Reading Nick Hornby's work, I feel that Hornby, as well as fulfilling the categories that make a book a "good read" for my generation, I believe that  because of the style and ideas Hornby integrates into his work in a clever and perceptive way, his books, novels and memoirs can win over any generation or type of person. Hornby's work is good-hearted, entertaining, humorous, endearing and when books can combine these sorts of genres, it can evoke emotion and a strong fondness of the books. I have read "About a boy" which is said to be Hornby's most light hearted book of his yet his key traits still remain strong, captivating the reader.





About a Boy



















































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Blurb:                



                                              "How cool is Will Freeman?"

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Too cool! At thirty-six, he's as hip as a teenager. He's single, child-free, goes to the right clubs and knows which trainers to wear. He's also found a great way to score women: attend single parents' groups full of available (and grateful) mother, all hoping to me a Nice Guy.



Which is how Will meets marcus, the oldest twelve-year-old on the planet. Marcus is a bit strange: he listens to Joni Mitchell and Mozart, looks after his mum and has never owned a pair of trainers. But Marcus latches onto Will- and wont let go. Can Will teach Marcus how to grow up cool? And can Marcus help Will just to grow up?









Opinion





Throughout the  novel a particular emotion Hornby lays upon the reader is the feeling of pity for Marcus, the young boy. In not just one paragraph do we come across circumstances that arises pity for Marcus but all through the book and especially life before meeting Will. Just from the blurb one must feel for Marcus; he is not cool because he listens to music much before his generation, he has to look after his mum which suggests their is a significant reason she needs to be looked after and to top it off he has never owned a pair of trainers which is an indication of unpopularity and social in-activeness. Being an only child myself like many people, I find it easier to understand the type of boy Hornby is describing that has been sculpted by his family situation. To add to that, Marcus is a only child being cared for by a single parent. A mid-life crisis is very often stunted by being a single parent, so now to add to the social problems Marcus has, he also has to care for his depressed mother. This must add to is isolation from kids his own age and for that reason it makes Marcus more unpopular. I feel Hornby has delivered the feeling of pity to the book notably well because he has diverted the pity, that in other examples, would go towards the single mother in a mid-life crisis towards the boy who has to deal with it. This is rare in literature and film in the near same scenario, and as a result this highlights the writing skills of the author in my opinion.



Although much of Hornby's work is tends to be humorous and eventually happy, behind most of his writing, a darker theme can be identified. About a boy  evolves because of a clash of depressing and sad lives of two males; one man, one boy. I think Hornby sheds light onto life as a single man and woman very effectively. He has picked a good example of a man who obviously because growing up has gone from cool to a nobody. I think this is a very common situation for men especially because it shows that it doesn't mean everything to be popular, you also have to mature. Hornby has shown this well, Will acts like a teenager every day of his life and although he may not realize it at the start, he is heading for or is in a mid-life crisis.

Hornby puts in light his idea and concept claiming that boys need a male friend and adviser, but that they don't need someone as a father figure. I think that Hornby tries to say through this book that a man, even though if he looks like others on the outside (or not), can idolize himself in peculiar ways, without it being a coward.



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“Sarcasm and compassion are two of the qualities that make life on Earth tolerable.”

― Nick Hornby, Songbook



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