High Fidelity by Nick Hornby Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of High Fidelity
Book Review: A good read and a good movie
Summary: 4 Stars
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby is a tale of one man's path to redefining his life after his girlfriend leaves him. He then traces back through all his past relationships making a list of his top 5 worst breakups. Rob then comes to terms with who he is and considers a career change. In the end he gets back together with Laura and starts his DJ career up again. I found this book to be a great read and anybody who likes music would appreciate it, especially those aware of the indie snobs in the world. The character Barry hits the nail on the head.Book Review: A good read...
Summary: 4 Stars
I heard the hype and fought it for a long time; I caved in and read the book this past week. I was pleasantly surprised. I expected a graphic and gratuitous romp through the eagle-eye of some stereotypical male... I didn't get that.What suprised me most was that I sided with the protagonist, one Rob Zimmerman, as he swam his way through the dark waters of relationships, even when he was overlapping them. This is an intelligent and intuitive book, and Hornby should be proud of the work. It's original, it's entertaining, and it even makes the reader give pause and think hard about some of the issues he raises through his characters.
While I didn't find it laugh-out-loud funny, I did find the observations and conclusions humorous - something to be savoured and rolled around a bit before swallowing. I know a number of 'Robs'... have 'em in my family, and sometimes I think I have this bloke in my husband. The man's ambiguity and duplicity (especially when it comes to initially fancying women) is a true-to-form trait for maleness.
The best part of the book is the last major segment: when dawn breaks and realization forms, and the character appropriately steps into the more meaningful, deeper, and difficult. Like he says, 'I realize that what one likes and what one *is* like are two very different things.' (I paraphrase, of course.)
For those that want to explore the 'New Lads' writerly set, Hornby's a great place to start. You'll enjoy the romp through one normal guy's crazy life experiences.
Book Review: A good story about an annoying whiner
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the story of a 35-year-old owner of a used record store, told in the first person and in the present tense. The main focus of his musings is his unsuccessful relationships with women, and the feelings of pain, rejection, and inadequacy that those relationships have produced. The first 25% of the book is wonderful. No one I know has described with such painful accuracy the feelings of rejection and inadequacy that a MAN feels when a romantic affair breaks up. There seem to be thousands of such books for women, but maybe men are too macho to publicly admit that it hurts.
The book is very well written, and it held my interest throughout. Partly that was because Rob's main interest in life (besides sulking about his unfulfilled life) is rock 'n roll music, which has always been one of my main interests as well. The characters are believable and well drawn, even if none of them are entirely pleasant.
But after describing the breakups of his previous relationships, Rob (the narrator and main character) begins to degenerate into an embittered, whining, older version of Holden Caulfield - which in my opinion is a stinging criticism. He's rude, selfish, and inconsiderate, and blames his miserable conduct on how badly his love affairs have turned out. I don't want to give everything away, but I think that at the end Rob is one of the most undeservedly lucky guys I've ever read about.
I expect men will like the book better than women will, but I could be wrong. And in fact, women will probably learn more from it than men will. I certainly found it worth my time, despite my annoyance at the self-indulgent main character, and it's an easy read.
Note: I haven't seen the movie which was based on this book, so my comments above are based entirely on the book itself.
Book Review: A great read
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is a great read, both entertaining and insightful. It's candy-coated medicine for any man who refuses to grow up and embrace the responsibliities of manhood. Women who date these men should read it too. Or just read it for fun.Book Review: A great window into our generation's men - for BOTH sexes.
Summary: 5 Stars
This was definately a laugh-out-loud kind of book; a quick and enjoyable read. It's so real that even I can relate to the women characters, and some of Rob's feelings about music, breakups, etc. Can't wait to recommend this to our reading group!