A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon

Advantages: Entertaining, interesting, well-observed
Disadvantages: None

...to read this one – A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon. I bought it, because I enjoyed his previous novel – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – and was interested to see what this one would be like. But I was also attracted by its theme of depression, as I have suffered with that myself, on and off for five years. So I bought the paperback version of the book from Amazon for £3.99. The cover price is £7.99. It’s the sort of book you ...
...front cover with a picture of a house, marquee and a man with an umbrella. This fits in well with the content of the story. The novel is around 500 pages long, but it is split into short chapters, so it doesn’t look too daunting and is an easy read. WHAT’S IT ABOUT THEN? George and Jean are a retired couple with two grown up children, Katie and Jamie. On the surface, everything looks cosy. They have a nice house and an apparently idyllic existence. ... Read review

Advantages: Very funny, fast moving
Disadvantages: None

...few years. It only took a few days to finish as I couldn't put it down. It tells the story revolving round a family and all the individual charcters within the family... in the lead up to the daughter, Katie's wedding. 'If he drank enough whisky he might be able to summon the courage to crash the car. There was a big stone gateway on the A16 this side of Stamford. He could hit it doing 90mph with no difficulty whatsoever. But what if his nerve ...
...and died of cancer in a wheelchair in prison?' The main characters are George, who is the father going through depression and anxiety attacks as he has discovered his wife is having an affair, and he has noticed a spot which he presumes is cancer and no matter what anyone tells him, refuses to see it for what it really is (eczema)! George is the best character in the book, as we slowly see him go completely crazy during his retirement - which is ... Read review

Advantages: Good plot, interesting and real characters, enjoyable
Disadvantages: At some points long winded, not as funny as I expected it to be

... George Hall is a 57 year old retired man who, on the surface at least, lives a comfortable life with his wife Jean. As with most families, George's nice family life is soon stripped bare and secrets, problems and lies are all exposed. Jean has been having an affair with one of George's old work colleagues and is contemplating leaving George all together, Katie his fiery daughter is considering marrying a man that she might not be in love with ...
...cancer whilst slowly falling into a deep hole of depression and anxiety causing him to do the craziest things in the lead up to Katie's wedding day and causing his family to worry about his sanity...... STORYTELLING I found this quite a hard book at first to get in to. It may have been all the names thrown in to the mix at once, George, Jean, Jamie, Katie, Ray, Jacob....the first two chapters I kept constantly getting them confused with each ... Read review

Advantages: Wry, funny, wicked, cruel, you name it, it's got it!
Disadvantages: None

I'm going through a phase. It's a very enjoyable phase. After years of reading typically 'highbrow' literature like Dickens, Hardy, the Brontes and various other whopping great tomes, I have just discovered the joys of modern authors like Joanne Harris, Nick Hornby and, most recently, Mark Haddon. Haddon has written two novels 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time' (review to follow shortly) and, most recently, 'A spot of Bother' which ...
...should be a peaceful, enjoyable and selfish relief from the world of work. This is certainly how George, the unlikely 'hero' of the tale views it. At the start of the book, he is happily building a studio at the end of the garden and preparing to devote his time to drawing and painting. Time has passed since he retired from his job as a children's play equipment salesman and he is settling into a more sedentary life with his wife Jean, who works ... Read review

Advantages: funny, touching
Disadvantages: quite short

...novel. Dealing with a family where each member is trying to cope with various difficulties you quickly get to know and love each character as the story unfolds. The father in the story, George has recently retired and lives with his wife Jean. They have two grown up children Jamie and Katie. Sounds fairly sedate doesn't it? Well underneath all the normality you find that each member of the family has their own issues. George starts to behave very ...
...issues and is considering marrying a man she's not sure if she loves, while Jamie is having trouble accepting his fate and letting the man of his dreams in. And in the middle of it all, George is fighting to keep his sanity. The book deals with many themes, infidelity, love, family, lust, depression, happiness ,illness, jealousy and protocol all ties together in a wonderfully engaging tale. I found this novel extremely easy to read, it has moves ... Read review

Advantages: Nice writing style, written from a child's point of view
Disadvantages: Depressed tone, lack of explanation

...Published: 2004 Introduction I've picked up this paperback from a charity shop recently as I was drawn to the synopsis at the back while my appetite was further whetted by two references to Mark Haddon (A Spot of Bother, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) whose works I had read previously. With hindsight the comparison turned out to be wrong and now I'm more cautious about giving credit to such statements. About the author Clare Sambrook graduated from Cambridge and works as an investigative journalist. She debuted with Hide & Seek in 2004 a book well-received by critics. She lives in Cumbria and working on her second novel. The plot Harry aged 9 and his 5 year-old brother go on a school trip where the little brother goes missing. How will Harry cope not only with his loss... Read review

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