47 pages 1 hour read

Nick Hornby, Tuzyaline Jita Allan, Ama Ata Aidoo

A Long Way Down

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2005

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Part 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 1 Summary: “Martin”

Martin explains the thinking that led him to want to jump off the top of the block tower and take his own life: “There simply weren’t enough regrets, and lots and lots of reasons to jump” (4). He had made a list of pros and cons, and the only things on his “cons” list were his children: “But I couldn’t imagine Cindy letting me see them again anyway” (4). He reveals that his parents are no longer living and he just couldn’t see the point of continuing his life. 

Part 1 Summary: “Maureen”

Maureen has been planning her suicide for months, telling her son that on New Year’s Eve she was going to be going to a party. She had supplied details about the party, including the other guests who would be there: “It just goes to show what I had to look forward to, doesn’t it?” (5). Every Sunday she gives her son Matty a new detail about the party, as if she had learned something new to make it sound like she was getting more excited about it each week: “It was on my mind, New Year’s Eve, of course it was, and it was a way of talking about it without actually saying anything” (6).