How to be Good

I am a good person. I am a doctor. – Katie Carr

Nick Hornby won my heart (for the third time over) by describing a woman’s blurred mind so perfectly! Well, the protagonist was confused but the description of her confusion was nonetheless perfect. How to be Good is a story of a family from the point of view of the wife. She is the only real character in the book. Other characters are there for support, they enable her to grow and develop and change, but in themselves they are all cardboard characters.

Katie finds herself in bed with a guy just because she is bored of her life. She blames her husband for it. She thinks she wants a divorce but it is just a passing thought. The husband, who at present is the angriest man in the district, realizes his fault in pushing Katie into someone else’s arms and decides to be good as well. Only his idea of being good differs from that of Katie’s.

Hornby uses sarcasm in a brilliant fashion to tell the tale of an ordinary woman caught in a not-so-ordinary situation. The whole book rides on her guilt of having a very short and meaningless affair. The premise of the story is hilarious and oozing with overbearing goodness. However, there is not much meat to the story. It is all very situational and moments-based, which, by the way, I like. This snide tale of a married woman made me rethink about my beliefs about marriage. If a book can do that, it has to be good; Says I.

If you like Nick Honrby, pick up this book. If you have never read him before, read High Fidelity and then, pick up this book.