A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby - PPP

Before I begin this review, please note that I read a different version of this book than you will likely read if you decide to do so – the Japanese version! Please also note that the main reason I am writing this review is to impress with the fact that I read books in Japanese. Sure, I read them very slowly pronouncing each syllable out loud, but I read them nonetheless. Impressed much?

Now down to business.

A Long Way Down tells the story of four people – a disgraced TV host, a worn out mother whose devoted her life to caring for her severally handicapped son, a cunt teenager, and the front man of a band that’s recently broken up – who meet on New Year’s Eve on the top off Topper’s House, a notorious London suicide spot.

We follow the unlikely and often contentious quartet as they decide to postpone their demise and see what comes of it. Will they find themselves back in the same spot six weeks later? Will they find a reason to push on, or better still, a reason to enjoy life? Will they engage in hilarious banter, heart-wrenching drama, and ultimately lead us to insightful conclusions concerning our existence on this planet?

Unfortunately, the answer to the last question is no.

With respect to the translation, despite not reading the English version, I feel there were quite a few instances where Ms. Atsuko Saisho translated too directly. Will the Japanese get the meaning of the “c-word”? Or colloquialisms like “he’s barking up the wrong tree,” “he couldn’t keep it in his pants,” and “it was like having sex with a corpse.”

From experience, I know that the standard Japanese for the last example is: “it was like having sex with a dogtooth tuna.” Clearly, we wouldn’t say that in English, so it should be naturalized when translated into Japanese as well.

But I think Saisho did do a great job of giving each individual a distinct voice, and more importantly, I think that raising these translation-related points makes me sounds super smart.

All in all, while there are some notable lines and a few laughs, in the end, none of the characters are engaging enough to pull you into this story. So while this is at most a 2.5-pearl book, I’m rounding it up to 3 as it has allowed me the opportunity to impress you with my Japanese novel-reading skills. Now go on and get the Good Word out!