Slam by Nick Hornby - Revision history

Sue at 08:30, 10 October 2020

2020-10-10T08:30:51Z

Sue at 14:26, 14 May 2018

2018-05-14T14:26:20Z

Sue at 14:12, 19 April 2018

2018-04-19T14:12:28Z

Sue at 14:23, 1 February 2015

2015-02-01T14:23:46Z

Sue at 13:55, 3 December 2012

2012-12-03T13:55:25Z

Keith at 00:33, 7 November 2009

2009-11-07T00:33:26Z

Keith: 1 revision

2009-10-24T17:43:55Z

1 revision

Keith at 15:31, 2 September 2008

2008-09-02T15:31:14Z

New review

{{infobox
|title=Slam
|author=Nick Hornby
|reviewer=Keith Dudhnath
|genre=Teens
|summary=A 16 year old skater panics when his first serious girlfriend becomes pregnant.
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|format=Hardback
|pages=304
|publisher=Puffin Books
|date=4 Oct 2007
|isbn=978-0141382975
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>014138297X</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>0399250484</amazonus>
}}
Sam, the protagonist of Nick Hornby's first teenage novel ''Slam'', is a regular 16 year old. He enjoys hanging out with his mates, skating and eating junk food. He trundles along at school. He has an idol (Tony Hawk the skater) whom he turns to more often than his family. Then his first serious girlfriend, Alicia, falls pregnant, and his life changes.

I loathed ''Slam'''s first chapter. Flat out loathed it. Each new page brought more of what's wrong with books for teenagers: a 50 year old man trying to be down with the kids so he wheels out a name of someone they'll think is cool, then thinks "oh umm... teenagers always say 'whatever', and have friends with stupid nicknames. I'd better put some of that in here". Given how highly acclaimed [[About a Boy]]
was for being so in touch with its young protagonist, it was a major surprise and disappointment.

Soon after Sam first meets his girlfriend Alicia, the novel clicks.
Suddenly the characters are real people, worth caring about. The clunky start is forgiven and forgotten almost immediately as each page rushes past. Sam's love, embarrassment, fumblings, thoughts, fears, naivety and maturity, all ring beautifully true. Just as Sam wishes he could turn back the clock so his girlfriend didn't become pregnant, so the reader wishes they could turn back the pages to where Sam and Alicia were just a couple of nice kids enjoying their first semi-serious relationship.

Sam's world doesn't come crashing down around him: he's just a nice guy in a tough situation. This isn't [[Melvin Burgess]]
(admittedly excellently) telling it how it is for some, this is just how it is for most in this situation.

''Slam'' has its preachy moments, where retrospective advice about the morning after pill, and statistics on teenage pregnancy are shoe-horned in. Every single young person reading it will just sigh a little and think "Well, they have to put that paragraph in". Mostly, however, Hornby strikes the correct tone throughout: telling the story of a couple of people's lives, and simply trusting the reader.

Despite a very brief shaky start, ''Slam'' is a fantastic book, brimming with characters that you can, should and do care about. Highly recommended.

Thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.

You may also like [[My Side of the Story]] by [[:Category:Will Davis|Will Davis]] and [[Teacher's Dead]] by [[:Category:Benjamin Zephaniah|Benjamin Zephaniah]].

{{amazontext|amazon=014138297X}}

{{commenthead}}
{{comment
|name=Magda
|verb=said
|comment=

Probably bit on a tangent, but still:

I really think somebody should start churning out moralising books in which a character (or his girlfriend) has an abortion and then lives happily ever after - as millions of women (and teenagers) do, rather than either becoming traumatised or deciding to have the baby and finding a surprising/difficult/hard but still worth it fulfillment in that.

Especially as the much lower take up of abortion in so called lower socioeconomic classes is one of the reasons for the British high teenage pregnancy rate.

}}
{{comment
|name=Sue
|verb=said
|comment=

It's the 'and then lives happily ever after' that might cause the problem, Magda. I don't think it sells that many books, unfortunately.

}}
{{comment
|name=Keith
|verb=replied
|comment=

Reading it, I did find myself thinking the characters would be better off if they had an abortion. It is touched upon in the book, and they did make the point in passing that much of the moralising about abortion is from American fundamentalists.

}}

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 Despite a very brief shaky start, ''Slam'' is a fantastic book, brimming with characters that you can, should and do care about. Highly recommended.
-Thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.
+Thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.  Would you like to read about what Nick Hornby's been [[Stuff I've Been Reading by Nick Hornby|reading]]?
 You may also like [[My Side of the Story]] by [[:Category:Will Davis|Will Davis]] and [[Teacher's Dead]] by [[:Category:Benjamin Zephaniah|Benjamin Zephaniah]].

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 Sam, the protagonist of Nick Hornby's first teenage novel ''Slam'', is a regular 16 year old. He enjoys hanging out with his mates, skating and eating junk food. He trundles along at school. He has an idol (Tony Hawk the skater) whom he turns to more often than his family. Then his first serious girlfriend, Alicia, falls pregnant, and his life changes.
-I loathed ''Slam'''s first chapter. Flat out loathed it. Each new page brought more of what's wrong with books for teenagers: a 50 year old man trying to be down with the kids so he wheels out a name of someone they'll think is cool, then thinks "oh umm... teenagers always say 'whatever', and have friends with stupid nicknames. I'd better put some of that in here". Given how highly acclaimed [[About a Boy]]
+I loathed ''Slam'''s first chapter. Flat out loathed it. Each new page brought more of what's wrong with books for teenagers: a 50 year old man trying to be down with the kids so he wheels out a name of someone they'll think is cool, then thinks "oh umm... teenagers always say 'whatever', and have friends with stupid nicknames. I'd better put some of that in here". Given how highly acclaimed ''About a Boy'' was for being so in touch with its young protagonist, it was a major surprise and disappointment.
 Soon after Sam first meets his girlfriend Alicia, the novel clicks.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{infobox
+{{infobox1
 |title=Slam
 |author=Nick Hornby
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 |date=October 2007
 |isbn=978-0141382975
-|amazonuk=<amazonuk>014138297X</amazonuk>
+|cover=014138297X
-|amazonus=<amazonus>0399250484</amazonus>
+|aznuk=014138297X
 }}
 Sam, the protagonist of Nick Hornby's first teenage novel ''Slam'', is a regular 16 year old. He enjoys hanging out with his mates, skating and eating junk food. He trundles along at school. He has an idol (Tony Hawk the skater) whom he turns to more often than his family. Then his first serious girlfriend, Alicia, falls pregnant, and his life changes.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 |buy=Yes
 |borrow=Yes
 |pages=304
 |publisher=Puffin Books
@@ Line 36: / Line 35: @@
 {{amazontext|amazon=014138297X}}
 {{commenthead}}
@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 |name=Magda
 |verb=said
-|comment=
+|comment=Probably bit on a tangent, but still:
 I really think somebody should start churning out moralising books in which a character (or his girlfriend) has an abortion and then lives happily ever after - as millions of women (and teenagers) do, rather than either becoming traumatised or deciding to have the baby and finding a surprising/difficult/hard but still worth it fulfillment in that.
 Especially as the much lower take up of abortion in so called lower socioeconomic classes is one of the reasons for the British high teenage pregnancy rate.
 }}
 {{comment
 |name=Sue
 |verb=said
-|comment=
+|comment=It's the 'and then lives happily ever after' that might cause the problem, Magda. I don't think it sells that many books, unfortunately.
 }}
 {{comment
 |name=Keith
 |verb=replied
-|comment=
+|comment=Reading it, I did find myself thinking the characters would be better off if they had an abortion. It is touched upon in the book, and they did make the point in passing that much of the moralising about abortion is from American fundamentalists.
 }}

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