A Spot of Bother (Vintage): Amazon.co.uk: Mark Haddon: Books

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Product Description

Evening Standard: Rev'd Catherine Shoard
`It's a resolutely unpretentious read: drily, almost flatly funny,
but with a deep, sharp humanity...'
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

The Independent
One of the '50 best holiday reads' --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews

147 Reviews

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(22)

Average Customer Review

3.4 out of 5 stars (147 customer reviews)

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79 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Curiously Good Second Novel, 11 Sep 2007

By	Waterbaby - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Spot of Bother (Paperback)

Mark Haddon, damn him, has written a second novel which is better than the first. It isn't LIKE the first one, the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, so ignore the reviewers below who seem to think that like a brand name, an author's name should guarantee an identical experience every time. This time Haddon approaches a superficially ordinary family, perhaps like yours or mine, and goes into the little crises and difficulties which make family life so hard to bear. Dad may be an alcoholic, may be a hypochondriac, may be going mad.... you make your own decision as you read his narrative of the family going through weddings, arrivals and departures, illnesses and just day to day coping. But the style is distinctively, freshly, hilariously Haddon and very recognisable as the work of the same hand.

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62 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A riotously funny look into the lives of ordinary people, 16 Nov 2007

By	Gordon Eldridge (Southport, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Spot of Bother (Paperback)

This book has been criticized by some reviewers because its characters are too ordinary. This is the very quality that makes the book such a delight for me. The book exposes a family dealing with aging and retirement, a homosexual son, marriage and relationship difficulties and the opinions of the world around them. The dilemmas faced by these ordinary characters are familiar to us all, but Haddon's humorous and insightful treatment of them can be quite thought-provoking.

The book is riotously funny. Haddon's metaphors and similes alone will have you in stitches and dying to try them out yourself to show what a witty conversationalist you are. Let me give you an example:

"George could do the bluff repartee about cars and sport if pressed. But it was like being a sheep in the nativity play".

A thoroughly enjoyable read. You will finish it in a few nights.

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47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I laughed the whole way through, 11 Jun 2007

By	Bolandini (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Spot of Bother (Paperback)

Hillarious! Couldn't put it down. I don't give it five stars, because this book is LOADED with schmaltz, but it was the funniest thing I have read in ages. Even to the point of laughing out loud, to my wife's annoyance. I enjoyed it as much as Haddon's more famous "The Curious Incident ..."

The four members of his family are outwardly normal, leading conventional lives, but their personal crises are all brought together in a fast-paced farce. Haddon is very good at drawing out his characters. You are bound recognise aspects of them in yourself or others around you. Pain, swearing, sexual escapades and a surprising yet believable sequence of events are interspersed with the jokes right from the off. This is a much more sophisticated read than a summary of the plot can convey.

The chapters dealing with George's (the father) crises were to my (perhaps twisted) mind the funniest. For me the humour came from seeing how his tortured logic and thinking processes produced behaviour which seemed normal to him, but outrageous to those around him.

George fears that he is suffering from either a nervous breakdown or from depression. In fact, although his behaviour is shocking, given the devastating circumstances George must confront, the reader feels some empathy for his position, even respect for his responses.

It will have you turning the pages quickly and not wanting to be disturbed till you finish, and then that feeling you get at the end of a good book, satisfaction tempered with disappointment that there is no more to be had.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A decent read in all
Having read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time I purchased this book. Ok, a Spot of Bother is not as wonderful as his last book but this is still a really decent... Read more

Published 15 days ago by Campbell79

4.0 out of 5 stars Family drama in all its glory!
This book follows George, a retired father and husband who finds a lesion on his hip and, despite what his doctor tells him, is convinced that it is cancer. Read more

Published 29 days ago by Kirsty B

4.0 out of 5 stars A Spot of Bother
The book arrived in good time and was in good condition. Happy with the service.

Published 1 month ago by Mrs. N. Van Den Bragt

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
A brilliant mood lifter - unless you are a hypochondriac. Mark Haddon has a wonderful gift of making the mundane hillarious.
This would make a very good comedy play.

Published 2 months ago by A. Smith

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy it.
I must be one of the many readers who bought Haddon's "A Spot of Bother" because we had gluttonously devoured "The Curiuos Incident". The "Spot" is a total disappointment. Read more

Published 2 months ago by KeaTiki

1.0 out of 5 stars Tosh
Made the mistake of buying this at Gatwick Airport a few weeks back - dislikable/stereotypical characters and more unpleasant than funny. Read more

Published 2 months ago by CPA

5.0 out of 5 stars Gave me insight
I'm American and recently moved to the UK. I can imagine I wouldn't understand some of the phrases and idiosyncrasies displayed in this book if I weren't familiar with the English... Read more

Published 3 months ago by Pepper

3.0 out of 5 stars Funny & poignant
I loved 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' so was a little worried that this might not live up to that. It doesn't, but it doesn't matter. Read more

Published 3 months ago by emma_scriptwriter

4.0 out of 5 stars Well I thought it was fab!
I finished reading this book at about 5am today, and I'm surprised by some of the harsh comments written! Read more

Published 4 months ago by Ms. J. Gleed

1.0 out of 5 stars A Spot of Rubbish
I'm afriad this book has fallen into the sad category of books that i don't feel inclined to finish and that is usual for me. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Snowy3

› See all 147 customer reviews...

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	76% buy the item featured on this page: A Spot of Bother (Vintage) 3.4 out of 5 stars (147)
	17% buy The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time 4.5 out of 5 stars (480) �4.72
	3% buy The Time Traveler's Wife 4.4 out of 5 stars (893) �3.99
	2% buy The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 4.1 out of 5 stars (168) �3.99


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A Spot of Bother (Vintage) (Paperback)

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