Ratings16
Average rating3.1
"From the bestselling author of High Fidelity, About a Boy, and A Long Way Down comes a highly anticipated new novel. Set in 1960's London, Funny Girl is a lively account of the adventures of the intrepid young Sophie Straw as she navigates her transformation from provincial ingenue to television starlet amid a constellation of delightful characters. Insightful and humorous, Nick Hornby's latest does what he does best: endears us to a cast of characters who are funny if flawed, and forces us to examine ourselves in the process."--
Reviews with the most likes.
This quick take originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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How on earth could he love her? But he did, Or, at least, she made him feel sick, sad, and distracted. Perhaps there was another way of describing that unique and useless combination of feelings, but “love” would have to do for now.
The Hour
An Adventure in Space and Time
Barbara (and Jim)
3.5
For most of the story I loved Barbra/Sophie, and then there were moments when that I felt she was flat or too ‘Sue'.
But I loved the time period, the look of London/England at that moment and Hornby's tying together of that collection of characters, even if it got muddled sometimes.
Not my absolutely favorite, which is still High fidelity, followed closely by How to be good and Juliet, naked. But good, well written to the point that when I finished I had the same impulse as someone wrote int heir review of going online and checking if the facts had been true and what had been fiction, because there is so much that goes from one to the other.
Barbara, aka Sophie Straw, is a lovely character, strong and passionate. She wants to be a comedian, so she leaves her Miss Blackpool's tiara behind to pursue her dream and some time later, she is loved by many people who see that in her. But I must admit my favorite character was always Dennis. Inconspicuous and so sweet Dennis.