2. ABOUT A BOY Author’sBiography Plot Differencesfrom the movie Personal Opinion
3. AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY Nick Hornbywasborn in 1957 in Surrey, England and graduated in EnglishLiterature at Cambridge University. Later, he taughtEnglishtoforeigners and worked as a freelancejournalistforseveralimportantnewspapers. Fromchildhood, he was a keen fan of the Arsenal footballteam and thisprobablyinspiredhisfirstwell-knownbook, Fever Pitch (1992). NextcameHighFidelity (1995), closelyfollowedbyAbout a Boy (1998). All of thesebookshavebeenadaptedforthecinema. He has alsowrittentwoothernovelsalongwithseveralworks of non-fiction. Hornbynowlives in London and much of hiswritingis set there. He ismarried and has a son, whowasdiagnosedwithautismwhen he was 2 yearsold. Withhiswife, he set up Treehouse, a specialschooltohelpsuchchildren.
4. AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY THE TURNING POINT:'I started by writing plays. They were sort of screen-cum-radio-cum-TV plays, and they weren't very good … When I left university and I tried to write, everything came out sounding like bad essays, so I thought I should stick to dialogue. I hadn't done enough reading-not of the things I wanted to emulate-so it took me a while, a long while, to grapple with voice … everything changed for me when I read Anne Tyler, Raymond Carver, Richard Ford, and Lorrie Moore, all in about '86-'87 … voice, tone, simplicity, humor, soul ... all of these things seemed to be missing from the contemporary English fiction I'd looked at, and I knew then what I wanted to do' .THE MOVIESFever Pitch, High Fidelity and About A Boy have all been made into successful, and much-loved, films, starring Colin Firth, John Cusak and Hugh Grant. Fever Pitch was also released as a movie in 2005 starring Drew Barrymore. The filming of A Long Way Down is taking place, produced by Johnny Depp. Nick has also scripted the adaptation of Lynn Barber's memoir 'An Education'.
5. “About a Boy” is a book which deals with the problems of two widely different persons, both in age and behavior. The first seven chapters are mainly about the character, Marcus. Marcus suffers at school because he is different from the other kids. He is bullied at school. Will is the middle aged “bachelor” of the book. The story bases on Will, a rich, child-free, and irresponsible 38-year-old slacker who, in search of available women, invents an imaginary son and starts attending single parent meetings. As a result of one of his encounters, he meets Marcus, a 12-year-old boy with problems at home and at school. Gradually, Will and Marcus become friends and, as Will teaches Marcus how to be a cool kid. Marcus teaches Will to grow up and accept responsibility, whereas Will teaches Marcus to live in today’s world. Both of them change as a result of their relationship. Marcus learns how to be a kid, and Will learns how to be an adult. Plot
6. Diferencesfrom the movie You will notice many striking differences between the book and the film. Admittedly the message and the characteristic traits of the story are the same. But nevertheless the movie differs from the novel in many details: In the film there are not so many interesting and profound thoughts. and the depression of Marcus´ mother is not described in detail. Also the ending of the story is changed. In the book there is a passage about the relationship between Marcus and his mother and about Will taking Alistair and Marcus out every weekend. In the film the “concert episode” is added. In this scene Marcus is singing at a school concert for his mum. He sings “Killing me softly”. By that he makes a fool of himself. Will has a presentiment of this embarrassing situation and because of this he wants to help Marcus. He drives with Fiona to the school concert. When he sees that Marcus is already on stage and everybody is laughing about him, he takes a guitar and accompaniments Marcus´ singing. Then everybody likes the song. After the song is actually finished Will goes on playing guitar and singing. So he makes a fool of himself for helping Marcus. This “concert episode” causes action and increases tension . It is a humorous part of the film. But it also shows Will´s change of mind. He has become much more social and he worries about Marcus´ reputation also he has no advantage by helping Marcus. This scene is the climax of the film. In the ending of the film there is also the Christmas party. This is more like a happy ending than the book´s ending. So it is much more attractive to the audience. In addition, it is connected to the other Christmas party. It underlines the harmony and shows that they have become as close as family members are.
7. Diferencesfrom the movie I liked the costumes of the actors. Especially Marcus was dressed as I imagined when I read the book. But I wondered why Fiona´s jacket had a hood made of fur, although she is vegetarian. Even if the fur is artificial it does confuse the viewers. In my opinion it is comprehensible that the film differs from the novel, because it is quite difficult to compress such a complex story. In addition it is difficult to integrate monologues in the film, but this problem is managed quite good. All in all, I think that the film and the novel are quite different, but that both are worth of watching and reading, respectively. If you look for an entertaining, humorous story that is at the same time profound and makes you think about themes like love, friendship, human relationships and family, you should read the book. If you rather want a funny, simple comedy for one evening, you should watch the film.
8. PersonalOpinion Nick Hornby writes in a style that I initially found glib, but later thought of as plain spoken, unpretentious, and straightforward. It's not beautiful writing, but, rather, just barely functional, with a constant undercurrent of understated wit and a few flashes of genuine humor. With such spare writing, it falls to Hornby's story and characters to really give any weight to this book. The story of About a Boy is meandering and slight, absent any real passions (with the exception of one harrowing, central scene involving Fiona). The characters, also, felt inert: strangely so, as I thought that the main idea of this whole book was Will's growing up, Marcus's opening up, and Fiona's ascent from darkness. A little bit of each of those happens, but not a lot. And the characters keep enough distance between each other that their relationships feel a bit cool. This is not to say that Hornby does anything actually wrong in About a Boy. The book doesn't purport to be anything more than a realistic way of life, and at that it is superb. The problem, of course, is that I'm not a precocious child, a flighty middle-aged bachelor, or a depressed single mother; nor do I know many people like that, so that, I can´t identity with their lives. Don't get me wrong: About a Boy is an amusing, well written, and well crafted book. But it is also, as I said at the outset, just a trifle.
