High Fidelity - Nick Hornby

“What came first, the music or the misery? Did I listen to music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to music? Do all those records turn you into a melancholy person? People worry about kids playing with guns, and teenagers watching violent videos; we are scared that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands – literally thousands – of songs about broken hears and rejection and pain and misery and loss. The unhappiest people I know, romantically speaking, are the ones who like pop music the most; and I don’t know whether pop music has caused this ...  Read the complete review

I originally picked up 'High Fidelity' because I had heard quite a lot about it, and also about the author, Nick Hornby. Seeing as it was costing me nothing but time to read (rented it from local library) I was curious to see what it was all about. Nick Hornby is a British author, born 1957 and has also written 'About A Boy', which is another of his famous fictional works, and 'How to be Good'. I have never read anything written by him before so I was not sure what to expect, but was looking forward to reading it as it's a well known title by a well known author thereby making it an appealing read. On the front cover of the book it quotes Tony ...  Read the complete review

I'm not a book worm. I only read books if my girlfriend makes me. This is another one of her handouts. I enjoyed it enough to write about it here , and of course recommend it to you all. Here we go??? ?High Fidelity? is a novel about a male character named Rob Fleming. He is a thirty-something male with a flagging career as well as a crap love life. He tells the story about his life, recounting experiences from his younger days to the present day. His story deals with questions asked by everybody about the meaning of life. The book is therefore very true to life and the character easy to relate to for male as well as female readers. ...  Read the complete review

Welcome to the world of Nick Hornby , a world in which men are in a permanent state of arrested development, trapped by their childish addictions as the rest of the world apparently leaves them by. A world full of middle class guilt and angst, where the failure to achieve respectability and a 'normal' life are paramount to the tale being told. Welcome to the world of the most insidious and painful book I've read in a long time. Hornby basically is a one story man, just like Steven King. Where as King's novels always deal with a writer becoming involved in the centre of some supernatural occurrence, Hornby's are centred around a thirty ...  Read the complete review

Hmmmm. I can't quite make my mind up about this one. I finally finished it last night, which was a bit of a relief to be honest because I have 6 books to read in the 3 weeks before I go home for Christmas! This book consists of music and relationships, so you will probably know straightaway if you want to give it a go. I got my copy for 70p from a charity shop, but the RRP is £6.99. The book follows a guy called Rob, who owns a record shop and has broken up with his live-in girlfriend, Laura. To make it worse, she has moved in with the man who lives upstairs. Laura and Rob used to listen to his bed squeaking as he "entertained guests". Robe feels ...  Read the complete review