Sadly, this is the end.

 

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    Marcus had fallen in love with a girl named Ellie, but they were just so different that it was hilarious; she liked messing around and listening to Nirvana (cool band, by the way), and he was a nerd, sad and lonely boy. Of course they would never match up. However, for some reason, she enjoyed hanging out with him, but she was not in love. They even got in trouble when she broke the window of a shop with a picture of Kurt Cobain, who had died recently. So they were taken to the police station. It is worth pointing out, though, that Marcus did not do anything bad. Now, at this point, Will is like Marcus's old brother already, so of course he went to get him out of there.

    After a long and rather funny discussion, they were finally released, and Will realized that Marcus was capable of getting through life on his own, which was something amusing. I would even say that Will was proud of him.

    Marcus started showing a different personality, a more mature one. On the other hand, Will was able to stay with Rachel, and they were thinking of getting married (the idea of getting married was not something particularly fascinating for Will). Marcus's mom was a bit  happier and she was no longer thinking of killing herself, a good improvement for her. Basically everything seemed pretty good, and Will had something that he had never had before: a family (sort of).

    The story finishes when Will goes to Marcus's home in order to take him out, and Marcus is wearing normal clothing (not the weird, hippy-like clothing he would wear before), and he is reluctant to listen to his mom's music, and instead, he wants to listen to The Smashing Pumpkins like any other kid. At that moment, Will realizes that Marcus would be fine. 

    The novel was very interesting for me, I really enjoyed it, and I could see Will's evolution in terms of personality and caring for others. Now, could this happen in the real world? Perhaps. It is not a ridiculous thing to think about: someone who, at the beginning, is very selfish, but then over time and with the influence of a rather weird boy, he changes completely in order to become a better person. Will was a great character (so was Marcus), and reading about his adventures and turning points was a source of delight for me. Also, I liked Nick Hornby's writing style, and I definitely want to read another book written by him. I am pretty sure it is something worth doing. 

    I hope you have enjoyed reading these entries as I enjoyed reading the book.

  THE END

Fake son.

 

Picture source: www.duperrin.com/2017/04/14/fake-news-un-faux-probleme/

    On a New Year's Eve, Will falls in love with a woman called Rachel, and he realizes that he has nothing interesting to talk to her about. Because of this, she then ignores him and when she mentions her son to another person, Will starts over the conversation with her and talks about children (not his favorite topic, to be honest). It was funny for me to read that Will said to Rachel that Marcus was his son (of course he was not). He said it in order to be more interesting for her. They then arrange a meeting at her house, and Will is supposed to bring along Marcus.

    The meeting ends up well in general, even though Marcus and Rachel's son do not get along. However, after some time, Will tells Rachel the truth: Marcus is not his son; he confesses that because, I believe, he is really in love with her, and he does not want to mess it up by lying to her from the very beginning (even though he actually did it). Now, to Will's amazement, Rachel does not care about the truth, and actually, she realizes that Will really cherishes Marcus. From then on, it is obvious that Will likes Marcus in a good way. His personality has evolved and now he is a different man, I find this fact rather interesting, and  I like to read that Will's life has more meaning now (kind of) because of the boy. It is a good turning point indeed!

To be or not to be... a "Father Figure"

 

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    Because Marcus is a lonely boy who has no "role model" and he often goes to Will's flat after school, his mom Fiona starts thinking that he sees Will as a father figure, which is something that concerns her because she knows who Will is, and he is not necessarily someone to look up to. When Will is told this by Fiona over the phone, he has ambivalent thoughts, he does not know what to say (or think, indeed). He likes Marcus, but being considered a "father figure" is... well, it is absolutely ridiculous to him. The thing is that he does get along with the boy and he wants to help him cope with school and the problems at home, but he knows, he really does, that he is not the most appropriate person to be the "father figure" for Marcus. Will's life has changed dramatically since he met Marcus, he went from being a complete strange in London to being an important character in Marcus's life. Also, I can see that Will is having troubles with this situation, and he is rather torn between going back to his previous, selfish life or being of help to a sad boy. He has to make an important decision now. Having said this, the only thing I know is that he will not be a "father figure", it is easy for me to notice that he will not get that far, however, he is still interested in helping the boy.

The friendship begins.

 

                           Picture source: www.askmen.com/entertainment/galleries/about-a-boy-5.html

    After Will takes Marcus out with his mom, Marcus starts to drop by Will's flat more regularly. At first, this is something that annoys Will, but eventually he gets used to it because, actually, he does not have any other option due to the fact that he cannot stop it; Marcus will drop by anyway because he is persistent. Also, he does not want to get angry at Marcus. Indeed, this is something that I find very interesting: Will can easily say to Marcus that he doesn't want to see him in his flat, but he doesn't do it. I see that Will already likes Marcus and regards him as a friend (even though he does not say it explicitly). Marcus continues to visit him every day after school, and there is a point at which Will starts asking personal questions to the boy and he, as if Will were a long-time friend, answers honestly. Marcus openly talks about his problems at school and home with Will. He worries about Marcus, he now cares about him. What I mean is that Will has changed and now he is interested in helping the boy. Taking that into account, is this something that can happen in reality? Perhaps. Suppose you do not like a person, say, your neighbor, and then something bad happens to this neighbor (or to someone he cherishes). You start feeling sorry for him and feel morally obliged to help him because, after all, he is your neighbor and there must be a good relationship between neighbors. You might end up becoming friends, as a result. Having said this, the story is getting quite good and I want to know how this friendship turns out.

Caring about others.

 

Picture source: Do You Care About Others? (gotoquiz.com)

    We get to the part in which Will meets Marcus on a picnic trip. It is sort of weird they way meet, and at first they do not get along very well. Will thinks that Marcus is a strange and introvert kid while Marcus thinks that Will is an idiot. The story has a turning point when Marcus's mom Fiona attempts suicide, a fact that makes Marcus angry and sad at the same time, and Will changes a little bit because he finally shows emotions by feeling sorry for Marcus. A circumstance like that could change even the most cold-blooded person. Having said this, Will shows the first sign of change in his personality because he finally cares about someone: Marcus. He now feels an obligation to make him happy at least for one day, so that is why he decides to take him out to eat something. I believe Will is changing his character because of Marcus, and these changes will continue to happen. Now, this is something that can occur in society: a kid goes through an unfortunate event, and no matter how mean or insensitive you are, you tend to feel a connection and you want to help with something. In the case of Will, he decides to take Marcus out. That is remarkable of him, I would say, if we consider his background. Will and Marcus will continue to give us more interesting anecdotes along the chapters.

Children and single mothers.

 

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    I find Will's carelessness for children rather funny, but I also think that it is a bit exaggerated. When he is asked to be the godfather of one of his friend's son, he reacts in a way that shows some kind of a disgust. He thinks to himself that he would rather eat of the boy's diapers. I think he is so self-centered that he does not have time (nor interest) to care about others. Now, regarding his romantic relationships, he finds out, after going out with a girl named Angie and then breaking up again with her, that going out with single mothers is a great idea because they tend to be kind, and they would not pay attention to his countless defects, and besides, they would not be likely to get angry at him so easily. However, I particularly think that Will may have thought that single mothers were somewhat easy to manipulate. Therefore, he decides to invent a son of his own to pretend that he is a single father, and in order for this lie to be more believable, he joins a club for single parents. In this way, he is going to be more interesting for single mothers. He also plans to act nicely until he can chat up one of them and get what he really wants: an ephemeral relationship with a lot of fun to benefit from. I believe that Will is turning into a real stalker from this point. Nevertheless,  I am also sure that this situation will change along the chapters.

Getting to know Will.

 

Picture source: About a Boy Movie Review (commonsensemedia.org)

        Will is a man who lives in London, and basically, he has no interest in the world whatsoever. I think he is like an island: living in his own world with his own rules, and without caring about others. In fact, he does not seem to hide this fact, and moreover, he says that he is very shallow in his opinions and expectations for life; he just wants to "fill up" his time with several activities in order to distract himself. When I read this, I thought that this character was very lazy, and insensitive. Interestingly, his sole interest is going out with women, but not in order to have a formal relationship with them, but rather he sees love relationships as something ephemeral, based only on meals and sex. Furthermore, I think that his view on children is rather hilarious: he does not care about them, nor does he want to have any kind of contact with them, and needless to say, he does not want to have children of his own. Will's worldview is basically about enjoying life in a selfish, and somewhat cold-blooded way. Now, the author dedicates one chapter to Will, and then another to Marcus, who happens to be the real main character of the story, and the sequence of chapters goes on like this. Marcus is a sad boy who does not enjoy his life in London, and of course, Will and Marcus are going to meet each other at some point in the story, and they will strike up some kind of a friendship (a weird friendship, I would say) with many ups and downs, and I believe that Will's personality and carelessness for the world are going to be challenged because of this boy.