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Read One For My Baby (2005)

One for My Baby (2005)

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Genre
Rating
3.44 of 5 Votes: 4
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ISBN
0743236092 (ISBN13: 9780743236096)
Language
English
Publisher
touchstone

One For My Baby (2005) - Plot & Excerpts

I really enjoyed this, yes the main character Alfie is not all that likable at times but hey who is? Are we not all a bit like Alfie essentially good but a little confused at times.This is a touching story of love, connection and what happens when we get a bit stuck for a while along the way. Alfie was just beginning to meet his potential, things were looking up when disaster strikes.I do not want spoil the story so will just say we wander through the next few steps of his life with him as he learns to pick up the pieces and carry on. It shows the importance of not dismissing our elders and taking time to be here now. Alfie's Grandmother is a stellar character who is inspiring and beautiful. So too is his Mother and her ability to grow through adversary.I love the constant connection of people and the music they listen to - shades of Nick Hornby. His way of linking the tunes each of the characters relate to and their narratives really fills them out for me. This is the third Tony Parsons I have read and feel he is rather a treat, even if one of them was a little lame. I wonder if he resonates so fondly with me because his early writing was reviewing punk music. As time surges relentlessly on and I observe all that is currently occurring globally, I can't help but go back to my early punk roots and be grounded by them. Oh I was never overtly punk but it seems the philosophy has stayed with me. Perhaps we have similar tunes in our personal narratives......A nice life story to keep making sense of that which is around us.

One day, while waiting in an airport I spent a huge sum of money on a copy of British GQ. It had the usual polished photo-shoots of female achievers in barely nothing and male models weirdly dressed for the Arctic in summer hotspots, gadgetry that "GQ readers liked," interviews with inane politicians and the surprise of it all – the Tony Parsons column. Since then, I have loved his columns and him. It takes some writers 800 pages what Parsons manages in less than 4,000 words or so. His prose bursts with the voices that enriched the writer in him. Many years later, I was on a beach holiday browsing the local markets when I came across a ratty, little bookstore. The salesperson told me that many of the books were left behind by tourists or swapped for money. Marauding through the dusty old books I found a book by Tony Parsons. This is where the love story ends. What Charlotte Bronte inspired in me and Parsons nurtured was shat upon with the fury of a merciless diarrhea of mediocrity that was “One for my baby”. This isn’t the reader as a hater. This is the reader as disappointed in one of her favourite writers. Needless to say, Parsons ruined my holiday. I am still in recovery. It helps that he’s still churning out good stuff in the old rag. Will I read another book by Parsons? Maybe. But my summation is clear.Dear reader, Tony betrayed me.

What do You think about One For My Baby (2005)?

One for my babyThis just elbows out 'Man and Boy' for me.Here Parson's asks, does anyone really get a second shot at finding love?Shamelessly sentimental, which would be a knock if it didn't work so effectively, Parsons not so much pulls at your heart strings as feeds 'em into a diabolical loom of his own construction and practically makes sweater out of them.There so much to love here, so many wonderful characters and great wonderfully constructed moments, one that really gets to the heart of why there really is someone for everyone out there.And should you catch me with my eyes looking a bit pink? It just my hay-fever, man, just my hay-fever...- John Bowen is the author of 'Where the Dead Walk' and 'Vessel'. You can find him here on GoodReads, and his published work at Amazon.
—John Bowen

setelah baca buku ni..gw berpendapat klo dibandingkan dengan karya Tony parson yg Man and Boy dan Man And Wife..ternyata kurang lebih temanya sama..mirip2 gitu..buku ni berkisah tentang Alfie yang kehilangan istrinya Rose dalam penyelaman di Filipina..sebelumnya mereka bertemu dan menjalin hubungan di Hongkong..dan setelah kematian itu...Alfie kembali ke London..namun jiwanya tak "kembali"..Alfie selalu murung..Alfie akhirna bekerja sebagai guru bahasa inggris di sebuah kursus yang muridnya adalah imigran dari berbagai negara..dan herannya yah..semua murid ceweknya ditiduri..dan ga jelas aja gitu alsannya apa..apa karena kehilangan Rose..tapi ga jelas..oiya ditambah lagi cerita tentang ayahnya yang berselingkuh dengan pembantunya yang umurnya sepertiga ayahnya..dan lucunya tertangkap basah satt mereka melakukan "adegan" di surprise party ultah ayahnya dan disaksikan keluarga dan koleganya...namun sang ibu berhasil melewati masa2 kekecewaan itu berkat Keluarga Chang..Keluarga imigran asal China yang setia menemani sang Ibu..dan ada juga cerita sang nenek yang sakit2an tapi tetap menjalani hidupnya dengan penuh keceriaan didampingi anakanya dan cucunya..dan anak dari Jackie yaitu Plum..Yah Jackie ni seseorang murid dari Alfie juga..dan pastinya juga klo murid yang satu ini juga ditaksir sama Alfie..trus gw berpikir..pesan moralnya ada ga ya??hmmm..mikir...mikir..mikir...hah sudahlah yg penting masih enak dibaca..tapi jangan terlalu berharap banyak akan isi bukunya...
—Harun Harahap

Kembali dengan tokoh utama seorang pria menuju dewasa, around 30, Tony Parsons bercerita tentang cinta. Hare.. gene.. ngomongin cinta ? Terserah!Alfi, dalam kondisi gamang karena istrinya belum lama ini meninggal dunia dalam satu kecelakaan waktu mereka diving, membuat hari-hari ke depan yang dilaluinya terasa hampa. Hidup tetap berjalan tanpamu. Tapi apakah semudah itu ?Inilah yang dikisahkan dengan manis oleh Tony Parsons. Dengan gaya bercerita yang ringan, melantur, kadang ada kejutan, Tony berkisah tentang hari-hari Alfi yang mencoba memulai hubungan baru dengan perempuan-perempuan baru. Kehidupan yang pas-pasan karena profesinya "hanya" seorang guru kursus bahasa Inggris - dan di Inggris pula -, lumayan memberi kesan tersendiri karena menghadirkan sosok orang biasa, orang-orang yang sehari-hari kita temui.Alfi selalu ragu, selalu membandingkan dengan sosok almarhumah Rose, yang membuatnya selalu tidak bisa menetapkan pilihan. Tapi hidup memang kadang menghadirkan kejutan. Sebuah kejutan yang menghentak, membuat Alfi harus siap menghadapi kenyataan.
—Andri

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