Funny Girl in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Mar 03, 2015 mehg-hen rated it it was ok

I just saw Wild, which was probably one of my favorite movies of the year, that he wrote. I almost drove 2 hours to see Nick do a reading and to buy this book. This book was my most anticipated read in recent memory. I purchased it in hardback from a brick and mortar retail store. Expectation! The genderless parent of resentment.

A fluffy, breezy, easy read. The most fleshed out characters are really the two writers of the fictional tv show in the book. And the BBC in the 60's. The most graphic s I just saw Wild, which was probably one of my favorite movies of the year, that he wrote. I almost drove 2 hours to see Nick do a reading and to buy this book. This book was my most anticipated read in recent memory. I purchased it in hardback from a brick and mortar retail store. Expectation! The genderless parent of resentment.

A fluffy, breezy, easy read. The most fleshed out characters are really the two writers of the fictional tv show in the book. And the BBC in the 60's. The most graphic sexual encounter was between a gay(ish) man and his wife, and was described as lightly repellant and terrible. Meanwhile, the main character is going from repression to release and Hornby doesn't really go there at all. For the most part, she is very traditional, with traditional wholesome desires which are satisfied. The most inner life we get is between the two writers. I wonder if he had a different title for a while. I wonder if I were British, this would resonate a lot more with me. I mean I had to google "home counties."

The whole time I had to remind myself that Sophia Vergara is very funny and gorgeous. The lead character in the book is gorgeous. It is extraordinarily rare that funny and gorgeous come together. I mean, rare. Very very rare. Is it because the free time you have as a gorgeous person is spent experiencing frottage or opening gifts? Instead of obsessive fears? Or getting into embroidery patterns of the vikings? Yes it is. Also having people laugh really hard at everything you say and then pelting you with wing men. This I know from the Halloween I dressed like Joan from Mad Men. i.e. the day I was the most beautiful.

I kept waiting for him to get down to the core of his lead character, to really look out her eyeballs, and it seemed like she was foreign to him and not like someone he even really liked. She loved work, but he never dug into why and what that was really like for her. I mean I bet the right person could make you understand a deep, abiding, life-altering love of crickets. Without the explanation, it feels a little hollow. I guess I'm saying I wanted him to articulate something I can't. You want 1500 words why art, performance, tv and comedy is pointless dumb and self-indulgent? Give me 15 minutes. You can even play techno, have a live dog fight, and tweens doing flamenco and I could still write that with my non-dominant hand. I am too embarrassed about actually loving all of that horseshit, and it would be a public service if he could explain why.

Also I have read a lot of exploration of being a closeted gay person, trapped in a marriage by society. It was interesting to see a marriage in the 60's where both parties knew there was a sexual disconnect and stuck it out anyway. That they decided it was a companionship marriage. It is a great tragedy that gay people would have to repress themselves, but sometimes I want to hear about the wives or the spouses. There's a very personal story there too, and it can feel like the spouse is an inhuman stand in for society. Not someone who's going through a kind of confusing, weird rejection of their own. Life is confusing.

If you listen to the WTF podcast a lot, you know the average funny person is tortured. Basically if you know too much about this subject, you are going to be confused and want to have a long talk with Nick about why he wrote this book and what he was really interested in, which I think is the time period and those tv shows and the writers. And I mean, fair enough. But for a book called Funny Girl, we don't get to know the girls that well. If a woman truly doesn't want to be seen for her body, there are thousands of options open to her--primarily baggy clothes and the cumulative effects of sugar. Manage your expectation and this will be an enjoyable read.

Basically: not for actors. Not for comedians. A quick read. ...more

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Apr 12, 2015 Julianne Dunn rated it liked it · review of another edition

While I have always loved Nick Hornby, this might be my least favorite novel of his. Based in the 1960s, centered around the creation and development of a tv show on BBC, the book switches narration frequently between Sophie/Barbara (the leading lady), Bill and Tony (the writers), Clive (the leading man), and Dennis (the producer). I liked the idea of a type of kismet happening, with all of them coming together to create a better show, but with the frequently changing narratives and time skips, ...more

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Mar 13, 2015 alana rated it liked it

Shelves: making-things, historical-fiction

Less funny than one might think, and less about a girl as well. Funny Girl presents a short period of time (in the 1960s in London) when a group of people came together to create a sitcom for the BBC. The group dynamics were just right to make something special but then, as with all fresh ideas, the magic fizzled and goodbyes became necessary. Frankly, the book got a bit heavy and sad. The frustrations were well-documented, then it skipped over all the years of stability and happiness to smack y ...more

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Apr 14, 2015 Kaitlin rated it it was ok

Shelves: beachreads, fiction, british, female-protagonist

For me, this was a solid 3.5 stars--enjoyable, written well, but no real pizzazz. A little disjointed.

Nick Hornby is a great author--he has quirky characters who have interesting lives and notions, and this book is no different. It centers around a young woman in 1960s outside of London, who wants to be a comedian. It's a path not much pursued by women in the 60s, so there's no path for her to follow. She is beautiful, but no one takes her ambition seriously, so she leaves Blackpool and goes to For me, this was a solid 3.5 stars--enjoyable, written well, but no real pizzazz. A little disjointed.

Nick Hornby is a great author--he has quirky characters who have interesting lives and notions, and this book is no different. It centers around a young woman in 1960s outside of London, who wants to be a comedian. It's a path not much pursued by women in the 60s, so there's no path for her to follow. She is beautiful, but no one takes her ambition seriously, so she leaves Blackpool and goes to London and lucks into a job on a TV show. She hits it off with the writers and her costar and her star rises. It's a success due to the witty script (she's always pushing for more actual humor) and her beauty and due to the take on British life for most people. It takes place at the UK starts becoming modern.

(view spoiler)
Overall a fun read, but nothing I'd highly recommend.
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Jul 03, 2015 Ehrrin rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook

I would like to note that I would give it 3.5, if that were an option.

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Apr 16, 2015 Elizabeth rated it really liked it

I was always interested, but not terribly invested, in this novel: it provides a slice of life into 1960s British TV, and therefore into an unfamiliar (to me) and engaging world. I'm just not sure how long it will stick with me.
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