The backlash against Hornby's impressive experiment has already started - the Guardian's digested read being the worst offender - but the fact is that A Long Way Down fits nicely into the body of Hornby's work. Even if you don't like the characters all of the time, there's something sweetly human and familiar in all of them. Their reliance on each other is very well drawn and Hornby handles the jarring subject of suicide with grace.
Anyway, if it were you, wouldn't you want somebody there at the other end of your outstretched hand? Hornby, warts and all, never leaves you hanging.
Anyway, if it were you, wouldn't you want somebody there at the other end of your outstretched hand? Hornby, warts and all, never leaves you hanging.
