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A Spot of Bother

Mark Haddon

3.48 · Rating details · 33,000 ratings · 3,313 reviews

George Hall is an unobtrusive man. A little distant, perhaps, a little cautious, not at quite at ease with the emotional demands of fatherhood, or manly bonhomie. He does not understand the modern obsession with talking about everything. “The secret of contentment, George felt, lay in ignoring many things completely.” Some things in life, however, cannot be ignored.

At 61, ...more

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Paperback, 354 pages

Published September 5th 2006 by Doubleday (first published 2006)

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Dec 17, 2007 Patrick rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: no one

I pretty much hated this book. It was the type of book that you read because you liked the author's other work, but it's so aggressively bad that it makes you reconsider whether or not you actually liked the author's previous work upon closer consideration.

So what was so bad about it? Well, for the one the characters simply didn't ring true. They all felt poorly sketched out, just a bunch of people having what Haddon would have you believe are constant epiphanies about their sad little lives. He I pretty much hated this book. It was the type of book that you read because you liked the author's other work, but it's so aggressively bad that it makes you reconsider whether or not you actually liked the author's previous work upon closer consideration.

So what was so bad about it? Well, for the one the characters simply didn't ring true. They all felt poorly sketched out, just a bunch of people having what Haddon would have you believe are constant epiphanies about their sad little lives. He writes in such a way that you can tell he wants the reader to think it's a stunning revelation that this character is having, when it's just another dull moment in a rather dull story. If I had a dollar for every time Haddon made a one sentence paragraph meant to reveal some larger truth about the character's personalities, I'd be a rich man. He also has a nasty habit of ending each "chapter" (there are well over 100 of them, most 2 pages or less) with some half-assed "cliff-hanger", something better suited to the James Pattersons and R.L. Stines of the world.

Haddon doesn't seem to understand his characters, and he doesn't seem to care to, either. He simply throws a jumble of people into awkward situations and has them (over)react like a bunch of unlikeable, selfish jerks and then comment to themselves that, perhaps, they are acting like unlikeable, selfish jerks who are overreacting to what are, in reality, fairly mundane situations. They're sad, selfish little people, yet Haddon seems to think they are endearing.

Finally, he ends the book fairly abruptly and with a neat little bow on top that doesn't suit it. Everything works out for everyone involved, yet no one seemed to learn anything or grow as people. They all ended exactly where they began with no growth whatsoever. I've heard people who are familiar with autism claim that Haddon's sketch of the child in 'A Curious Incident of the Dog in the NightTime' was actually woefully inaccurate and quite offensive, and seeing the way he handles his characters' problems in this story, I'm much more inclined to believe that. Just an awful, awful book. Haddon seems to think he's writing a British version of 'The Corrections', but he's painfully mistaken. I'll probably not read anything by Haddon again. ...more

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Jul 06, 2008 Pierce rated it did not like it

As we approach the end of my first year of recorded and reviewed reading, I have read almost no bad books. The Fermata was bad, but the guy could write, he just decided to write something we all thought was fucking awful.

This was a bad book.

Oh how do I hate this book? Let me count the ways:

1) Every word in this novel is written in conversational, lazy prose. "Absolutely" is used repeatedly for emphasis. "Cue" something or other. The kind of verbal junk we are all guilty of in verbal conversation As we approach the end of my first year of recorded and reviewed reading, I have read almost no bad books. The Fermata was bad, but the guy could write, he just decided to write something we all thought was fucking awful.

This was a bad book.

Oh how do I hate this book? Let me count the ways:

1) Every word in this novel is written in conversational, lazy prose. "Absolutely" is used repeatedly for emphasis. "Cue" something or other. The kind of verbal junk we are all guilty of in verbal conversation, but letting it form the bulk of your novel is unforgivable. I felt like I was reading a second-year English essay. Honest to god, I'm not exaggerating. Junk prose. Never a hint of an interesting sentence structure.

2) This device, used repeatedly, I'm guessing to give the novel some appearance of depth. Let's call it the Family Guy Device. "The day was turning out badly. Almost as badly as that barbecue with David Morris and Bettie Constance in Salford last summer, thought George." STOP RANDOMLY FUCKING DROPPING NAMES I'VE NEVER HEARD BEFORE AND WON'T HEAR AGAIN. There's enough one-dimensional characters to keep track of without my having to check off new names against the list every two chapters. I can't tell you how many times this was used in the course of 500 pages.

3) 500 PAGES? To tell this story? Are you kidding me?

4) The relentless assault of pop-culture references. Lethal Weapon, The 6th Sense, The Lord of the Rings, BBC Radio 4. Wedding music is "that Bach Double Violin piece from the compilation CD Dad gave her from Christmas last year." And it's not just the pop-culture bits (Oscar Wao was full of Lord of the Rings stuff), it's that they are brought up again and again and again, but not one character betrays any interest that dips below to most shallow and obvious cultural stables. It felt like examples of tastes were deliberately chosen so that no reader would ever miss a reference. These people, is seems, are the most banal people you have ever met.

5) 500 FUCKING PAGES?

Picture a wet Sunday afternoon, and you are spending it at a slightly run-down shopping centre in the outskirts of town. You check out the record store, but whoever's stocked their shelved has decided to focus on boy-bands and Nickelback and club-anthem compilations. The book-shop is full of ugly, glossy cookbooks and footballer biographies. You glance into the clothes shops but the mannequins all look like the men you feel most uncomfortable around in the pub at weekends. You go to the cafeteria to kill some time, and sit under bright fluorescent lighting at grey plastic tables and eat a bun seemingly made out of another kind of plastic. The tea is tepid and has an oily film on its surface.

And it's not the afternoon you're experiencing in this place, it's the people around you, when you realise that even if you asked them, they wouldn't see what's wrong with this. They wouldn't understand your problem.
This novel was a 500 page trek through everything that tires and disappoints me most about the modern world, and I'm sorry if that illuminates some fault in me and not the novel, but that's the way I feel. ...more

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Jan 23, 2009 jo rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: linda

Shelves: psychic-pain, the-body, great-britain, queer

i don't know why people who've read the curious incident of the dog in the night-time would find this second novel a let-down. it seems to me equally tender, sweet, and heartbreaking. it's also hilariously funny. haddon does heartbreaking and funny with such grace, simplicity, and verbal virtuosity, it's wonderful. i admire this writer greatly.

what i admire most about him is that he shows us the behavior of "crazy" people who do "crazy" things from the inside, and from the inside these crazy th i don't know why people who've read the curious incident of the dog in the night-time would find this second novel a let-down. it seems to me equally tender, sweet, and heartbreaking. it's also hilariously funny. haddon does heartbreaking and funny with such grace, simplicity, and verbal virtuosity, it's wonderful. i admire this writer greatly.

what i admire most about him is that he shows us the behavior of "crazy" people who do "crazy" things from the inside, and from the inside these crazy things make total sense. george's shenanigans are as meaningful and entirely understandable to us as christopher's shenanigans, and, just like in the first novel, we are quite surprised that people around these two should not be more compassionate and understanding, because both george and christopher seem lost in an earnest, brave, broken, and entirely adorable way.

there's a lot here about class, and i imagine other non-english people might find it as hard to make sense of as i did. i mean, ray seems absolutely perfect from all possible points of view, as does tony, but the stuff of class gets in the way tremendously, and one is left quite perplexed until one remembers what one has learned about england from the movies, and it makes a little more sense.

the little kid jacob is picture perfect. haddon has a thing with little kids (of all ages).

another thing that haddon does really really well is show how people like george and christopher, i.e. people who either are different or become different at some point in their lives for some very painful reason, manage to break down barriers and distances in others that would otherwise be as immutable and untouchable as the rotation of the planets. and then everyone feels better.

except there is hell to pay, for everyone, and this is the really heartbreaking part, the amount of pain haddon packs in his books. i was discussing this just now with someone and realized that the highest common denominator between dog and bother is terror. and i don't do terror very well. but this book eases you into terror gently, and by the time you realize that the book is killing you you are too caught up to stop reading it.

anyway, i really liked this book. it doesn't dispel the terror, or maybe it doesn't do so entirely, but it might make you feel like you are not the only one to live in a constant state of terror, and that's a little soothing unto itself. ...more

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Jun 10, 2008 Jeremy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

People going into Mark Haddon's latest novel, A Spot of Bother expecting anything like his smash-hit debut, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time are going to be sorely disappointed. And rightfully so, because if Haddon had reproduced the same sort of story as he did in his first novel, we'd all be complaining about how he was such a one-trick pony. In fact, I'm glad he got the unconvential work that is The Curious Incident out of the way first, so that he can now settle himself into People going into Mark Haddon's latest novel, A Spot of Bother expecting anything like his smash-hit debut, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time are going to be sorely disappointed. And rightfully so, because if Haddon had reproduced the same sort of story as he did in his first novel, we'd all be complaining about how he was such a one-trick pony. In fact, I'm glad he got the unconvential work that is The Curious Incident out of the way first, so that he can now settle himself into what he really wants to do (and ultimately does anyway in The Curious Incident): study people.

One of my coworkers asked me if what I was reading was a detective novel. I'm not sure how they came to such an assumption (I don't have a pronounced taste for crime fiction, that I know of at least). I suppose there is an outside chance that they were familiar with Haddon's first book and made the assumption, but if that is true, I'd like to put a million dollars on the Pirates to win the World Series this year. But when they asked me about what kind of novel A Spot of Bother was, I said, "It's kind of a character study, about this guy who is having a mental breakdown." That guy is the main character, retired playground equipment salesman and constructor George Hall, who has found a lesion on his leg and convinces himself it is cancer, allowing his sanity to slowly crumble to dust.

This is the catalyst that sends the story initially into motion, but George's friends and family are all major players as well, and their characters are warped and molded and nurtured throughout the novel with masterful strokes. From George's wife to his children to his former colleagues, we are introduced to a sweeping cast who each exist within their own world of insanities. If anything, the characters are too painfully accurate--more than once I was brought to boil over their attempts to avoid reality. George in particular is seemingly afraid of everything and makes bone-headed decisions out of his fears. For awhile I was mad at Haddon for making George so unbelievably scared to go to the doctor about his lesion, until I remembered my great uncle who lives in a house that is literally falling in on itself (think the Lisbon House after the first suicide, only scarier) who hasn't been to a doctor since the 1980s despite hardly being able to get around the house in his deteriorating health. Oh, and he still drives too. But it reminded me that people really are that paranoid and that just because I would go to the doctor in an instant if I were convinced I had cancer, others would shy away worse than before and retreat into their own cracked psyche.

A Spot of Bother really takes on a lot (both in story and in philosophy) and comes out amazingly successful. A lot of critics have said it missed its mark, that it is boring and doesn't live up to his debut, but these are absolutely the same people who would be skinning him if he'd done another book with clip art on every page. If they'd take the time to actually think about the two novels, they'd realize that there are more similarities than differences. Haddon wants to see what his characters can take, so he pushes them into situations and let's them spiral out of control and captures whatever he can from that flaming trail. At the heart of both A Spot of Bother and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, that is what the story focuses on. With his latest work, he just does so in a more traditional but much more all-encompassing way.

In just two novels, Mark Haddon has proven his impressive range, all the while remaining focused on what he ultimately wants to achieve in his writing. I'm excited to see what he does next. Hopefully, whatever it is, it will have a better paperback cover than A Spot of Bother though. Seriously. I waited so long to buy this to see if I could get a second edition but then just couldn't put it off any more and had to settle. This has to be one of my least favorite book covers of any that I own. Alas. ...more

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Feb 02, 2016 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing

Wow..............

I just notice Mark Haddon has a new book coming out (short stories) ---"The Pier Falls"

I entered the 'give-a-way' (a girl can hope) -- :)

I LOVED this book sooooooooooooo much --I had a few copies at one time.... (gave copies away).
For some reason --I like this 'MORE' than a few of my friends --but I was DYING LAUGHING ...(forgive me if I sound nasty) ....during the bedroom scenes....
and then there was the daughter's wedding... (I just LOVED this book --and could read it again).. ...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Michael rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, england, dysfunctional-family

Modest past review discovered to have been lost in an import from Shelfari:
The survival of a modest man shown charmingly with much deadpan humor. George Hall thinks he has cancer, which shapes how he reacts to more mundane crises, such as an unfaithful wife, a son struggling with gayness, and a daughter about to marry poorly. He seems to gain a sense of sanity from learning first hand how crazy everyone else is. Our lovable hero just keeps having bad luck, but always rises to the surface. The in ...more

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Oct 12, 2015 Elaine rated it really liked it

This is a really good, absorbing drama about a family in crisis and in particular tells the story of George who, at the age of 57, suddenly faces the fact that he is not going to live forever upon the discovery of a lesion on his hip. Wife Jean is sleeping with an old work colleague of his. Daughter Katie is preparing her wedding to Ray, a man who is universally disliked by her family and to be honest, she is not sure whether she is marrying him for the right reasons. Finally, son Jamie is facin This is a really good, absorbing drama about a family in crisis and in particular tells the story of George who, at the age of 57, suddenly faces the fact that he is not going to live forever upon the discovery of a lesion on his hip. Wife Jean is sleeping with an old work colleague of his. Daughter Katie is preparing her wedding to Ray, a man who is universally disliked by her family and to be honest, she is not sure whether she is marrying him for the right reasons. Finally, son Jamie is facing a dilemma – he wants to bring his partner Tony to the wedding, but he fears his family are not ready for that.

There is a thread of black humour running through the book but I did feel it was more moving and emotional than funny as George’s depression first crept up and then engulfed him. It all felt so real, as if it was happening to somebody I knew and these sections in particular were beautifully written. The whole family, in fact, felt frighteningly real to me, and I found myself nodding my head so many times throughout the book at things they said.

They are all in crisis in one way or another, and as each short and sharp chapter is told through alternate viewpoints, I really got a good understanding about what was going through everyone’s thoughts. They are all brutally honest with themselves but the sadness is that none of them speak to each other about the things that matter.

It was a book that really grabbed me and held my attention during the build up to the wedding but there were one or two things I wasn’t too sure about. George is 57 and I am in my early 50s so I could really understand his sudden fear when he realised that he is not immortal, but he didn’t “feel” like someone in his fifties. I never saw him, or Jean, as contemporaries as mine as they felt as if they were from a different generation. I did feel the ending was a little “too” upbeat, the cloud over George’s head just seemed to blow away a little too easily in relation to the pain he suffered throughout the book. I couldn’t help thinking “oh if only depression could be solved that easily in real life”. On the whole though, this is a good entertaining read that delivers some very real home truths with very realistic characters that I thoroughly enjoyed. Yes, there are those bits that I wasn’t sure about, but they were far outweighed by the good.

...more

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Nov 17, 2009 Kaion rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: humor, contemporary, queer

A Spot of Bother is an alternating-POV story about going quietly mad and loudly sane, and love under all our layers of repression and confusion: There’s newly-retired dad George, politely failing to bury his increasing obsessive thoughts of mortality under a zest for home renovations. Mom Jean, already balancing familial duty and work and volunteering, is just trying to find more time for her passionate affair with a long-time acquaintance. Their outspoken grown-up daughter Katie intends to marr A Spot of Bother is an alternating-POV story about going quietly mad and loudly sane, and love under all our layers of repression and confusion: There’s newly-retired dad George, politely failing to bury his increasing obsessive thoughts of mortality under a zest for home renovations. Mom Jean, already balancing familial duty and work and volunteering, is just trying to find more time for her passionate affair with a long-time acquaintance. Their outspoken grown-up daughter Katie intends to marry her boyfriend Ray despite her suspicion that he’s wrong for her— because he’s right for her son. And emotionally-distant son Jamie just can’t explain to his boyfriend why he’s not invited to the wedding.

Haddon’s style is pretty sparse, but earnest. The characters’ dramas could easily become trite, but their awareness and wryness in the face of their situations instead lends an endearing realness. At times I almost felt a little cheated that the split narratives, by necessity, truncated the fuller version of each story. But even with the glimpses, I got a sense that each Hall lived in a world beyond just the necessary set pieces, full of friends and coworkers and exes—of complex relationships—a specificity that allowed me to be drawn into their struggles in spite of myself. The strongest parts of the novel are actually when the family members directly interact. We get to “see” the same events in their overlapping voices, which surprised me by highlighting the complexities of intention and communication (rather than falling into tedious exercise).

If you’ve ever seen one of these comedies, it’s hardly a surprise that all these threads erupt into a madcap ending. I think some readers might find George’s central story kind of crass and shocking and inexplicable at times. I sort of wished Haddon was less enigmatic about it, especially being the subject that was probably the hardest to comprehend or relate to. But real life is not tied up so easily.

And so when all the dust settled, I found myself left with some heartwarming end scenes and some open end scenes… but most of all, the overall sense of empathy for the ways people try to make sense out of the chaos.

(Reread April 2012: Nothing to add of insight, except to note poor Mark Haddon, doomed to forever have his work as "not as good as his first novel Curious Incident. Well those people are wrong. A Spot of Bothers's comedy of manners is just as accessible, and it shows more maturity regarding character development and less reliance on the so-called cute gimmicks he's been accused of propogating. I'm sure I've saved him from crying into buckets of money now, so this reread has gone to good cause.) ...more

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Aug 21, 2011 MJ Nicholls rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: novels, sassysassenachs

This book made Curious Incident fans wail and gnash their teeth in 2006. Who knows how Haddon’s reputation fares today, following the lukewarm response to this breezy domestic drama? I get the impression children’s voices are more his forte, what with being a bestselling kids' author and all. In fact, some of the best lines in this book belong to the toddler Jacob and revolve around poo and ice cream. But this is hardly worth a literary excommunication. It is the sort of book only established au ...more

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Jun 23, 2020 Connie G rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, humor, england

Recently retired George Hall, a quiet family man, is thrown into a panic when he finds a large spot on his skin. Although his doctor assures him it's not serious, George is convinced it's cancer and he's going to die. Meanwhile, his daughter Katie announces that she is going to marry Ray, a man who might not be right for her. Katie's gay brother, Jamie, is on the outs with his boyfriend. Adding to the stress, George's wife has a smooth, handsome lover.

This is a domestic comedy about a dysfunctio ...more

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Jan 14, 2008 Kirsten rated it really liked it

Recommended to Kirsten by: NPR

A very entertaining and intelligent "page-turner", which is a rare combination of traits. As a story told from four well-written viewpoints, it succeeds in evoking an emotional connection with the characters. But I worry about too much modern fiction presenting the literary equivalent of short serial television episodes all jumbled together in something described as a novel.

I suppose readers' attention spans are becoming shorter, but should fiction really cater to that fact? There is definitely ...more

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Jan 23, 2008 Seth T. rated it liked it

Shelves: bookclub

I'm not really sure what to say about this one. I really can't generate strong feelings one way or another on its behalf. It wasn't bad but it wasn't good - and conversely, it wasn't good but it wasn't bad. It had likable moments and parts that I laughed at. And some of Haddon's descriptions were priceless (e.g., the "chickeny scrotum" bit). But then there was the rest of it. I kept feeling that if it was either good or bad, I would have relished finishing it so that I could relish talking about ...more

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Aug 24, 2008 Susan rated it it was amazing

Hilarious!!!! What a wonderful story, that kept me laughing the whole time. Haddon does a wonderful job giving his characters life. It made me wonder what I'll be like when I retire will I be as crazy and eccentric as the main character. ...more

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Dec 15, 2007 Lila rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: any adult

First the quibbles: Haddon's a young guy. He has a young guy's perspective, which is to say, a limited perspective. His portrayals of the middle-aged are in places laughable. Mark, I've got to tell you: people over fifty don't think the world belongs to the young. They don't think they're obsolete. It's young people who think that about their elders. Youngsters are often (not always) better at the very latest technology, but that's their only advantage. Well, that, and the good health they take ...more

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Sep 12, 2007 Joe rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: Ilse

Having read Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, I expected my sophomore foray into Haddon's style of novel-writing to be a bit of a departure. If you don't know already the book was written from the point-of-view of a boy with Asperger's Syndrome (a functional form of Autism) and delivered with a fair amount of empathy that warmed the reader to an otherwise antisocial and charmless character.

However, I felt that even from an omniscient point-of-view, Haddon hardly piqued my personal Having read Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, I expected my sophomore foray into Haddon's style of novel-writing to be a bit of a departure. If you don't know already the book was written from the point-of-view of a boy with Asperger's Syndrome (a functional form of Autism) and delivered with a fair amount of empathy that warmed the reader to an otherwise antisocial and charmless character.

However, I felt that even from an omniscient point-of-view, Haddon hardly piqued my personal interest in any of the central players in this book. It's written in a matter-of-fact style that hearkens back to that of Curious but fails to deliver a real story. The jacket hinted that the hero would be George, a retired father and cuckold with a nagging topical infirmity but my mind wandered so often that I found it far more interesting to read the book as though the protagonist was the tension between each of the family members centered around him. (Try this - it was actually more fascinating than trying to patiently wait for a real story). The bottom line is that the novel goes nowhere while switching from character to character where the writer may or may not be attempting to impress the reader with his gift for communing with unrelated elements of human discord. In other words, English people are boring. This may not be the case but the book makes a strong argument to the contrary.

On the positive side, he does seamlessly transition between voices throughout the book with some alacrity and I do think he has a penchant for delivering a fitting description of what one's state of mind is in the most mundane of circumstances. I was also impressed by how well he wrote without using a cliché chain of simile after simile. Again, this is another symptom of my mind wandering from lack of interest but I am fond of writers who can deliver their craft without a notepad full of brilliant adjective phrases right next to the computer.

In any case, I would still recommend taking a look at it if you read Curious and plan to keep tabs on Haddon's evolution from writing children's books. As for me, put on the spot, I may not bother. ...more

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Nov 29, 2009 Kinga rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: pub-2006

Firstly, I'd like to point out I have NOT read The Curious Incident.. but given the hype surrounding the author I was expecting big things.
To be honest, if this was his first book we probably wouldn't know who Mark Haddon is. I am not sure it would even get published. It doesn't mean it's a completely bad book - it will keep you hooked during that morning tube ride, but it doesn't stand out.
Considering the profoundness of the characters epiphanies you could think the author is ten years old. T ...more

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Dec 16, 2008 Angela rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2008

Dear Budding Indie Film-maker,

I know how tempted you are to turn this quirky little book into a quirky little movie. You've mentally cast James Cromwell as the family patriarch who's sure the excema on his leg is actually cancer. You know just how the camera will close in on the faces of the actors as they make realizations that will change their life.

And you're really looking forward to filming some of the genuinely sweet and funny scenes, knowing the audience will roar with laughter while wipi ...more

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Aug 03, 2016 Lisa rated it it was ok

Disappointing after beautifully sad and engaging "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time". Could not relate to the characters. Too many loose and shallow threads leading nowhere in particular. Or maybe just not my kind of book. Expectations too high because I loved the "Curious Incident"?
A book for lazy summer days, but not for the rest of the year when work, family and social obligations turn every hour in the reading chair into rare golden time.
On the other hand, there are so many ...more

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Nov 22, 2017 Erin added it

Shelves: did-not-finish, library-borrowed

It's official, Mark Haddon and I just don't mesh. He's not for me! But to be fair, I won't rate this because it is really just me. Others seem to be drawn to his writing, but I just am not a fan. ...more

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Oct 16, 2019 Gumble's Yard rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2006

In many ways a very easy reading story of an ordinary middle class family living in a village outside Peterborough, by the author of the outstanding “Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time”.

George has recently retired and married to Jean, who is (as he discovers without her knowledge after aborting a trip away) having an affair with his old colleague David. Their daughter Katie having been left with a hyperactive son Jacob by her first husband Graham announces her engagement to the depen ...more

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Jan 23, 2014 Maxine (Booklover Catlady) rated it really liked it

Shelves: maxines-favourites

This book is an excellent read, the witty one liners and dry humour interwoven makes for a very funny read at times. What's clever is that it's also poignant, heartfelt and sad at the same time, very clever writing. Highly recommended if you need something on the lighter side in between other books. I loved the characters, especially George whom I now want to adopt as my Grandad. ...more

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Aug 29, 2008 ❀Aimee❀ Just one more page... rated it did not like it

Shelves: character-development, skimmed-it, boooorrrriiinnnngggg

After Curios Dog, I was eager to read another book by the same author. I couldn't identify with the characters at all. I found myself wanting to shake some sense into them. I know characters shouldn't be perfect, but come on! I made myself finish it. While it does delve into the thought process of someone with acute anxiety and fear and irrational thought (that was a bit interesting), the rest I just couldn't stand. ...more

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Sep 21, 2007 Cheri rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Like most everyone else, I read this after reading "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" - which I loved. It's not that I expected this to be anything like that, but I wanted to see how this would compare. With the former story, most of it is written through the thoughts of Christopher, a young teen with autism. A Spot of Bother is more a journey through the days of a somewhat typically dysfunctional family, with the father -George- going through an emotional crisis which leads his ...more

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Jan 05, 2018 jen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: love-u-so-much, 2017, would-reccomend, 2018, always-on-my-mind, semi-fav

intellectual and humbling.

if you are searching for a novel that mirrors "the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime" you will be disappointed. haddon's writing can be respectively diverse.

so realistic, and very vivid. the family dynamics are spot on. haddon says what we are all thinking and are too scared to say ourselves. i found this book discarded in a used book-store and read it over the course of 6 months because i didn't want to end it. open your mind and turn the page. ...more

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Jul 12, 2010 Helen (Helena/Nell) rated it liked it

First (for me) there was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I still remember how I cried at the end, wept buckets, loved it. Then there was the book of poetry, The Talking Horse and the Sad Girl and the Village Under the Sea. Great title. What was inside did little for me. And now, remaindered, hard-back, handsome, A Spot of Bother.

Expectations were lowered after the damp-squib poetry. Perhaps that was good because very quickly this novel started to delight me. It’s all relations ...more

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Oct 18, 2016 Chandré Louw rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-books, 2017

I went back to compare some of my older 3-star reviews and decided to drop this one down 1 star based on that.

It wasn't good. It wasn't bad.
It was just *shrugs* ..meh.

George reminded me of Harold Fry in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry , a character with whom I could not connect at all. Feeble, weak and unresponsive to surroundings (had a bit more balls though).

Apparently books about retired old men are really not my thing.

Mark Haddon does deserve some credit as his book was easy to read ...more

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Feb 11, 2018 Kirstie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A big read but very easy to read so i lapped it up
Loved George and his health worries raised by his depression and wife’s infidelity
Did not like his selfish wife at all and wanted to slap her!

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Sep 16, 2017 Girish rated it really liked it

"What they failed to teach you at school was that the whole business of being human just got messier and more complicated as you got older"

All families are crazy one way or the other. The Halls are a bit more colorful and the author makes sure they bring out all their colors. Welcome to the wedding of Katie Hall and Ray. As the nearly runaway groom Ray says 'Weddings are about families' and the family is the entire cake!

The world of George Hall, the father, turns upside down when he discovers a ...more

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Aug 26, 2018 Louise rated it it was ok

I liked the description of the confusion experienced by George and the relationships between family members although I sometimes felt that the lack of empathy and understanding was a bit unrealistic and some characters came across as selfish and after so much drama the ending came over as a bit flat.

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Dec 05, 2020 Emma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: general-fiction

I'm not sure why this book has so many negative reviews, I loved it. It is a story from the perspective of 4 people- a retired couple and their two adult children, and largely deals with a mental health crisis in the family, while the other characters struggle with relationshio drama. I thought the novel was funny but dealt with anxiety in a believable way. I liked all of the characters, but my favourite was Jamie, the adult son. He was just a very normal and capable bloke.

4.5 stars for me, I re ...more

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About Mark Haddon

Mark Haddon

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Mark Haddon is a British novelist and poet, best known for his 2003 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. He was educated at Uppingham School and Merton College, Oxford, where he studied English.

In 2003, Haddon won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and in 2004, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize Overall Best First Book for his novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-t ...more

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A family coalesces for a tense holiday in the English countryside in The Red House, the latest by the acclaimed author of The Curious Incident of...

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“And it occurred to him that there were two parts to being a better person. One part was thinking about other people. The other part was not giving a toss what other people thought.” — 121 likes

“What they failed to teach you at school was that the whole business of being human just got messier and more complicated as you got older. You could tell the truth, be polite, take everyone's feelings into consideration and still have to deal with other people's shit. At nine or ninety.” — 73 likes

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