A Spot of Bother (Vintage)

read this some time ago now but remember the main character as a man who thought he was dying and how this fear affected his interaction with those around him.

One of the most enjoyable audiobooks I have ever listened to and a GREAT story! Simon Vance narrates a cast of characters that had me laughing the whole way through. Watch out thought it is a bit of a Dark story.

Comical but heavy. An easy read but tackles a deep topic that a lot of people have been through at one point or another. Interesting book.

There was something extremely likeable and real about the story. George, Jean, Katie and Jamie are all humans - with their own issues - which make them slightly crazy, yet real. I dont know what the writer wanted the 'take-home' for his readers to be - but for me it just is 'crazy is what life does to us' - thats it!!!

Haddon's narrative remains as fresh and engaging as ever. His story flows from one Narrator to the next in perfect form, never missing a beat or straying from one story for too long, never paying more attention to one story over the other no matter the place of the character in the story. In this story of family strife and disintigration it would have been easy to create a lopsided...more

Haddon's narrative remains as fresh and engaging as ever. His story flows from one Narrator to the next in perfect form, never missing a beat or straying from one story for too long, never paying more attention to one story over the other no matter the place of the character in the story. In this story of family strife and disintigration it would have been easy to create a lopsided narrative, playing to one character over the other and creating a protagonist and an antagonist. Haddon deftly maneuvers around this, weaving a tapestry that is perfectly even, strengthened by the character threads on all sides and drawing the reader into caring for each and every one of them, often because of and not in spite of their foibles and shortcommings. In the words of our now lame duck president, it is "unputdownable".   hide

A good lighter read. Well written and a good characterization of a man facing his mid life crisis with a stiff upper lip.

I only picked up this book because I had previously read Haddon's first book, "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, and my expectations where not as high as perhaps they should have been. This book is fantastic. It took me a couple of chapters to get into it, probably due to the change of character perspective, but once I got used to this I couldn't put it down. George, a retired...more

I only picked up this book because I had previously read Haddon's first book, "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, and my expectations where not as high as perhaps they should have been. This book is fantastic. It took me a couple of chapters to get into it, probably due to the change of character perspective, but once I got used to this I couldn't put it down. George, a retired man is convinced that he has cnacer, and the story informs the reader of various other problems that George has in his life, which questions his sanity. A brilliant book to read, I would recommend this to anyone. Haddon is a fantastic author.   hide

so maybe its unfair to compare this book with Long Way Down by Nick Hornby. Unfair to Nick Hornby that is, because this book leaves that one for dead. both books feature four different narrators telling one story, but whereas Hornby had to tell us the name who was speaking and even then i sometimes had to check the start of the chapter because it wasn't always obvious, in this book Haddon brings...more

so maybe its unfair to compare this book with Long Way Down by Nick Hornby. Unfair to Nick Hornby that is, because this book leaves that one for dead. both books feature four different narrators telling one story, but whereas Hornby had to tell us the name who was speaking and even then i sometimes had to check the start of the chapter because it wasn't always obvious, in this book Haddon brings four very different characters alive, each believable and with their own narrative voice. beautifully written. moving story too.   hide

I picked this book as the "Curious Incident" is too brilliant. I am kind of opposite of my friends who read this book, I think this is much better than "Curious Incident" as the author is able to make each character lively and witty, especially when the old man became traumatic when he believed he was dying, found out his wife got an affair with his friend, his daughter...more

I picked this book as the "Curious Incident" is too brilliant. I am kind of opposite of my friends who read this book, I think this is much better than "Curious Incident" as the author is able to make each character lively and witty, especially when the old man became traumatic when he believed he was dying, found out his wife got an affair with his friend, his daughter re-marrying to another guy he is not familiar with... funny but very meaningful. I am pleased I could have read this book in my life.   hide