A Spot of Bother

I had read this book a few years ago and recommended it to my book club. To be honest, not everyone liked it. Some really did NOT like it, finding the characters without any positive qualities. Those of us who scored it high, though, appreciated the human flaws in each of the characters, related to the imperfections in the family and relationships, and found humor in the misunderstandings and miscommunications that sometimes brought about the best things that could happen in the family. On the surface the book is about a man obsessed with the fear that a lesion he discovers on his leg is terminal cancer, in spite of his doctor's diagnosis of simple eczema. In the midst of his own fears and paranoia, however, he comes to understand and appreciate some things about his own family that he probably would not have otherwise. The future son-in-law that everyone thinks is a poor match for the outspoken and temperamental daughter turns out to be a hero of sorts, demonstrating far superior human relationship skills than most of the rest of the characters. In the course of the story, all three (four?) love relationships - George and his wife (and his wife and her lover), their gay son and his significant other, and their daughter and her fiance -- are dramatically challenged. Breakups occur, self-reflections kick in, and attempts to communicate and re-build relationships meet with varying success. But at daughter Kate and Ray's wedding, a perfect storm of dark comedy somehow brings everything together. I truly laughed aloud at parts of this book, but I understand why some of our book club members just couldn't appreciate it. Mark Haddon has a strange mind, but it is also a very observant one, perceptive of human frailty, idiosyncracy, and the need for love. If the reader comes prepared and in the right frame of mind, he'll find this an enjoyable, humorous, insightful, and memorable read.

What an amazing story of love, family resilience, written with humor but so realistic, you feel you are part of the family drama!

It's taken me all of seven weeks to finish this novel. My interest in the book was sparked as a result of reading Haddon's first novel that featured an autistic kid we sets out to solve a murder mystery and learns a great deal about adulthood and independence in the process. "A Spot of Bother" features a highly neurotic family as they attempt to navigate through the father's retirement, the mother's affair, the daughter's second wedding and the son's sexuality. I found the story well written but slow. The characters are well drawn although there was more than one occasion when I hoped that Dad simply disappeared. I'm still not sure what that feeling was about but by the end of the novel I was more sympathetic to the father's issues. While this was a solid second novel I can't recommend that you run out and buy it. If you're looking for a little validation that your family is not the only highly neurotic, emotionally stunted crew in the world then this novel is defiantly a must read. Otherwise, I'd wait for Haddon's third novel, he may strike gold again as he did with his first.

Having read and seen the theatre production of "The Curious Incident of the Dog at the Midnight" which I thought was fantastic I was really looking forward to reading "A Spot of Bother". I did so, and enjoyed it. I think that the author has an amazing ability to express the thoughts of so many diverse characters in a way that seems to make each character his own, though I must say It seems as if he has a fetish about toilets and bowel movements, something which does not appeal - in fact is off putting. But that does not detract from the over-all merit of the book.

This is a warm and fun story. Even though the title and back cover refer mainly to George Hall, the main character, the book is more about a modern and slightly dysfunctional family. George is the father, a 57 year old hypochondriac man that believes a skin lesion is a cancer lesion that will kill him soon. Jean is George's wife, and she's having an affair with a former co-worker from George's previous job. Katie is their daughter and is planning on wedding for the 2nd time, to a guy named Ray, whom the family does not fully approve of. Finally, Jamie is their son. He's gay but apparently is not fully out of the closet and is conflicted about bringing his boyfriend to Katie's wedding. The book evolves about all of them, their discussions, their fights, and the love between them. Even though the whole context seems a bit mundane, this is a very well written book. It's fun and the characters have a lot of depth. It's hard to find a reason not to recommend this book to anyone.

"A Spot of Bother" kept me turning the pages to see how the author would resolve the Hall family's various problems. In the process, I became genuinely fond of these quirky people. Haddon's genius is that he lets us in on the secret that "mad" people are actually much like the "normal" population. George's reason for commiting crazy acts, such as cutting a patch of excema from his own skin (ouch!), seems absolutely logical to him. Through this mechanism, Haddon proves to us that "crazy" people are not inherently different than we are. And he does it with such humor and understanding that he draws the reader into caring about his characters.

Mark Haddon's new novel is as intriguing as his first, the widely lauded "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime." In that novel, a brilliant tour de force with a 15-year old autistic narrator, the world is turned upside down as we view it through the boy's eyes. Everything we take for granted (a kitchen fork, the death of an animal) becomes transformed by the consciousness perceiving it, and we're pulled along through the book as if in a boat in a dream, seeing familiar things for the first time. In a similar vein, "A Spot of Bother" illuminates the mundane through the different eyes (vision) of the many entwined family members. Each character goes along following his/her own dictates, shaping the world to suit his/her perception of it, and having little or no awareness that anyone else might "see" things differently. "See" here means interpretation, inner vision, outlook, point of view - all those things. And because each of the characters looks at the same world (in which a wedding is or is not about to take place) from different viewpoints, focussing on different aspects, the result is a magnificent, blustering, rollicking comedy.

I enjoyed this novel for about thirty pages, and then I felt I'd been trapped inside an Anne Tyler novel gone dreadfully wrong. It's not terrible, but it's basically politically correct, high quality chick-lit. It's well-intentioned, but the epiphanies are contrived and appear like clockwork, and it's simply boring and absolutely predictable. If you enjoy complex fiction this book will annoy you.

Very understated, but charming story about a dysfunctional family coming together around a wedding.

The book came in pristine condition, and the book itself is good.

Una brillante novela con mucho humor. Más que recomendado.

Halfway through - should I carry on? Three stars. High energy intro. References drawn from the rainbow of human emotion and happening. Switching, constantly switching. Never resting. Surely the energy that flows through the first 200 pages cannot be continued. It's kind of perversely invigorating. But I'm restless. Why am I hating this book? Is it because these dysfunctional middle-England go-nowhere moaners are taking over my life? Making it even more depressing? Do I really need to see into the mind of a Daily Mail reader? I'm halfway through. Should I continue? Worst still, I appear to be turning into "disgruntled" from Tunbridge Wells. Positively, I know Mark can write brilliantly, he's shown that skill to great effect pages 1 to 200. Yes, I'll continue. Because I feel uncomfortable - the characters make me feel uncomfortable. I don't hope for their salvation - I'm looking forward to their miserable decline. I hope the second half of the book meets my expectations and that they all die - horribly - and go away. If they don't, I'll be very, very disappointed. Book finished - And I wanted it to carry on! Five stars. Following up from the above halfway-through review I want to give the book, and especially author Mark Haddon an honestly deserved five stars. Yes, I still hate the central characters but don't, any longer, want them to die a horrible death. I just want them to go away, but amusingly they won't. After finishing the book I went on the usual Saturday shopping trip. In amongst the crowds I spotted Georges, Jeans, Jamies and Katies. And I just couldn't help wondering, if not inventing, their marital and mental states. It was great fun, as opposed to the shopping itself which wasn't. Full power to Mark who retained exceptional energy in the book, from start to finish. The energy is in the writing and superb characterisation, not, I hasten to add, in the characters themselves who are largley uncommunicative and therefore pretty much dysfunctional. A sublime contrast. It's a great laugh and a great read which pumps up the volume with a seamlessly fluid, modern, accessible yet intelligent writing style. Apologies for my initial, conservative (middle England?) three stars. Five stars now and nothing less!

This book was so funny in a way that only the British can write. I felt bad that I was laughing at someone having a breakdown, but it is so cleverly written that I didn’t even realize I was doing that. I’m looking forward to reading Mark Haddobs other books.