More than half the novel

Until now, Sam, a skate freak, who´s talking to his big idol Tony Hawk (on a poster), met Alicia ,on a party of their mums, and they liked each other, so they met a lot of times after. They went to cinema, watched TV (at Alicia´s home) , took walks to a park and had sex. Unfortunately Alicia got pregnant and Sam didn´t even want to know anything about that. He got whizzeed into the future by Tony Hawk and he saw, that he was going to have a baby namend Roof and he would be living with Alicia and the baby in her room. He wanted to disappear and so he went the morning, after the time travel to Hastings, where he hoped to find a job and a new life. He didn´t and went back to Alicia to abet her. They told their parents (they weren´t happy about the Pregnancy), because Alicia wanted to keep the baby. Tony Hawk (at the upper picture)

<-- Nick Hornby

If I could ask Nick Hornby some questions, I would first able ask him, what he brought to write this book. Did he know all this informations about skating or did he adopt them? Did he read Tony Hawks book such many times as Sam in his book? Did he know someone or a family in which the child was only sixteen years younger than its mum?

In 'Slam' it´s really annoying, that Sam says all along, that he is stupid. Why doesn´t he change something? It isn´t nobodys blame, that he is stupid (and to be honest, he doesn´t seem all the time, that he actually is stupid, but if somebody tells himself all the time, that he is stupid, he becomes). The worst was, that Sam all the novel around didn´t understood the seriouusness of his situation. It was not about skating or watching TV or having a good great at school it was about a real alive kid. It didn´t sound like he understood it.

But I liked, that Sam and Alicia were holding together, although they knew, that they didn´t love each other, even if they tryed to belive they did.

Yesterday I listened to a 'skaterboy' by Avril Lavinge and noticed, that it fits pretty well to the novel.

Avril Lavigne - Skater Boy

He was a boy, she was a girl Can I make it any more obvious? He was a punk, she did ballet What more can I say? He wanted her, she'd never tell, secretly she wanted him as well But all of her friends stuck up their nose, they had a problem with his baggy clothes.

He was a skater boy, she said see you later boy He wasn't good enough for her She had a pretty face, but her head was up in space She needed to come back down to earth

five years from now, she sits at home, feeding the baby, she's all alone She turns on tv, guess who she sees? Skater boy rockin' up MTV. She calls up her friends, they already know, and they've all got tickets to see his show She tags along, stands in the crowd looks up at the man that she turned down

He was a skater boy, she said see you later boy He wasn't good enough for her Now he's a superstar, slammin' on his guitar Does her pretty face see what he's worth

He was a skater boy, she said see you later boy He wasn't good enough for her Now he's a superstar, slammin' on his guitar Does her pretty face see what he's worth

Sorry girl, but you missed out Well tough luck that boy's mine now We are more than just good friends This is how the story ends Too bad that you couldn't see See the man that boy could be There is more than meets the eye I see the soul that is inside

He's just a boy, and I'm just a girl Can I make it any more obvious? We are in love, haven't you heard how we rock each others world?

I'm with the skater boy, I said see you later boy I'll be the backstage after the show I'll be at the studio singing the song we wrote about a girl he used to know

When I was surching for some suitable pictures for the Novel I found this one.

a pregnant skater-boy

I found it funny, because in real life that´s not possible, but maybe, if Sam knew, that he could become pregnant, maybe he had thought of sleeping with Alicia without any contraceptives. Until now I didn´t understand anyway why he did it and I don´t know why Alicia wanted it.

The middle of the novel

I thought it was a book about a teenager whos girlfriend unfortunately got pregnant and they had to find a solution. I like books, which are structured and logical, but suddenly there happend something I couldn´t explain directly. I don´t like such situations. I got confuesed for a few pages and thought of stopp reading and asking someone who understood it, but then I got it. It was a time travel and Sam was in his future. Supposedly it was Tony Hawks blame, because in Sams opinion TH is a god and he can do everything. He is supernatural and I don´t belive in such things, but i liked The way it was discribed.

Tony Hawk (at a competition)

I have a lot of questions to the charackters. Foremost to Alicia and Sam. Why didn´t Alicia want to have sex with his ex-boyfriend and two days after that she had with Sam? Why did she want to sleep with him without condom? Why did Sam it, although he dind´t want to have the same future as his mum or his dad or his grandad? Why didn´t Sam answer no question of his mum concretly? Why did he say Alicia he loves her, although he didn´t really know if he does? What did he think when he went to Hastings? It was apparent that he won´t have a future with forty pounds in his pocket. He often doesn´t think before he acts. He alwas says, that he´s stupid, but why doesn´t he try to change it?

I don´t really know what I would have changed. I don´t like the time travle, because it´s impossible. But without them the story could have ended totally different, and it is an important part of it, but maybe I hadn´t wrote it as a time travle, maybe I wrote it like a conversation between him and his mum or an other person who is important for him but not in Hornbys story.

Opening chapters

First it seems, that Sam is a normal Teenager who lifes in his own little world. His world consits if skating, going to school and particulary of talking to Tony Hawk (rather at a poster of him). For me it´s strange reading that somone is comitting his Problems to a Poster and the poster answers him. Maybe there are some people who can indentify with him, but I actually can´t. He doesn´t talk much to his mum, perhaps, because he is a boy and boys anyway don´t talk much to their mums,but in this case sounds curious to me. Fact is, that his mother is only sixteen years older than him and he doesn´t like at all, that he could talk to her like to a sister or a good friend. I felt a little bit sad for that,´cause I think it´s in the most families like that, mainly, if there is only one child. I didn´t found any connection between the book and my life. I life in a other world. I have my hobbies too, but it´s not my elixir, I need my family, my friends, and someone alive to talk to. To be honest I´ve seen the trailer of the film`Slam` and I know, that Alicia is going to be pregnant. I think they´ll split up and if Alicia is a intelligent ( I think she is) girl she´s going to have an abortion, because being mother with sixteen is very early and she´ll be overextended. That´s neither good for her nor for the baby. I don´t really know what Hornby could write 350 pages about an abortion,but maybe he´ll write some more about Sam´s skating.

For twenty pages I dependet 45 minutes, I know thats very slow, although I am interestet in the book. But I also don´t read very fast in german, so it´s okay for me.

Expectations

I`m very happy to read "Slam". Until now we´ve only read reclam books in english and it was boring. Nick Hornby is a really good author, I like his Book "About a boy" and I´ve heard, that "Slam" is similar, but maybe better. I hope that it´s going to grab my attetion, so I can not stop reading it.