One Day

Book Description

Critics

• One Day

  No apologies for including David Nicholls’ word-of-mouth best-seller. For those of you who haven’t yet read ONE DAY, get yourself a copy and spend a thoroughly enjoyable few hours in the company of Emma and Dexter as they do that thing of not quite g ... (read full critics)

  bookgroup published on Wed, 2 Mar 2011

• One Day by David Nicholls - Review by Waterstone's Books Quarterly Online

  Dexter knew who Emma was. But it was only after their graduation celebrations that they finally got together. By mutual agreement they then went their separate ways, only occasionally making contact. This heartbreaking love story is set on every St S ... (read full critics)

  wbqonline published on Wed, 29 Sep 2010

56 Reviews

• 5 people find this helpful

  

  David Nicholls creates believable characters with flaws that we all share. The style makes the book fast paced but the reader's interest is kept up by good prose and empathy. Comments on British life and the class base without trying to shape your opinion. Unmissable.

  Is this helpful?

  Lunarossa said on Jun 17, 2010 | Add your feedback

• 2 people find this helpful

  *** This comment contains spoilers! ***

  

  highly recommended!!

  This book doesn't only live up to the wave of excellent reviews, but exceeds it in my mind. Very simple and neat concept of documenting the same 'one day' of year of Em and Dex's, a pair of friends who knew one another on the night of their graduation from university and it takes you to their lives ... (continue)

  This book doesn't only live up to the wave of excellent reviews, but exceeds it in my mind. Very simple and neat concept of documenting the same 'one day' of year of Em and Dex's, a pair of friends who knew one another on the night of their graduation from university and it takes you to their lives spanning from their early 20s to 40s. Characters are very believable and engaging; Emma feels like a girl next door with something special in her and is a character you can easily become fond of. The portrayal of Em and Dex' friendship/love/relationship as it has its ups and downs over the years is just so beautiful yet sad sometimes, especially when their relationship took a turn for the worse despite they still clearly care so much about one another.

  Only thing I am a bit unhappy about was the ending; I don't want to give away too much here or else would spoil it for the ones haven't read it. But I do feel this ending is unnecessary and is written purely this way because it is the most convenient way to end the story. Nevertheless, this is still a book too good to miss. Highly recommended.

  Is this helpful?

  olivia said on Aug 4, 2010 about the Hardcover edition | 1 feedback

• 2 people find this helpful

  

  'I'm perfectly content, thank you. And I refuse to be defined by my boyfriend. Or lack of. [...] Once you decide not to worry about that stuff anymore, dating and relationships and love and all that, it's like you're free to get on with real life.'
  'You know, I feel the same. [...] I mean about not ... (continue)

  'I'm perfectly content, thank you. And I refuse to be defined by my boyfriend. Or lack of. [...] Once you decide not to worry about that stuff anymore, dating and relationships and love and all that, it's like you're free to get on with real life.'
  'You know, I feel the same. [...] I mean about not having to date anymore. Since I've been with Sylvie, it's like I've freed up this vast amount of time and energy and mental space.'
  'And what do you do with it all, this mental space?'
  'Play Tomb Raider mostly.'

  "Dexter wants him to know that he is brave and mature, but his father seems unimpressed."

  "Sometimes it seems that she can chart her life by what she worries about at thee a.m. Once it was boys, then for too long it was money, then career, then her relationship with Ian, then her infidelity."

  "But to just look at someone, to just sit and look and talk and then realise that' it's morning? Who had the time or inclination or energy these days to stay up talking all night? What would you talk about? Property prices? [...]
  No, this, she felt, was real life and if she wasn't as curious or passionate as she once had been, that was only to be expected. [...] Ridiculous, at thirty-eight, to expect a song or a book or a film to change your life. No, everything had evened out and settled down and life was lived against a general background hum of comfort, satisfaction and familiarity. There would be no more of those nerve-jangling highs and lows."

  "She very much wanted him to stay, almost as much perhaps as he clearly wanted to leave."

  "These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger that he will plunge through."

  "'Live each day as if it's your last', that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that? What if it rained or you felt a bit glandy?"

  Is this helpful?

  Control Freak said on Jun 20, 2010 | Add your feedback

• 

  It's a very engaging and romantic story!

  Is this helpful?

  Jessica Lin said on May 13, 2012 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  Life is a strange thing. Just when you think you learned how to use it, it's gone

  It’s 1988, Emma and Dexter spend the night together after their graduation party. Both know that it’s only going to be a one-night-stand. Nothing more, nothing less. Then suddenly we meet them again, year after year, that same day for twenty years. We meet them every year and we witness them growing ... (continue)

  It’s 1988, Emma and Dexter spend the night together after their graduation party. Both know that it’s only going to be a one-night-stand. Nothing more, nothing less. Then suddenly we meet them again, year after year, that same day for twenty years. We meet them every year and we witness them growing up, apart but somehow always together. We fight the urge to slap Dexter in the face for being so selfish and narcissist and Emma for being so resigned to a shabby and anonymous life. Then they’re slightly older and while Dexter seems to have hit the mark, being successful and famous, Emma is stuck in her dull life being beautiful and full of potential without knowing it. As Dexter’s fall from grace begins, so starts Emma’s awakening: Love seems to have found her; Dexter, on the other hand, is still changing sheets as quickly as he’s changing his (nonexistent) underwear. The story goes on, I will not spoil the book for you, and we, the readers, feel restless, almost begging for the timing to be right, year after year. We get angry, frustrated, sorry, happy and sad again. It’s like painfully watching two people, who really want to see each other, getting off two separate trains on the same platform just a few minutes apart, enough not to meet each other. The author is describing life as it really is: unpredictable; Love as it really is: irrational and insecure; Fear as it really is: pulling us away from the only thing that could really make us happy. And then like in this Shakespeare’s Sister song it dawns on you: “Life is a strange thing. Just when you think you learned how to use it, it's gone”. Brilliant book, really.

  Is this helpful?

  Katia Guido said on Apr 30, 2012 | 3 feedbacks

• 1 person find this helpful

  *** This comment contains spoilers! ***

  

  I choose to read One Day because I needed a break from all the classic books I read lately, I wanted something light-hearted and instead this book wins an award as “N° 1 Miserable book of the last decade”; it's not I didn't like it at all, I mean I rated it 3/5 because it's average to me, I liked t ... (continue)

  I choose to read One Day because I needed a break from all the classic books I read lately, I wanted something light-hearted and instead this book wins an award as “N° 1 Miserable book of the last decade”; it's not I didn't like it at all, I mean I rated it 3/5 because it's average to me, I liked the characters and the idea of chapters set on the same day of each year (if you meant to create your own Bloomsday, I'm sorry Mr. Nicholls, you didn't make it) but every line, every thought, everything happening in the book is so so sad, things never go right and when something nice is about to happen there's always a way to spoil it. In these days when my life has a bitter sweet taste itself this was a very wrong choice. No way I'm watching the movie but I'm giving another chance to David Nicholls when I recover from this “infinite sadness”, even if the content of the book really let me down I liked the way he writes.

  Is this helpful?

  Tipperary said on Apr 14, 2012 | Add your feedback

See all 56 comments

Book Details

• Rating:
  (723)
  • 5 stars
  • 4 stars
  • 3 stars
  • 2 stars
  • 1 star
• English Books
• Others 448 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0340896981
• ISBN-13: 9780340896983
• Pub date: Mar 01, 2010
• Also available as: Paperback, Hardcover and eBook
• In other languages: other languages 繁體書, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, Livros em Português, llibres en català, Libri Italiani, Svenska böcker

Groups with this in collection

• enhancement pill (1)

Margin notes of this book

Prices Change currency & sellers