One Day by David Nicholls
Title/Author: One Day/David NichollsPublisher: Hodder & Stoughton
No. of pages: 437
ISBN: 978 0 340 89698 3/99468 9
In a nutshell:
Boy meets girl, girl likes boy (very, very much), 'hooked up' on graduation night and had a short date the day after. Confident, rich, handsome Dexter and independent, one-liner queen, Emma, continue to meet on the same date, every other year for the next twenty years. Hence, the title, "One Day", David Nicholl's third novel.
We catch up with them throughout the years, as we find out whom they dated or are dating, what they did or achieved, e
tc. It's abit like watching Ross and Rachel of Friends, only here, we only get to know what happens or had happened to them, on that date, 15th July, the date they first met in 1988.What I liked:
The witty conversations and Nicholl's detailed descriptions. I liked how he described Emma's room from Dexter's POV:
"In his last four years he had seen any number of bedrooms like this, dotted round the city like crime scenes, rooms where you were never more than six feet from a Nina Simone album, and though he'd rarely seen the same bedroom twice, it was all too familiar. The burnt out nightlights and desolate pot plants, the smell of washing powder on cheap, ill-fitting sheets. She had that arty girl's passion for photomontage too; flash-lit snaps of college friends and family jumbled in amongst the Chagalls and Vermeers and Kandinskys, the Che Guevaras and Woody Allens and Samuel Becketts." (pg. 8)
He managed to not only create a clear visual of Emma's room, but to also imply Emma's personality/character. I also liked how he engages the reader using conversations, like this one when Em and Dex (as they are affectionately known) talked about their jobs (pg 70).
She started to laugh. "I've been offered the job of a manager."
Dexter sat up quickly. "In that place? You've got to turn it down."
"Why do I have to turn it down? Nothing wrong with restaurant work."
"Em, you could be mining uranium with your teeth and that would be fine as long as you were happy. But you hate that job, you hate every single moment."
"So? Most people hate their jobs. That's why they're called jobs."
Why I liked it? Because I could so relate to it haha I like what I do, hence, I always have people telling me, "Get a REAL job."
Oh and I liked the cover as well.
To note:
If you like Nick Hornby's stuff, you'd probably like this one too. BUT if you dislike those typical love-hate-'hide-and-seek' BGR stories, DON'T READ THIS. It might just annoy the hell outta you (At times, I found myself saying, 'Oh, get on with it already, will ya?!') - the hide-and-seek plot too draggy and the love-hate feelings between Em and Dex exasperating.
Is there such a thing called 'bloke/lad lit'; like chic lit? If yes, I'd put this under that category.
Click here to watch book trailers and download free podcasts.
Psst...there are rumours flying around suggesting that Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess will be starring (as Emma and Dexter of course) in an adaptation of this book.
My verdict:
2.5/5
Source for David Nicholls's pic above.
(Please exclude this review from the Mother's Day contest. All reviews should be the ones written BEFORE the Mother's Day Contest)
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