I finished reading High Fidelity about a week ago, but I haven't managed to get a review up for it yet. Well, I haven't suddenly gained more time, so even though I'm posting a review, it's going to be short.
High Fidelity, the first novel by Nick Hornby, is probably more familiar to most people as "that movie with John Cusack and Jack Black where they work in a record store." The book centers around Rob, a mid-30's record store owner who still hasn't figured out what he's doing with his life. Rob's girlfriend Laura leaves him and sends him searching for the answers to what he wants out of life and what happened to all his relationships. Rob revisits his top five all-time break-ups from his first kiss who two days later was kissing another boy on the playground to Charlie the girl who was out of his league, yet dated him anyway. As he looks back on these relationships we learn more and more about who Rob is and why he acts the way he does. We see the developments in his relationships with his parents, Barry and Dick (his coworkers at Championship Vinyl), and with women. Along the way, Hornby amuses us with the awkwardness and pain that is dealing with the opposite sex. In the end, Hornby has created sort of a romantic comedy for men, that is lighthearted and touching at the same time.
The verdict: Like Hornby's other works it is well written and amusing. The best description of the book comes from one of the blurbs on the back cover which stated that High Fidelity captured the reality of relationships in a way that will "make you laugh (and wince) out loud."
Until later...
June 30, 2005
Book Review: High Fidelity
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3 comments:
I've never seen the movie, but I really liked this book.
I read the book and watched the movie. And I've found with all of his work that I've seen both in I like the movies better. And this almost never happens to me. His characters just seem sort of lifeless on paper. I can't believe I just said that. Bad Shnooka bad.
It's been quite a few years since I read HF, and as I recall, I finally got around to it after seeing the movie, which I liked, but I was well prepared for the fact that the movie strayed dramatically from the book (the setting being the first big give-away; John Cusack "co-producer" being the second). That said, I enjoyed both for what they were: the movie, a rough adaptation centering around the plot; the book, a great bit of writing hanging on a framework of lists with the plot almost an afterthought. Apples and oranges, if you ask me. I liked the book better.
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