`Is it the introduction of characters or the social relevance of the themes and narratives in 'A Long Way Down' that interests and intrigues the reader?

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`Is it the introduction of characters or the social relevance of the themes and narratives in ‘A Long Way Down’ that interests and intrigues the reader?

By Matthew Simpson

Nick Hornby is a modern British classic author, having won many awards, most of his books have climbed to the top of the bestsellers chart. Most of his books are fictional and tend to be written about unemployed characters or characters who are now quite far down the social ladder, for whatever reason. His books have done well enough for three films to be made out of them.

‘A Long Way Down’ is about four characters who want to commit suicide, but meet and decide not to, instead opting to help each other. It was very successful because of its narrative and the characters which we like to read about in order to make ourselves feel better. People would also buy it because of his previous success.

There are many reasons for its success, including the fact that it is about suicide. We are intrigued by this narrative because it is something we do not really know about. The theme of social wealth is also very important because it is something we are involved with on a day to day basis.

Character introductions are very important because it sets the standard for the rest of the novel and also needs to hook the reader. ‘Emma’ By Jane Austin is a good example as it hooks us by talking immediately about social wealth, “with very little to distress or vex her”, this intrigues us because we want to learn about her luxurious lifestyle.

As I have previously discussed, Hornby is a bestselling author who has become a modern classic author. This reputation must have helped ‘A Long Way Down’ to sell well, as it did become a bestseller.

Exploration of character introductions

All four characters start the narrative and the variety in social wealth of the characters adds to interest. By having these four contradicting characters, we are guaranteed conflict. Jess is a young, party-going loudmouth, but is without many friends, “and not have anywhere to go on New Year’s Eve.” We as readers wonder what her life is like, but once we find out that she has a political father, and a comfortable home, we feel little sympathy for her. Jess likes to argue with and annoy the other characters, which can excite us, because we like to see characters fall out in order to make us feel better about ourselves. Maureen is the other female, who is extremely introverted with a disabled son. Her transformation from this character into a more relaxed, open and friendly character after hitting Jess’ ex, shows us that even the most reclusive people can change and be happy, making us as readers happy as well.

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By adding a supposed rising American rock star, who has unfortunately fallen on hard times, we feel sorry that he was not able to achieve his ambitions. JJ’s constant use of swear words livens up the story, “Oh OK, your band was fucked up…the only reason you were in this fuckin’ country”, as we don’t see it as being pretentious, or something that we can’t read. The icing on the cake has to be the law-breaking child molester, “screwing a fifteen-year-old”, who rocketed into the public eye for things which he would rather have not been’ being bombarded by ...

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