A critical evaluation of Funny Girl by Nick Hornby.
I owe a great deal to Nick Hornby, partly for writing one of the greatest movies ever (no, it’s not the new one), but mostly for getting me into reading books in the first place. This happened many years ago and even though I’ve had my favorites of his over the years, every book has managed to strike a chord within me. Whenever I thought I’d have a character or a plot pinned down, Hornby would throw me a curve ball and keep me guessing. That delight is something that is still very much present in his latest book.
Barbara is a pretty girl from Blackpool, England who has dreams of becoming a comedic juggernaut like Lucille Ball. The problem is she’s inexperienced, young, naïve, and well, really pretty. Fueled with her sheer determination, Barbara is determined to follow her dreams and commit to her career, even if that means ignoring everything else in her life she might need help with (like making friends). Funny Girl is loaded with the things I love from Nick Hornby books, funny dialogue, excellent pacing, and an interesting subject that I can relate to. Because I myself am a buxom comedic actress from the 60s.Â
But there’s something missing this time around, and that’s that the characters don’t really seem to develop as human beings. They are colorful, interesting, plentiful, and we learn a lot about what motivates them in life, but we don’t see them change in any way really. Funny Girl is mostly about a group of people, in stasis, trying to make a TV show work, and seems like most of the time it’s just spinning its wheels, and doesn’t get into any kind of rhythm. For someone of Hornby’s caliber that’s funny, but not in a “ha-ha†kind of way.
Artist:
http://www.nickhornbyofficial.com/
http://spaceroomdesign.com/portfolio/nick-hornby-official-website-penguin-books/
https://www.facebook.com/nick.hornby.12327
https://twitter.com/nickhornby?lang=en
Novel:
Funny Girl is out now. Buy it here on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Funny-Girl-Novel-Nick-Hornby/dp/1101983353/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463151005&sr=8-1&keywords=Nick+Hornby+-+Funny+Girl
