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.

A major issue covered in this book is the social and cultural values. The book concentrates on one character and his life. A man who just wants to be happy. I find that he represents British people, and our society in the 21st Century. He has few friends, he is unsuccessful with women and he spends most of his life at work, in a job he doesn?t enjoy, or in the pub(just like me). This proves to be a good read, because it is the way a lot of people live, and therefore can relate to. ?High Fidelity? captures the feelings of loneliness and pointlessness that consume many people?s lives today.

The book is very enjoyable and thought provoking at some points, I found it especially fascinating, because Rob is presented as the male equivalent to Bridget Jones. This makes it different from a lot of books in the same genre, because it is written by a male author, and told by a male lead character. The fact that the book is told in first person narrative helps the reader to feel more involved with Rob.

The first part of the book is an analysis of Rob?s previous girlfriends, and why the relationships failed miserably. He?s feeling sorry for himself because his most recent girlfriend, Laura, has just left him. The rest of the book describes how Rob copes ? or how he doesn?t ? without h
er. Rob?s personality appears to be that of a lost young boy, who hasn?t matured yet. He is quite self-absorbed and when he talks to other people ? especially his workmates, Barry and Dick, he seems quite rude, and not really a very nice person ? though he thinks he is. Music plays a huge part in Rob?s life, and he works in a record shop called ?Championship Vinyl?. He uses music to recover from times of emotional stress, and thinks he can replace relationships with it. Exactly what I do! (oh yes and alcohol)

The main themes throughout the novel are purpose in life, loneliness, relationships, commitment, love and adulthood. It is easy for most people to relate to all of these issues, and this makes the book all the more appealing. By the end of the book, Rob has greater understanding of what is important in life, and becomes more mature and self-aware as a result. The woman in his life, Laura, is the reason behind this.

I found the book relatively easy to read, as there was not a great deal of complicated language. However, at times, the text was confusing, because there was a lot of speech between characters, and it was easy to lose track of who was talking. Despite this, I got through it quickly, and found it straightforward and amusing. The style is often ironic, and the use of dry wit makes it even more humorous.

The insight Nick Hornby gives on the male psyche is priceless, and I feel he has captured the truth of our society in ?High Fidelity?.

Highly recommended.

Cheers.