debt and homelessness, and struggles to raise her children with a conscience. It's also why she puts up with her husband David, the self-styled Angriest Man in Holloway. But one fateful day, she finds herself in a Leeds parking lot, havi...more
Paperback, 340 pages
Published
August 1st 2003
by Droemersche Verlagsanstalt Th. Knaur Nachf., GmbH & Co.
(first published 2001)
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Jun 09, 2007
Shaina
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
neverreadagain,
non-genrefiction
To say I didn't get this book would be a profound understatement. Near as I can tell, it's about all the terrible, mundane ways life can grind you down, how hypocracy gets all of us in the end, and the way what was once beloved can turn into what you hate in the ones you used to love.
I found this book tremendously depressing. Also, it made me never want to get married or have kids. Ever.
I was tremendously disappointed in the ending as well, at the same time as I admired Hornby's technical skill....more
I found this book tremendously depressing. Also, it made me never want to get married or have kids. Ever.
I was tremendously disappointed in the ending as well, at the same time as I admired Hornby's technical skill....more
Could have appropriately been titled Who Gives a Shit? or How to be Good for Nothing because that's what Nick Hornby is with his cheesy writing style and trite observations.
7 likes · like · see review
how to be good
As long time readers know (or maybe you don't) Maria and I read to each other. One of the joys of "naked Sunday" is the fact that we don't have to get up, spend the day wandering around the flat in our pyjamas (just 'cos it is called "naked Sunday" doesn't necessarily mean that we spend the day nekkid!), basically just slob about.
This Sunday we spent the whole morning (and a bit of the afternoon) in bed. We ate cereal, we drank cokes and we ate our way through a huge box of Runts....more
As long time readers know (or maybe you don't) Maria and I read to each other. One of the joys of "naked Sunday" is the fact that we don't have to get up, spend the day wandering around the flat in our pyjamas (just 'cos it is called "naked Sunday" doesn't necessarily mean that we spend the day nekkid!), basically just slob about.
This Sunday we spent the whole morning (and a bit of the afternoon) in bed. We ate cereal, we drank cokes and we ate our way through a huge box of Runts....more
Well-written, compelling, blah blah blah. I'm sick of books about affairs and divorce.
6 likes · like · see review
Oct 25, 2008
Ritz
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
a todo el mundo, ya verán que tiene algo para cada quien
Recommended to Ritz by:
Núria y Kitty Wu
Shelves:
autor_g_h_i
Mi primer Hornby ¡Hurra! Gracias Kitty, gracias Núria excelente recomendación. Ya tengo 31 Canciones en la repisa.
¿Por dónde comenzar?
Será por mi absoluta identificación con el mundo reflexivo de la Doctora Katie Carr.
En su mente, es decir donde sucede toda la novela, soy ella. No en sus acciones y decisiones, y definitivamente no soy ella en el rumbo que toma su vida ni en su destino final, yo de la primera página en adelante hubiese derrotado por caminos bien distintos.
Pero a donde quiera qu...more
¿Por dónde comenzar?
Será por mi absoluta identificación con el mundo reflexivo de la Doctora Katie Carr.
En su mente, es decir donde sucede toda la novela, soy ella. No en sus acciones y decisiones, y definitivamente no soy ella en el rumbo que toma su vida ni en su destino final, yo de la primera página en adelante hubiese derrotado por caminos bien distintos.
Pero a donde quiera qu...more
6 likes · like · see review
I had only ever read one other Nick Hornby book before this and that was Long Way Down which I really enjoyed but this book was terrible. I am not interested in reading a book about marriage & divorce from the views of a completely misrable cow of a woman. It was boring and drowned on and on and on. I found myself forcing myself to finish the book. It makes me never want to get married EVER. I didn't like any characters whatsoever apart from Tom her son who was younger than the sister at 8 y...more
I think "How to be Good" certainly divided fans of Hornby who were used to his musical themes in High Fidelity and 31 Songs and his style in About a Boy. He was given a lot of criticism for writing the book from the perspective of a middle aged female but this did not bother me in the slightest. In fact I thought the book was witty and well written. I found myself identifying with Katie, despite her whiny repetitive moments. I loved her inner voice - I found things written on the page that I hav...more
Dec 18, 2010
Veronica
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction-novel,
on-my-shelf
This is the first Hornby book I have read and he did not disappoint. I found it fun and truly original. Katie, the main character, and her quirky, confused thoughts are very entertaining. It makes you realize how our minds can go crazy sometimes specially when put in odd circumstances.
This story is somewhat ridiculous but it also presents very serious issues on family and relationships. It speaks a lot about love and what it really means and gives importance to marriage and commitment. In a ver...more
This story is somewhat ridiculous but it also presents very serious issues on family and relationships. It speaks a lot about love and what it really means and gives importance to marriage and commitment. In a ver...more
Hmmm... Ok... I did like this book.
It is sort of a strange book. It is sort of a book about the realities of life, but with an unrealistic 'faith healer' character in it, if that makes any sense?
It had some hugely funny moments, and some beautifully written parts.
And I found it to be very relatable, even tho it had an odd 'faith healer' as a main character! The description of a married doctor/wife and her writer/husband with two children, and their day in and day out lives, in London, seemed...more
It is sort of a strange book. It is sort of a book about the realities of life, but with an unrealistic 'faith healer' character in it, if that makes any sense?
It had some hugely funny moments, and some beautifully written parts.
And I found it to be very relatable, even tho it had an odd 'faith healer' as a main character! The description of a married doctor/wife and her writer/husband with two children, and their day in and day out lives, in London, seemed...more
2 likes · like · see review
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
2 likes · like · see review
Aug 29, 2008
Sara
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Carmen, Thomas and anyone who can admit to being human and flawed and can appreciate wry humor
Loved this book! I didn't think I would, actually, because it opens with the decaying of a marriage between two Brits with kids. The subject just doesn't grab me much, I mean, as escapist reading why would I want to read about an unhappy marriage? Before I knew it, though, I was sucked in by the marvelous writing and witty humor of Nick Hornby.
I had no idea where this book was going. There are so many unpredictable twists and turns and just when you think it couldn't get any crazier, it does. An...more
I had no idea where this book was going. There are so many unpredictable twists and turns and just when you think it couldn't get any crazier, it does. An...more
4 likes · like · see review
Really fun, easy but intelligent read that made me think but also irritated me at times.
My full review: http://www.noseinabook.co.uk/?p=1840
My full review: http://www.noseinabook.co.uk/?p=1840
1 like · like · see review
No puedo evitar que sea ��se el mayor sentimiento que ha suscitado en m�� Nick Hornby con How to be good. La historia trata de un matrimonio con dos hijos y muchos problemas en el que el marido est�� perennemente de mal humor y es un cr��tico empedernido. Cuando acude a una especie de cham��n/curandero/hippie-tocado-por-la-mano-divina, llamado GoodNews, ve la luz y se convierte en una <em>buena persona</em>, comprensivo y preocupado por los m��s necesitados. Hasta el extremo.
La narr
...more
A book that is about a broken marriage between 2 characters, Katie and David. Throughout this book you see different sides of both characters and you wonder what is really going to happen between them 2. David, who seems to be the one that is destroying the marriage is a very evil person in this book but everything changes throughout the book. You see many different sides of David as he goes through a change in his life.
The changes throughout the book happens after David goes to see a faith heal...more
The changes throughout the book happens after David goes to see a faith heal...more
This book made me sad. It was really, really depressing. In fact, so much that it actually put me in a bad mood while I was reading it.
Don't get me wrong; there were flashes of humor, clever writing, and certainly it begs a lot of introspection. But it was a real downer. None of the hope of "About a Boy", and although I haven't read "High Fidelity", I've seen that movie, and I think that had hope too.
So here's what I started writing after the first section for BBC last Saturday:
Don't get me wrong; there were flashes of humor, clever writing, and certainly it begs a lot of introspection. But it was a real downer. None of the hope of "About a Boy", and although I haven't read "High Fidelity", I've seen that movie, and I think that had hope too.
So here's what I started writing after the first section for BBC last Saturday:
...more
"How to be Good"
6 likes · like · see review
Sorry to say, not one of Hornby's better works. I really love his style and have enjoyed other novels by him in the past and had high hopes for this endeavor but was sorely dissappointed. Takes place in England (somewhere) and consists of a 40ish doctor named Katie who is unhappily married Dave and they have 2 kids together. Opens with Katie asking Dave for a divorce which he won't grant her. Instead, he finds solace and direction with a new-age hippie healer who calles himself DJ GoodNews. The...more
Best lines:
You don't get conversations like this when things are going good.
The difference between sex with David and sex with Stephen is like the difference between science and art. With Stephen it's all empathy and imagination and exploration and the shock of the new, and the outcome is... uncertain, if you know what I mean. I'm engaged by it, but I', mot necessarily sure what its all about. David, on the other hand, presses this button, then that one, and bingo! It's like operating a lift - j...more
You don't get conversations like this when things are going good.
The difference between sex with David and sex with Stephen is like the difference between science and art. With Stephen it's all empathy and imagination and exploration and the shock of the new, and the outcome is... uncertain, if you know what I mean. I'm engaged by it, but I', mot necessarily sure what its all about. David, on the other hand, presses this button, then that one, and bingo! It's like operating a lift - j...more
This book came to me in the most wonderful of ways - as a first gift from a new friend. It was a goodbye gift of a sort and I hope, a hello of a different nature. This is my first Nick Hornby and people whose book opinions I value seem to regard him greatly.
'How to be good' has a shocking everydayness about it. Given that the title sounds like it's parodying a gushing, pontificating self-help book, I guess that's par for the course. Dr.Katie Carr is coasting along, dissatisfied with her marriag...more
'How to be good' has a shocking everydayness about it. Given that the title sounds like it's parodying a gushing, pontificating self-help book, I guess that's par for the course. Dr.Katie Carr is coasting along, dissatisfied with her marriag...more
O apelo nos livros de Nick Hornby está, entre outros, na realidade das personagens, tratam-se aqui de pessoas normais, com as quais o leitor se pode identificar. Ler um livro de Hornby é quase como assistir a um filme de domingo à tarde. Ele tem humor, é aparentemente leve, entretem e passa rapidamente (apesar de erros ortográficos e de tradução desta edição).
"Como Ser Bom" apesar do seus brilhos sofre da ausência de conflitos e de um clímax, chegando ao fim como começou, sem atar nem desatar......more
"Como Ser Bom" apesar do seus brilhos sofre da ausência de conflitos e de um clímax, chegando ao fim como começou, sem atar nem desatar......more
Pa, kako poceti? Ponekad deluje veoma lako dati svoje misljenje o odredjenoj stvari, prici, knjizi... Ali, uglavnom nije tako.
Nik Hornbi. Uglavnom sam gledao filmove snimljene po njegovim delima, a manje citao sama dela. Medjutim sa ovom knjigom mislim da sam jos procitao Sve o decaku, po kojoj je snimljen istoimeni film sa Hju Grantom koji mi je, moram priznati jedan od najomiljenijih.
Medjutim, ni Sve o decaku, a ni Kako biti dobar nisu uspele u meni samo da izazovu onaj dobri, tako zeljeni ose...more
Nik Hornbi. Uglavnom sam gledao filmove snimljene po njegovim delima, a manje citao sama dela. Medjutim sa ovom knjigom mislim da sam jos procitao Sve o decaku, po kojoj je snimljen istoimeni film sa Hju Grantom koji mi je, moram priznati jedan od najomiljenijih.
Medjutim, ni Sve o decaku, a ni Kako biti dobar nisu uspele u meni samo da izazovu onaj dobri, tako zeljeni ose...more
3.5 This novel was easy to read but, for me, it's going to take a little time to digest it.
What's it about? Well, it's partly about power struggles in marriages and about how, when we get what we think we want, we often don't want it after all. And it's about how we can thoroughly despise a spouse or a child in one moment, then want to embrace them in the next moment.
The novel's also about sadness as a human condition. Here's a quote from the female narrator about her daughter:
"What has happen...more
What's it about? Well, it's partly about power struggles in marriages and about how, when we get what we think we want, we often don't want it after all. And it's about how we can thoroughly despise a spouse or a child in one moment, then want to embrace them in the next moment.
The novel's also about sadness as a human condition. Here's a quote from the female narrator about her daughter:
"What has happen...more
Fato um: todos que me viram com o livro (e que não conhecem o Hornby e, portanto não perceberam a grande sacada irônica da coisa) acharam que o livro fosse de autoajuda.
Fato dois: de todos os livros do Hornby que já li (mas eu ainda não alcancei a meta de ler todos os já publicados no Brasil), Como Ser Legal foi o que mais me decepcionou.
A impressão que tive foi que a obra é um ensaio mal executado, você percebe que todos os elementos que tornam as narrativas do autor um sucesso estão ali, mas d...more
Fato dois: de todos os livros do Hornby que já li (mas eu ainda não alcancei a meta de ler todos os já publicados no Brasil), Como Ser Legal foi o que mais me decepcionou.
A impressão que tive foi que a obra é um ensaio mal executado, você percebe que todos os elementos que tornam as narrativas do autor um sucesso estão ali, mas d...more
Easily on my top five book form this year. Probably on my top 20 books ever.
I love Nick Hornby. I may have gone on a Hornby buying spree because he very well be my favorite living author now that Vonnegut kicked the bucket, but I’m uncomfortable saying that for sure until I’ve read the his oeuvre. Just like I’d never say that a band was my favorite unless I’d heard all of their albums – one of them could be god awful, and what kind of fan would I be if I didn’t know? Anywho, High Fedility and Ab...more
I love Nick Hornby. I may have gone on a Hornby buying spree because he very well be my favorite living author now that Vonnegut kicked the bucket, but I’m uncomfortable saying that for sure until I’ve read the his oeuvre. Just like I’d never say that a band was my favorite unless I’d heard all of their albums – one of them could be god awful, and what kind of fan would I be if I didn’t know? Anywho, High Fedility and Ab...more
The fourth Hornby book I read, after High Fidelity (my favorite by far!), Fever Pitch, and A Long Way Down. This one is probably my second favorite because it sticks with me the most.
A modern English woman with a husband and family has her life shocked by a kind of spiritual dude (I really can't describe him much better than that!) who suggests they undertake (what seems to them as) extreme measures to become Good People. The results of this experiment are of course what Nick Hornby predicts the...more
A modern English woman with a husband and family has her life shocked by a kind of spiritual dude (I really can't describe him much better than that!) who suggests they undertake (what seems to them as) extreme measures to become Good People. The results of this experiment are of course what Nick Hornby predicts the...more
Im not sure what about this book was disquieting. It details the mundane, humdrum affair that is married life after 2 decades and for someone who is 27 and unmarried it might not be the most positive endorsement of something is an inevitability in the years to come. Beyond that however, the book is engaging but at times the set pieces seem very forced.
The book deals very well with the modern life conundrum however, which is how to live a satisfying and fulfilling life while giving back to socie...more
The book deals very well with the modern life conundrum however, which is how to live a satisfying and fulfilling life while giving back to socie...more
Hornby writes in the first person from the standpoint of Katie, a physician in London whose marriage is undergoing a sudden and strange type of stress: her husband, formerly an angry, sarcastic and bitingly funny partner in their unhappy marriage, abruptly decides he is not a good person, and completely changes his ways - swinging to the opposite end of the spectrum, speaking kindly (but without humor), giving away the family's money and belongings and inviting the homeless to live with them. Ka...more
I found the book fun and original. We are let into the mind of Katie, a GP in Britain who hates her sarcastic, skeptical husband. In fact, her whole life, other than her medical practice, is about hating him. And he can't really help it, because it is his job to be angry about common everyday stuff like drivers, bus riders, plays, and restaurants, and then write up a weekly column for the newspaper. But, when he has a semi-spiritual experience and decides to "Be Good," the whole fabric of the ma...more
The idea of the book sounded so great when I read it. A husband that is angry all the time with a marriage failing because of it turns into a good person. The idea had the potential to be a really good, interesting story. Intead it turned out to be about, not just being a "good" person, but being better than everyone else. Giving money away to the poor, inviting the homeless to live with you. Becoming best friends and eventual roommates with GoodNews. The ideas were rather absurd.
The reviews on...more
The reviews on...more
Nov 28, 2011
Marigold
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
humor,
set-in-england
Funny and interesting. This was my first experience reading Hornby so I had nothing to compare it to, which may have been good, based on other readers' reviews. Because this was a Book & Not Real Life, I found Katie, David & their family hilarious & sometimes moving. There's a British humor here that not everyone is going to get, but I found it spot on. Because it was a Book & Not Real Life, I found myself rooting for Katie to find her happiness (and goodness); I was also rooting...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How do you understand the ending of this novel? | 7 | 42 | May 08, 2013 12:18am | |
| The Last Line | 5 | 132 | Aug 31, 2012 06:49am |
Nick Hornby is the author of the novels A Long Way Down, Slam, How to Be Good, High Fidelity, and About a Boy, and the memoir Fever Pitch. He is also the author of Songbook, a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award, Shakespeare Wrote for Money, and The Polysyllabic Spree, as well as the editor of the short-story collection Speaking with the Angel. He is a recipient of the American Acade...more
More about Nick Hornby...
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“The plain state of being human is dramatic enough for anyone; you don't need to be a heroin addict or a performance poet to experience extremity. You just have to love someone.”
—
1,489 people liked it
“It seems to me now that the plain state of being human is dramatic enough for anyone; you don't need to be a heroin addict or a performance poet to experience extremity. You just have to love someone.”
—
252 people liked it
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Jul 01, 2012 09:45pm
Jul 15, 2012 05:48am