I decided I'd buy into the hype about this book and see what all the fuss is about, so this review is of the hugely popular and surprisingly upsetting One Day.
This type of book isn't usually what I go for. I read so many teenage girl books when I was younger (I was going to say, when I was a teenager, but then technically I still am, at the tender age of 19), that I think I must have saturated my thirst for 'chick flick fic', as I like to call it, and I tend to go for classics and more 'high literature' fiction, in an attempt to make me sound more intelligent and widely read in my English seminars... Somehow, I still end up bringing Harry Potter into everything though... really must sort that out. Anyway, my point is that I didn't really think that I'd enjoy this book so much, but I was surprised by how well-writted and witty it was. I'm not saying that this book changed my life, that it was a revolution in modern literature, and that I will never read another book, like so many people seem to have done, but Ifound I did enjoy it.
If you have been living in a hole at the end of your garden for the past couple of months, here is a brief summary of the story. Emma and Dexter met on 15th July, 1988, on the day of their graduation from St Andrews University, Edinburgh. Emma got a first (that's the highest you can get) in English and History, and Dexter got a third (the lowest you can get) in Anthropology. Each chapter in the book details what happens on that day, every year after that until about 2005. I thought this was a very original idea, and I suppose it could be difficult to pull off well, because seeing these characters for one day, once a year might stunt the character development, or not make us that close to the characters because we see them so infrequently. However the closeness we feel, and the progress of these two characters is really admirable, and I really did feel attached by the end.
I'm going to start with Emma, I think. She was a surprising character because she was so cynical: not at all the type of successfull, perfect character you see in so many novels/films of this genre. Indeed, the last few chick flicks I've seen seem to have made a point of characters who are not the perfect, pink, cheerleading-type that we've seen for so long. At first I thought this was quite refreshing, but now I'm getting quite bored of it. They try to make them seem 'kooky' and 'cool because they're different', when really they still end up with what the film-makers deem the 'perfect life' with the 'perfect boyfriend' and everyone loving them. Seriously, can we please have a chick flick where the girl doesn't get the guy, where nothing changes, but she still comes out happy and awesome?
I digress. I did like Emma's sarcastic sense of humour, how she avoids awkward and potentially emotional scenes with her dry wit, because I could relate to that. I hate ~emotional stuff~ when it comes to my life (although I adore reading/watching it), and I hardly evertalk about my feelings because it's weird. So I liked that quality about her. What really frustrated me though, and I think it was supposed to, was how when she left University her life spiralled into nothingness. Her brief stint as a performer who tried to change the world one act at a time was awful, and then she landed that humiliating job with the mexican restaurant Loco Caliente. I just couldn't understand how someone as bright and intelligent as her could possibly be settling for jobs like that. Dexter points this out at some point in the book, that she seemed to like suffering, and I think he was right, because she did nothing to get out of it, and she didn't even seem to care.
Her *unrequited love* (I hate that phrase) was definitely something I could relate to, so in a number of ways I felt she was fairly similar to me. But I don't want to go all fangirl and say that *this book is the definition of ~MY EXISTENCE~*, because that's definitely not true. But yeah, I was pleased in a way that Nicholls kept them apart for so long. I don't think the relationship could have worked if they'd been together when they were younger, as she was so dependent on him, and he just took her for granted for years. So although it's very poignant how little time they actually had to be properly together, I don't think it would have lasted as long if they'd got together earlier on.
This seems like a good time to talk about Dexter. Oh, Dexter. He was one of those characters who you couldn't help but love, even though you absolutely hated him sometimes, and Nichols summed this up absolutely perfectly in the now legendary line, "I love you, but I just don't like you", said by Emma to Dex. I kind of understood why he was such an asswipe at the beginning because hey, he was hot, rich, fairly intelligent etc, and could get any girl he wanted. When he was "finding himself" abroad, it was obvious that he didn't get how awful a time Emma was having, but you kind of had to forgive him, because when we read his side of the story we knew how much he though about her.
It wasn't until he became a TV Presenter and became a C-list celeb that his asswipe-ishness just turned into general arrogance and unbearableness. He was evidently an alcoholic, and completely full of himself, not caring about any of his old friends, especialy not Emma. In fact, I think he really liked the idea of Emma, knowing how close they'd been, but when it got to actually seeing her again, he just wanted her to know how much he'd given up to be with her tonight, how he deigned to be in her presence. I didn't blame Emma at all when she "broke up with him", because she really didn't need him in her life.
I want to talk briefly about the interesting juxtaposition between Dex's first live show and Emma's school play's opening night. They both had these things on at the same time, and they were both so different, yet so important to each of them. It highlights how different they were at that point, and also how selfish Dexter was to beg Emma to come to his show, when he knew what she was doing was equally as important.
I know I haven't talked about every detail that happened in this book, but I don't think I need to. I'm going to go straight on to the shock of the ending.
Well. Did anyone gues that was going to happen? I know I certainly didn't! I was surprised that I didn't cry though. I have to admit that I am prone to crying when something like this happens. I can't bear it when two people are separated. Think Lyra and Will (that still makes me cry), Elizabeth Swan and Will Turner, and Cecilia and Robbie from Atonement. Yep, absolute wreck. So, very surprisingly I didn't cry, and I'm still not sure why. It was certainly upsetting that Emma died, especially the way she did, just out of nowhere, by a lorry (and that bit was really horrible in the film).
I guess what was worse was when we followed Dexter on the few years following her death, when he was an absolute wreck, and I think I found that more upsetting, because I hate to see the ones left behind. Still, I didn't cry, but that doesn't mean it wasn't sad. I thought Nicholls' writing was very emotive, and when Dexter was 'celebrating' Emma's life by getting drunk and being beaten up, I thought it was quite brave of Nicholls to do that. It would have been so easy to say, 'after Emma's death Dexter was perfect to honour her memory', but the fact that he slipped back into his old ways was probably more realistic, and I'm glad they kept it like that in the film: especially the loss of respect from his daughter.
Essentially though, it is a happy book, because we're left with the image of the two of them together in Edinburgh, young and happy, and I think the message here is that death is not what's important: as long as you've lived and loved, you've lived a full life.
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