High Fidelity

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.

None of the characters in this book are likable. The narrative, told in first person, singular is a feckless 35 year old with empty compassionless values who disrespects women and human life. Though the rhetoric is clearly meant to be humorous, it falls flat with sorry attempts at irony. I do not recommend this book to thinking people.

Having 3 grown daughters, it was interesting to hear how a young man looks at the world, albeit a sort of strange young man. Had to read awhile to get into the book. It got a bit redundant and even tiresome. The lack of motivation and any world view at all of the employees seemed superficial, although I guess there really are people like that in the world. Finished it because it was a book club book.

The kindle version of this book is littered with errors. I am almost convinced that they used a free image-to-text converter and then didn't bother to go through after to check for mistakes.

Don't get me wrong. This is a great story and a really funny read. This one star review is for the poorly edited kindle version of this book, which is infuriatingly bad.

So far, "HIGH FIDELITY" is one of the most entertaining, laugh out loud funny, and insightful novels I've read this year. Though it must be admitted that the main character, Rob Fleming - a quirky and rather self-centered man in his mid-30s, who is the owner of a record shop in the heart of 1990s London - can come across as whiny and egotistical. Yet, he is not without his endearing qualities.

The reader is given entree into Rob's life at a time when his girlfriend Laura (with whom he has shared a flat for a few years) has left him. He is at a loss and begins to reflect on what he regards as his "all-time, top five most memorable split-ups", which began with Alison Ashworth in 1972 when Rob was barely into his teens and culminated with Sarah Kendrew, a relationship that lasted between 1984 and 1986. It was a treat to be given a retrospective tour of Rob's love life with these 5 women. His personal observations I found very revealing, though he could be a bit insufferable. Here are some of his musings that gave me much food for thought:

"... what was the significance of the snog? The truth is that there was no significance; we were just lost in the dark. One part imitation (people I had seen kissing by 1972: James Bond, Simon Templar, Napoleon Solo, Barbara Windsor and Sid James or ..., Omar Sharif and Julie Christie ...) to one part hormonal slavery to one part peer group pressure ... to one part blind panic ... "

"Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands - literally thousands - of songs about broken hearts 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 unhappiness, but I do know that they've been listening to the sad songs longer than they've been living the unhappy lives." - p.19.

Music is the metaphor that infuses and enlivens "High Fidelity." Rob lives and breathes it. Indeed, his music store (with his two employees, mild-mannered, steady, and self-effacing Dick and know-it-all, sardonic Barry) is an extension of himself. There is an instance where, one night after closing shop, Rob, Barry, and Dick go to a pub for a few beers and entertainment. The entertainment comes in the form of Marie LaSalle, an American singer/songwriter whose look reminds Rob of the actress Susan Dey as she was when she starred in the late '80s TV drama "LA Law". He is enthralled with her singing. What I found both funny and poignant was his admission of the effect Marie LaSalle's version of Peter Frampton's 'Baby, I Love Your Way' had on him. Let me cite in full what he had to say about that. (When I was reading this section of the novel on the subway, I had to restrain myself from laughing out loud and uproariously.)

"Imagine standing with Barry, and Dick, in his Lemonheads T-shirt, and listening to a cover version of a Peter Frampton song, and blubbing! Peter Frampton! 'Show Me the Way'! That perm! That stupid bag thing he used to blow into, which made his guitar sound like Donald Duck! Frampton Comes Alive, top of the American rock charts for something like seven hundred and twenty years, and bought, presumably, by every brain-dead, coke-addled airhead in LA! I understand that I was in dire need of symptoms to help me understand that I have been deeply traumatized by recent events, but did they have to be this extreme? Couldn't God have settled for something just mildly awful - an old Diana Ross hit, say, or an Elton John original?

"And it doesn't stop there. As a result of Marie LaSalle's cover version of 'Baby, I Love Your Way' ('I know I'm not supposed to like that song, but I do,' she says with a cheeky smile when she's finished), I find myself in two apparently contradictory states: a) I suddenly miss Laura with a passion that has been entirely absent for the last four days, and b) I fall in love with Marie LaSalle."

There's more - more entertaining, funny, and observational "bits" (as the British would say) - to "High Fidelity", which I leave to the readers of this review to discover for themselves. I invite all of you are who are uninitiated to Nick Hornby's writing style and to "High Fidelity", in particular, to buy or borrow this novel. You'll be in for a fun and rewarding journey.

Short on Plot - Character driven book - Movie based on book was good.

A guy's personal angst, ranting, and self-absorbed drama about his mundane relationships and existence. You won't be glued to the pages.

An ok read, nothing that I'd want to re-read again. Glad I borrowed it from the public library b/c the book isn't a keeper. Ok to read then watch the movie (movie is better than the book). This is your best prospect to make reading this worthwhile.

Better to read this book while reading another book simultaneously. I needed to take breaks from reading High Fidelity b/c it was the same thing dragging on (protaganist's ranting about all his failed relationships).

Figures a Brit wrote this b/c the character essentially whines the entire book. It certainly has mildly amusing moments though. Hard to read about his mundane existence without taking a break.

I couldn't read the book straight through in a few sittings. Take a break from it, read another few chapters of another book then return to this to help you get through it. High Fidelity is an OK read. Not a disaster, but nothing terribly great either.

Nick Hornby 'High Fidelity'

I was very impressed by Hornby's book 'how to be good', 'High Fidelity' I read soon after that, perhaps too soon.

The main character 'Rob' is such a total wierdo that it was often difficult to connect to the story for me. If you are looking for any proof of the slogan 'men are from Mars and women from Venus' don't look further, just read this book. More over if you are looking for proof how causes all these problems also read this book.
On the other hand Rob's girlfriend Laura is such an adorable character that in the last few captures I almost fell in love with her. (as I like to do with girls named Laura ;-) Thanks to her their relation survives and even gains a new future. The question stays, 'does Rob appreciate the big gift Laura offers him?' This question is for us to answer. I doubt it. What do you think?

About the book. Very good writing for sure, but personally I could not connect to the story and not at all with the main character.

Rob Fleming is a thirty something London record store owner who has just lost his girlfriend Laura. Rob recalls his five most memorable break ups and then proceeds to get in touch with these girls in order to find out why they all ended up leaving him. Over at Championship Vinyl, Rob and his employees Dick and Barry spend their time demonstrating their vast music knowledge and constructing top five lists for every situation imaginable.

I really loved the movie High Fidelity, one of my favourites for a long time. So I’ve always meant to read the book and I finally got myself a copy. I devoured the book, faster than I expected. The book and the movie are very similar with not many noticeable differences, I was really happy about that. Problem with seeing the movie first is the fact that I keep picturing John Cusack, Iben Hjejle and every character. The only character I couldn’t remember was Ian and I imagined Peter Serafinowicz instead of Tim Robbins.

The only Nick Hornby movie I’ve read prior to High Fidelity was Juliet, Naked and I really didn’t get on to well with it. I was worried that I might have similar problems with this novel. Likely everything think I loved about the movie, comes from the book. The quirky nature, the themes and all those top five lists. Makes me want to watch the movie all over again. Weird but I prefer the movie, John Cusack is a great actor and I think it works better with the aid of audio and visual stimulation.

The thing I loved High Fidelity is the whole self-discovery plot. Rob Fleming begins the novel telling us about his top five breakups and how Laura didn’t hurt him as much as the others. This leads him to contact these five women and find out why everyone leaves him. What he discovered was the opposite and he learns more about himself than expected. The novel ends with not happiness but a deeper understanding of himself and what he must do to achieve a better life.

His love is so centred around his passion for music; he has to learn how to balance his life better. For music lovers, especially those who have an understanding in 80’s and 90’s music should appreciate this novel. For a romantic comedy, Hornby has this unique way of taking the genre that’s demographic is women and writing it with the male reader in mind.

If you liked the movie, then I’m not sure you really need to read the book. If you loved it, like I did then why not experience it in its original format (it’s like the Vinyl vs. CD debate). While it is very similar to the movie it was an enjoyable experience, one I would repeat sometime. It is a short novel so there is no real reason not to read it, except the movie is less time consuming.

I really enjoyed this book though I definitely didn't love it. The snag was that I flip-flopped between totally hating and loving the main character. In the times that I hated the character, I felt that the story dragged. But when he was being rather funny, the story seemed to fly by. The main character was just so self centered and childish sometimes. One of the characters nailed it when she called him "Sour." But other times, he was so self confident (though in a irritatingly selfish way), and I couldn't help but admire it.

This was Hornby's first novel and while he shortly thereafter became famous for _About a Boy,_ this one is also very much worth your while. (The NEW YORK TIMES obviously thought so, too, and named it a "Notable Book.") Rob, now in his mid-thirties though sometimes easily mistaken for an adolescent, is a pop music maven whose used records store, Championship Vinyl, is just barely getting by. He has two part-time employees who are even more like Rob than he is himself, and all three of them are devotees of "Top Five" lists and making compilation tapes. So Rob opens his story -- his confession, really -- with his personal Top Five Most Memorable Split-ups, beginning with the first girl he made out with at the park at age thirteen and who dumped him after six hours. Charlie, the fourth entry on the list, was the first one he was really in love with in his late teens, and when she trashed him, he flunked out of his technical school and found himself in the line of work in which he still struggles. But most recently there's Laura, with whom he's been living for two years and who has now gone off with the bloke from the apartment upstairs. And that's really killing him. This particular heartbreak he finds he simply can't deal with. The realization doesn't make him any smarter, though. Can he get her back? "If I can get her to concede that there is a chance we'll patch things up, that makes things easier for me; if I don't have to go around feeling hurt, and powerless, and miserable, I can cope without her. In other words, I'm unhappy because she doesn't want me; if I can convince myself that she does want me a bit, then I'll be okay again, because then I won't want her, and I can get on with looking for someone else." Because Rob always is careful to keep his options open and tries hard never to take responsibility for anything. You're less likely to get hurt that way. You're also more likely to be permanently lonely. Not to mention, someone you really commit yourself to, even marry, might leave. Might die. "Best not put yourself in that position. Best leave it all alone." Rob isn't stupid at all. He just tends to "get lost in his head," as Laura finally points out. "You just sit around thinking instead of getting on with something." Maybe, Rob finally decides, a real life that resembles an episode of _thirtysomething_ wouldn't be all bad.

Hornby possesses a marvelous wit in the dry, self-deprecating, and slightly stammering English tradition. Explaining to a visiting low-tier American girl singer/songwriter (who, for some reason he can't quite grasp, seems to actually like him) why he spent his birthday almost completely alone: "Say it was your birthday today, and you wanted to go out for a drink tonight. Who would you invite? Dick and Barry? Me? We're not your bestest friends in the whole world, are we?" "Come on, Rob. I'm not even in my own *country*. I'm thousands of miles from home." "My point exactly." Or, talking about his rather dull, rather stodgy, parents: "I wish I wanted to see them more, but I don't, and when I've got nothing else to feel bad about, I feel bad about that."

Hornby used to be accused of writing the male equivalent of chick lit (it was no accident the film of _About a Boy_ starred Hugh Grant), but his more recent work, such as _A Long Way Down,_ is considerably more sophisticated. Still, this book is where it all began and it's very much worth the reading.

Rob Fleming, owner of a second-hand London record store has been left by his girlfriend and he is not handling this well.

From this we have Rob's revisiting of previous relationships. We have Rob's constant issues with his staff. We have Rob attempting to start new relationships. This all sounds a bit trite but its not, the novels about relationships and is very funny. It also has untold moments regarding relationships where I just cringed for the simple reason I know I've behaved like this and this behaviour was not good.

As well as writing a book that contains bits of us all Nick Hornby has an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music which makes it an interesting diversion on its own.

The only negative and the reason we could never be friends is Hornby doesn't rate " Frampton Comes Alive' -adieu.

I've wanted to read "High Fidelity" for some time, but never approached it because I'm always wary of books that rise too much hype (see "The Devil Wears Prada", another huge disappointment).

Like another reader said, the book is entertaining, but shallow. Maybe it's because I'm well past the age of the characters, but I really had a hard time trying to empathize with them.

I'm Italian but spent quite a lot of time in England in the early nineties; the book brought me back to that time and environment that I know quite well, but instead of nostalgia I was overcome with boredom.

For some reason, the book sounds essentially very very dated; there are some funny bits (e.g. where the author speaks about the lack of sex education for males) but unfortunately the story is very predictable and the characters are quite stereotyped.

I guess the themes of the book ware considered fresh and new at the time it came out: the self-introspection of men, the analysis of relationships between men and women, all delivered in a fun way (a bit like a male version of "Bridget Jones's Diary") but it all sounds definitely dated now.

I haven't seen the movie based from this book yet, but judging from the cast (John Cusack, Jack Black) it must be definitely more interesting than the book itself.

I saw the movie High Fidelity shortly after it came out, and it has been a favorite of mine ever since. But I had never read the book. I had actually never read any of Hornby's books. This month was my pick for book club and I decided that it was time that I read the book.
This is a rare instance of the movie being just as good as the book. There are a few minor changes; changing the city to Chicago instead of London, and limiting the role of Marie, but in all other respects it was a faithful send-up of these lost boys. Rob is drifting through his 30's on a raft of indifference and musical snobbery. He gets a wake-up call when his girlfriend breaks up with him and moves out. Rob starts reflecting on his life, and the women in it who he believes messed it all up. We follow Rob through the next few months of his life, as he finally starts to take a look at himself, and take some responsibility for his decisions. It's both maddening and hopeful, hysterical and heartbreaking. It is both my "I hate men" story, and one that gives me hope that the gender will one day evolve.

I decided to read High Fidelity after seeing the film (like so many others) and reading Hornby's short story "Nipple Jesus." The story was excellent and I wanted to see what the man could do with a novel. While NJ was more profound than HF, HF was much more entertaining. Hornby has a certain conciseness of style that manages to fit one scene into a couple of pages, which means that you're finished with the book before you know it. This is one of the hallmarks of popular fiction (don't let your reader go!), but I found it nice because I could easily pick it up and put it down on my lunch break.

So what about the content in those numerous two-page scenes? On the one hand, there isn't a lot of depth to the characters (Rob excepted) and the writing is nothing to get excited over; subtle implications and crux-like situations are wholly absent. For example, one might ask themselves what the frame narrative of this story is--is Rob writing this down? Speaking into a recorder? Thinking to himself? HF seems to be unaware that a frame narrative might heighten the sense of verisimilitude, but the story really doesn't lose any of its charm by not attempting to be uber-literary. In many ways, Hornby knew exactly the kind of book he was writing and he wrote it well.

On the other hand, I would say that this book could, does, and will have profound meaning for particular individuals. I think that, read at the proper time, High Fidelity could positively alter the course of some young person's life--simply because it has much to say about the enigma that is human attraction. For being a popular novel, High Fidelity does not have the ending one would expect. Hornby respects his audience enough to not patronize us with some overcooked rom-com slop and instead we get something a bit dirtier, a bit more honest and quite a bit more realistic. And besides--it's funny as hell. I highly recommend it.

You can write smooth sentences and have a sexy style without becoming one of those tv shows that people can't stop watching, even though everyone knows they cause cancer. You can be pop and say some deep sh*t at the same time.

The creation of an aesthetic universe would make any book great. It's Nietzsche, Bro, all your moral judgments are illusions. But Rob's is a necessity of the modern dude. We don't have big wars to fight and we can drive cars to the mountain tops. We have to create some kind of something, to be special, to feel whole. [I, personally, need to read a f*cking good book once in a while to make me believe the world has some kind of purpose.] Meanwhile, all anyone seems to want from us is that we get sorted and make some cash. But we know that's not gonna be that fun.

And still, that's what it seems we have to do, we have to pass on our experience of the beautiful, to someone else. Not just to our children; Rob has to play the songs people want to hear.

Nick Hornby gives music and romance a philosophical spin in "High Fidelity," the funny, rueful book about men, music, and modern love. While occasionally his lead character's "top five" lists can be a little annoying, this is a charmingly original, wry and thoughtful novel - an offbeat romance for our time.

Rob owns a little music shop in London, which is a good thing because he is musically obsessed -- pop music, he claims, makes him fall in love. But even pop music can't heal his heart when his longtime girlfriend Laura breaks up and moves out. What's worse, Rob has no idea WHY she broke up with him, and he feels mixed feelings about losing her (he cares about her) and her musical tastes (bad).

He immerses himself in his rickety business with his weirdo employees -- these guys alone are worth checking out the book for. He dates a folk singer. He learns that Laura is now involved with the repulsive guy upstairs. And finally, he assesses his past sex life and romances (the top five, specifically), getting a bit of insight into what Laura's problem with him might be: He's stuck in his mid-teens.

Thirty-five is kind of old to start growing up. But like many real people, Rob learns that it's change or die -- in his case, alone and surrounded by records. "High Fidelity" is a nice blend of musical/movie memoir, love story and belated-coming-of-age tale. It's kind of geeky and pokes fun at itself, but therein lies its charm.

Hornby writes a nice, breezy kind of prose, peppered with plenty of pop culture and musical references. Not to mention the top five lists: Top Five Episodes of Cheers. Best Side One Track Ones Of All Time. Top Five Bands or Musicians Who Will Have To Be Shot Come the Musical Revolution. At times the pop culture name-dropping gets a bit tiresome, but it mostly underlines how quirky and mildly obsessive Rob can be.

And oh, he can be quirky. He can also be a self-centered jerk, and a bit confused and clueless to boot. Hornby's alter ego is likable for his flaws, and somehow manages to shed a little light on how men think. Good backup comes in his clerks Barry and Dick, who are just as geekily eccentric about music and lists as Rob is.

Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity" is an excellent slice of Brit-lit -- it's quirky, wry, insightful, and a bit obsessed with good music. Definitely a must-read.

I've shared a complaint with my friends lately: no-one told me that being a grown-up would be like this. I thought that it was all sunshine and roses, and everything just somehow worked. No-one warned me about the things that really matter. Certainly no-one warned me that relationships are actually a lot of work.

I first saw the movie version of High Fidelity a few years ago. I loved it. I'd been meaning to buy the book, but also put it off a bit because I loved the movie so very much. I think that it's rare for the movie to be better than the book, but it does happen. But I bought the book, and devoured it in less than 24 hours.

Rob is in his 30s, going through a break-up with his long-term girlfriend Laura. It's mostly an entertaining inside look at a man who is an adult but hasn't quite grown up yet, with several insightful and poignant moments. Rob takes us through his previous loves, including an update with his top five heartbreaks (and many other top fives, most of which are musical).

Rob's character growth in the story is believable and enjoyable. His psuedo-introspection as he considers his top five heartbreaks turns into real introspection as he considers the effects of losing Laura. He doesn't lose all of his selfishness, but then who does? He certainly becomes more aware of it, and tries to quash the worst of it. The ending is just perfect. Rob does grow up, but he doesn't lose his essential Rob-ness.

The movie and the book diverge a bit, but not so much that it is bothersome. The movie has cut some pieces for the sake of time, and slightly altered one thread in the plot. I forgive the film for making those changes, and am now comfortable in being able to love both the book and the movie.

Nick Hornby gives music and romance a philosophical spin in "High Fidelity," the funny, rueful book about men, music, and modern love. While occasionally his lead character's "top five" lists can be a little annoying, this is a charmingly original, wry and thoughtful novel - an offbeat romance for our time.

Rob owns a little music shop in London, which is a good thing because he is musically obsessed -- pop music, he claims, makes him fall in love. But even pop music can't heal his heart when his longtime girlfriend Laura breaks up and moves out. What's worse, Rob has no idea WHY she broke up with him, and he feels mixed feelings about losing her (he cares about her) and her musical tastes (bad).

He immerses himself in his rickety business with his weirdo employees -- these guys alone are worth checking out the book for. He dates a folk singer. He learns that Laura is now involved with the repulsive guy upstairs. And finally, he assesses his past sex life and romances (the top five, specifically), getting a bit of insight into what Laura's problem with him might be: He's stuck in his mid-teens.

Thirty-five is kind of old to start growing up. But like many real people, Rob learns that it's change or die -- in his case, alone and surrounded by records. "High Fidelity" is a nice blend of musical/movie memoir, love story and belated-coming-of-age tale. It's kind of geeky and pokes fun at itself, but therein lies its charm.

Hornby writes a nice, breezy kind of prose, peppered with plenty of pop culture and musical references. Not to mention the top five lists: Top Five Episodes of Cheers. Best Side One Track Ones Of All Time. Top Five Bands or Musicians Who Will Have To Be Shot Come the Musical Revolution. At times the pop culture name-dropping gets a bit tiresome, but it mostly underlines how quirky and mildly obsessive Rob can be.

And oh, he can be quirky. He can also be a self-centered jerk, and a bit confused and clueless to boot. Hornby's alter ego is likable for his flaws, and somehow manages to shed a little light on how men think. Good backup comes in his clerks Barry and Dick, who are just as geekily eccentric about music and lists as Rob is.

Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity" is an excellent slice of Brit-lit -- it's quirky, wry, insightful, and a bit obsessed with good music. Definitely a must-read.

Nick Hornby gives music and romance a philosophical spin in "High Fidelity," the funny, rueful book about men, music, and modern love. While occasionally his lead character's "top five" lists can be a little annoying, this is a charmingly original, wry and thoughtful novel - an offbeat romance for our time.

Rob owns a little music shop in London, which is a good thing because he is musically obsessed -- pop music, he claims, makes him fall in love. But even pop music can't heal his heart when his longtime girlfriend Laura breaks up and moves out. What's worse, Rob has no idea WHY she broke up with him, and he feels mixed feelings about losing her (he cares about her) and her musical tastes (bad).

He immerses himself in his rickety business with his weirdo employees -- these guys alone are worth checking out the book for. He dates a folk singer. He learns that Laura is now involved with the repulsive guy upstairs. And finally, he assesses his past sex life and romances (the top five, specifically), getting a bit of insight into what Laura's problem with him might be: He's stuck in his mid-teens.

Thirty-five is kind of old to start growing up. But like many real people, Rob learns that it's change or die -- in his case, alone and surrounded by records. "High Fidelity" is a nice blend of musical/movie memoir, love story and belated-coming-of-age tale. It's kind of geeky and pokes fun at itself, but therein lies its charm.

Hornby writes a nice, breezy kind of prose, peppered with plenty of pop culture and musical references. Not to mention the top five lists: Top Five Episodes of Cheers. Best Side One Track Ones Of All Time. Top Five Bands or Musicians Who Will Have To Be Shot Come the Musical Revolution. At times the pop culture name-dropping gets a bit tiresome, but it mostly underlines how quirky and mildly obsessive Rob can be.

And oh, he can be quirky. He can also be a self-centered jerk, and a bit confused and clueless to boot. Hornby's alter ego is likable for his flaws, and somehow manages to shed a little light on how men think. Good backup comes in his clerks Barry and Dick, who are just as geekily eccentric about music and lists as Rob is.

Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity" is an excellent slice of Brit-lit -- it's quirky, wry, insightful, and a bit obsessed with good music. Definitely a must-read.

Hornby is so readable. Also plenty of music in jokes for people born in the 50s or 60s. I relate to the anatomy of a dying relationship - the ugly mess that you may have decided to break up, but there are still all these ties. And even though you don't want to get back together, this pathetic part of you wants them to feel like it's still costing them something not to be with you.
 
There's also the thing about the loss of magic once you move in with someone: before every meeting was an exciting assignation - now they're just there because they're not somewhere else. Indeed, somewhere else is where there's some preparations made. It still seems a shame that nakedness can become so casual and non-sexual, but to make a big deal of it would be too inconvenient and after a while, farcical.
 
The central character's deep closing insight (although there are insights right along the journey. Hornby comes across as someone able to be honest with himself, even some ugly bits, but he still basically likes himself, so it doesn't turn into a jaded piece) is talking about the long-term partner he's finally decided he wants to marry:
"I know what's wrong with Laura. What's wrong with Laura is I'll never see her for the first or second or third time again. I'll never spend two or three days in a sweat trying to remember what she looks like, never again will I get to a pub half an hour early to meet her, staring at the same article in a magazine and looking at my watch every thirty seconds, never again will thinking about her set something off in me like `Let's get it on' sets something off in me."
 
Yet novelty is so pathetic compared to commitment - as Hornby continues:
"And sure, I love her and like her and have good conversations, nice sex and intense rows with her, and she looks after me and worries about me ...., but what does that all count for, when someone with bare arms, a nice smile and a pair of Doc Martins comes into the shop and says she wants to interview me? Nothing, that's what, but maybe it should count for a bit more."
 
 In How Far Can You Go, David Lodge goes further by describing a guy who's been married for twenty years acting on an infatuation with a secretary. Far from the usual Hollywood `a love too deep to be denied, a forbidden love' as being grand and passionate, Lodge shows how stupidly out of sync the indiscretion is with the whole rest of his life - he hasn't begun to think about the implications, of what this could cost him, and how little in effect it's really offering. Likewise the girl doesn't really know what to do with him now.
 
Earlier in the book Laura remonstrates with Rob (1st person narrator) about how, of course, in trying to always keep doors open he's actually closing at least as many more.
 
There's some other interesting stuff touching on class, and even more basic proofs that just because someone doesn't know the difference between Miles Davis and Acker Bilk (an example from my own experience, not Hornby's) they still may be worth talking to. Some people (especially in this society that lets you string out your teenage lifestyle and, in some cases, ignorance, well into your thirties) may spend decades in a proudly pretentious sub-culture, foolishly only allowing friendships with a the few who share their prejudices.
And, dammit, it is a very satisfying book. With his wit, honesty and readability Hornby could, like so many others, have got by without much of a plot. But plotwise this book hinges on a funeral, which, true to life, comes out of the blue. We're just cruising along in this generally feel good novel (although it does touch on some ugly stuff, and in his `four awful things I've done' slap you right in the face), and experiencing most of the big emotional things in past tense detachment. Plotwise we may vaguely expect Rob to come to terms with Laura's departure and to maybe hook up with someone else. Then Laura's dad dies, somehow we get this full on climactic scene where Rob's at the funeral, and Laura ends up saying to him, "I'm too tired not to go out with you." Later she explains:
"I thought that we were bound by one simple little cord, our relationship, and if I cut it, then that would be that. So I cut it, but that wasn't that. There wasn't just one cord, but hundreds, thousands, everywhere I turned ... and then on the day of the funeral, it was me that wanted you to be there, not my mum. I mean, she was quite pleased, I think, but it never occurred to me to ask Ray, and that's when I felt tired. I wasn't prepared to do all that work. It wasn't worth it, just to be shot of you."
 
Hornby managed to throw this into a really powerful context.
 
The sub-plot about Rob taking up DJing again is a bit cheesy, but everyone wants a happy ending.
 
Strewth, quite a diarising type review - but that's one of the things I enjoy about Hornby - he relates to me. Whereas when I leant a About a Boy to nearing retirement A.  (who's given me Stone Diaries and The Idea of Perfection), she couldn't relate - much as I couldn't to these undeniably well written books. Maybe it's a generational thing: not just the pop-culture references, but the whole `vibe', man, that two similarly aged people may unconsciously share.

Allow me to clarify the above statement. I had read Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down, at the recommendation of a friend. I loved it and definitely feel the sense that I could read it over again at some point. High Fidelity, on the other hand, while a very well written book, with funny moments, very real characters, and a good story, just isn't the same for me. I liked it a lot, but I didn't love it, and most likely would not pick it up again.

And as I sit here I can't help but wonder if it's because I'm not that into music and obviously the main character, his life, and a large bulk of the story revolve around it. I realize there are relationships, real life thoughts, fears, and moments, and that's what I enjoyed and took from this book. However, I couldn't help but think that if these were sports references and not musical ones, I'd be much more interested in the details.

Despite all that, I was interested in the story. It was a quick read, and like the other Hornby book I read, filled with some funny moments, some poignant thoughts about life, and a strong dose of reality. I appreciate all of that. My favorite part of the book, probably, was the interaction between Rob and Barry's characters. Their exchanges were sharp and funny. The record shop, itself a big character, and all the other odd characters that found their way there, were equally enjoyable. I also must admit that I liked the top five lists, despite my not knowing many of the musicians on them.

Overall, I give High Fidelity four stars because I really do appreciate most of what the book was about and the overall journey of reading it. I just find that I liked A Long Way Down much better.

Nick Hornby gives music a philosophical spin in "High Fidelity," the funny, rueful book about men, music, and modern love. While occasionally the "top fives" can grate a little, this is a charmingly original, wry and thoughtful novel - an offbeat romance for our times.
Rob owns a little music shop in London, which is a good thing because he is musically obsessed -- pop music, he claims, makes him fall in love. But even pop music can't heal his heart when his longtime girlfriend Laura breaks up and moves out. What's worse, Rob has no idea WHY she broke up with him, and he feels mixed feelings about losing her (he cares about her) and her musical tastes (bad).
He immerses himself in his rickety business with his weirdo employees (these guys alone are worth checking out the book for). He dates a folk singer. He learns that Laura is now involved with the repulsive guy upstairs. And finally, he assesses his past sex life and romances (the top five, specifically), getting a bit of insight into what Laura's problem with him might be: He's stuck in his mid-teens.
Thirty-five is kind of old to grow up. But like many real people, Rob learns that it's change or die (in his case, alone and surrounded by records). "High Fidelity" is a nice blend of musical/movie memoir, love story and belated-coming-of-age tale. It's kind of geeky and pokes fun at itself, but therein lies its charm.
Hornby writes a nice, breezy kind of prose, peppered with plenty of pop culture and musical references. Not to mention the top five lists: Top Five Episodes of Cheers. Best Side One Track Ones Of All Time. Top Five Bands or Musicians Who Will Have To Be Shot Come the Musical Revolution. At times the pop culture name-dropping gets a bit tiresome, but it mostly underlines how quirky and mildly obsessive Rob can be.
And oh, he can be quirky. He can also be a self-centered jerk, and a bit confused and clueless to boot. Hornby's alter ego is likable for his flaws, and somehow manages to shed a little light on how men think. Good backup comes in his clerks Barry and Dick, who are just as geekily eccentric about music and lists as Rob is.
Music buffs and Brit-lit fans will devour "High Fidelity." Charmingly insightful and brimming over with self-conscious eccentricity. Recommended.

My only complaint is that Hornby neglected to provide song lyrics for the character of Marie LaSalle. I have yet to come across a novel with decent song lyrics. Whether it's DeLillo's GREAT JONES STREET or Pynchon's LOT 49. I realize that lyrics aren't the reason for Rob's music addiction. (And thank God he's not a Dylan fan.) But all the same, it would've been interesting to have seen Hornby try his hand at it. Plus it would've fleshed out Marie LaSalle, who's something of a stick-figure anyway. (On the other hand, one of Marie's songs is called PATSY CLINE TIMES TWO. In other words, it's a tune about other tunes. And that's just the sort of "entertainment about entertainment" that drives me up the goddam wall.)
My fave bit is when Rob visits one of his old girlfriends and her husband: "Jackie and Phil are the most boring people in the southeast of England, possibly because they've been married too long, and therefore have nothing to talk about, apart from how long they've been married." Jackie & Phil then proceed to mouth the usual crushing banalities about "working at a relationship".
At one point Rob says: "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?"
That conundrum couldn't help but remind me of Geoffrey O'Brien's conundrum in DREAMTIME: "In the meantime, in his gloom, he listened to songs. He never quite knew whether his emotions gave character to the song, or the song to his emotions. If he had not heard The Zombies sing TELL HER NO, would he have imagined some such miniature music drama anyway---or had The Zombies simply invented a new mode of feeling? After a while it seemed that every song---every *good* song---defined an emotion which did not exist outside that song. No song could ever substitute for another. There was only one ANOTHER GIRL or PRETTY FLAMINGO or OOO, BABY BABY. Ultimately there could be a list of thousands of isolated emotions, like a seed catalog."

Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity" is, along with W. Somerset Maugham's "Razor's Edge," one of my favorite books to read and the both of them should be required reading for any boy becoming a man (i.e. in high school/college). Or even for any woman, although this is one book that could best describe how and why men are the way they are.
The movie, starring John Cusack, is an OK adaptation of the book, but, in the long-run, doesn't come close to covering all of the many true-isms of the book. Take my word for it, guys: This is one book you have to read simply because it's right on the money of how men think, feel and act.
Also, being a man who has worked at a music store for a very funny time, I found the music, movie and pop references simply great! Anyone will! The fact that Hornby also dedicates a portion of a chapter to Bruce Springsteen and his songs is simply genius!
This book helps to explain just why men can mostly be jerks: If we weren't, women would lose the interest. That's why nice guys fall behind in the dating pool! A great example of this in the book is when he's talking about how 14-18-year-old boys have this massive sex drive but girls at that age are not interested. However, a 32-year-old woman hits her sexual peak and by that time the man has been rejected so much from women that he no longer doesn't even really try. Hornby's theory: "The perfect man for the 32-year-old woman is the 14-year-old b-b-b-b-boy!"
I may have written it so it sounds ridiculous. But trust me. If you read Hornby's descriptive facts and ways of explaining, then you'll believe it's true also.
This book is difficult to put down and come to read later because of the hysterically funny and very real insights that his character comes to descover. The women are bashed but uncovered for some of their ridiculousness just as men are in through his slacker hero, Rob. Each character is well written and the character of Rob's girlfriend, Laura, is endearing.
READ THIS BOOK!!! YOU WON'T REGRET IT!!! Whether you're a boy, girl, man, or woman, this book will make you laugh and also stop to think about how truly absurd the sexes can most times be.
This is my favorite book EVER!!! I'd give it ten stars if I could.

Rob Fleming, a 35 year old Londoner, is extremely average, but the story he has to tell is unusually witty & insightful, especially in his assessment of the mysterious relations between men and women:
Read any women's magazine and you'll see the same complaint over and over again: men--those little boys ten or twenty or thirty years on--are hopeless in bed. They are not interested in 'foreplay'; they have no desire to stimulate the erogenous zones of the oppositre sex; they are selfish, greedy, clumsy, unsophisticated. These complaints, you can't help feeling, are kind of ironic. Back then, all we wanted was foreplay, and girls weren't interested. They didn't want to be touched, caressed, stimulated, aroused; in fact, they used to thump us if we tried. It's not really surprising, then, that we're not much good at all that. We spent two or three long and extremely formative years being told very forcibly not even to think about it. Between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four, foreplay changes from being something that boys want to do and girls don't, to something that women want and men can't be bothered with. ... The perfect match, if you ask me, is between the Cosmo woman and the fourteen-year old boy.
and the cultural importance of pop music:
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 hearts 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 hgas caused this unhappiness, but I do know that they've been listening to the sad songs longer than they've been living the unhappy lives.
and the vital interstices where men and women & music meet, as we see when he asks his girlfriend one of the great questions in the history of the opposing genders:
How can you like Art Garfunkel and Solomon Burke? It's like saying you support the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The book is filled with this kind of sly, snarky Four Weddings-style humor, perhaps too full. I found 300 pages of the fundamentally immature Rob to be a tad excessive. But in the end, when he learns that: it's not what you like but what you're like, we can't help but feel happy for his triumph.
GRADE: A-

Looking on the book cover, I realised that the first time I read High Fidelity was exactly 3 years ago...has it been that long? anyway, when I heard that a movie based on High Fidelity was coming out, I pulled it off the shelf again, & managed to spend 2 more laugh-filled days with Rob, Laura, & especially Dick & Barry. And of course, all the time I was reading, it was as if I had the radio tuned on to some old, really cool, rock radio station. At some point I actually put Bruce Springsteen on the cd player, which provided the perfect background music for the book.
So, to put it in a nutshell: High Fidelity a) makes you laugh out loud & b) has a lot to do with music. Rob is the narrator, a kind of nice guy, drifting on & on in a job as the owner of a small, dusty record shop in London. With him, in the shop, are 2 other people that work there, Dick & Barry. People who know more about second hand records, bootlegs & obscure little rock bands, than they do about what's going on right next to them. As for Rob, he's kind of disillusioned, he has an enormous record collection, is not though as far gone with music as Dick & Barry...and has just broken up, after 3 years, with Laura. She has just moved out, actually. The rest you'll read about. High Fidelity is just this: an ordinary story of an ordinary guy. But it's extremely funny, extremely well-written, and...well, it makes you think you're listening to music in your head even when the radio is not on. I, for one, ran to the cd player & dug out one of my oldest Bruce records, which I hadn't listened to for ages. High Fidelity surely will make you feel nostalgic & a little sentimental about your favourite music. You'll also find yourself somewhere in its pages. And, last but not least, you'll laugh out loud, & not just once, but lots of times. Those are the reasons I loved High Fidelity the first time round, & that's why I loved it again now, 3 years later.

High Fidelity tells the story of Rob, a thirty-something record store owner who is growing increasingly unsure of himself. Not only has his girlfriend, Laura, just moved out, and his business started to suffer, he's begun to look retrospectively on his life and realized that his relationships have never really worked out. Confiding in the reader, he takes us on a journey to find out just why that is.
High Fidelity, I found, works on a lot of levels -- although they're perhaps levels that you wouldn't expect a novel to work out. As a love story, it's not going to touch your heart. As a tragedy of everyday living, Rob's story isn't going to make you cry (Rob doesn't deserve much sympathy very often -- and he certainly never demands it!). As an epic, well, it's just a story of an everyday guy.
But High Fidelity undeniably strikes a chord. It's contemporary and legitimate and everything a modern novel should be. It deals with issues of growing old, when to start a family, our own insecurities (and the insecurities in others we often don't see), measures of success, money and relationships, friendship... all the good stuff. And it's one helluva ride getting there, too. Hornby's prose is wonderful -- brisk and hilarious. Hornby has a good eye for the ironies of everyday life, and the ironies of Rob's life. The story's told in the first person perspective, which is handled flawlessly. Everything's pure Rob, and as anybody who's seen the movie (which rightfully, stays true to its source material) knows, he's quite the interesting person to be around.
It's a novel that's hard to critisize. If you're not a fan of contemporary writing and stories about modern urban society, you're not going to like this. There's little I would call timeless or objective about this novel. It's not Romeo & Juliet. But if you're looking for something contemporary, something hilarious and touching, you're not going to find a better novel than this one.
Matty J

I have a tendency, when reading a particularly good book, to underline phrases or passages which strike a chord as exceptionally funny, poignant, truthful, or ridiculous. I then dog-ear the page for quick, easy reference. Usually there are only a few of these stand-out pages. My copy of High Fidelity, however, has as many dog-eared pages as non. There is not a scene, moment, word, or punctuation mark in this exhilarating novel that did not only strike a chord with me, but succeeded in violently pounding one chord after the next until my ears rang with bittersweet pain.
As Rob deals with his break-up with Laura, and the intense self-examination which ensues, he exposes (to himself and the reader) the many, puzzling gears grinding away in the archaic machine known as the modern man. "I could see her losing interest in me," he says, "so I worked like mad to get that interest back, and when I got it back, I lost interest in her all over again." No explanations are offered, nor would any suffice; Rob is as clueless as any man who finds himself being led by that other, smaller brain south of the border, without knowing where it's taking him or why. At least Rob has the capacity of self-reflexion, a gift which makes High Fidelity a bittersweet and hilarious story any man will recognize, perhaps to his own amazement or shock.
I, myself, am shocked and amazed that Nick Hornby's first novel has not gained greater popularity on a scale with Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting. Like that cult success, High Fidelity is fast, funny, poignant, and overflowing with the sort of unforgettable minutiae that has one constantly reading aloud to one's friends. To this end, I have embarked on a campaign to buy a copy for every one of my friends, in the hopes that they will see their own reflections in this crystalline pool as clearly as I saw my own. (I would loan them my copy, but it's too dog-eared and marked-up to read.

This book was hilarious, with tight, sharp dialogue between characters that everyone has met (unless you live under a rock and have never ventured into a quirky record (or comics, videos, cards, hobby, etc.) store). The interplay between Barry (the jaded know-it-all), Dick (the caring introvert) and painfully over-analytical Rob, is priceless. Hi Fidelity reads like an afternoon spent hanging out in a record store, shooting the breeze and ragging on one another, all to a cool soundtrack.
Everything important to Rob gets reduced to a spot on a series of ever-changing lists, many of which appear in the book (and even dictate its flow in parts). He waxes nerdily philosophical about his love life, just as the rest of us do, except he does it according to a priority list he keeps close to his heart. The story in part is about his efforts to revisit women on his list of girlfriends, to see what insight he gleans about himself in the process of recalling what they found attractive about him back in the day. Interesting plot, great execution.
The music in Hi Fidelity is spot-on, and it's clear that Hornby knows what he is talking about. Who among us doesn't know a guy or two that is a little too much into music, to the point where he can't stop talking about it, and chooses his friends and love interests more or less according to the films and albums they are interested in? Hi Fidelity- joyfully, hysterically- is a story about one of those guys.
If you saw this movie first, as I did, you will not be able to read the dialogue without visualizing John Cusack and Jack Black- the film was so great and so true to the book, and the actors so-well cast. Whether that's a good thing or bad, you be the judge; if you liked one, you'll love the other.

Rob Fleming, the "hero" of HIGH FIDELITY runs Championship Vinyl, a used record shop on a sidestreet in London (and I mean records...though there is much talk of compilation tapes and some evidence of CDs in this 1995 novel as well.) His girlfriend Laura has just walked out on him, prompting him to list his top five heartbreaks of all time. Compiliing lists of "top fives" (of anything, though mostly music-related things) is a very serious pastime for Rob and his equally adrift coworkers, both of whom are, believe it or not, worse at relationships with women than Rob. What follows is vintage Hornby--fast-pased storytelling, clever dialog (with women often outshining the men), and a real honest sense of the current zeitgeist for thirty-somethings. I only got about 40% of the musical references (the ones that go back to my era and tastes--Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, the Beatles), but Hornby doesn't really include such references to tax the reader's memory, but rather to make statements about the characters who care so much about slight differences in taste. The abundant humor, however, doesn't deflect from the serious scrutiny Hornby lays to bear on the Rob & Laura's (Is this an ironic Dick Van Dyke Show reference?) relationship. In the end, Rob makes a compiliation tape for Laura, one that's "full of stuff she's heard of, and full of stuff she'd play." At last he is seeing her the way she is, not the way he thinks she should be. You can't help thinking, if you're at all romantic (or at least somewhat optimistic), that Rob and Laura just might make it. A fun read!

On a whim recently, I decided to give HIGH FIDELITY, Nick Hornby's first novel, a try. As far as readability is concerned, it is nothing too difficult: Hornby is no Henry Miller when it comes to confessional writing, and never finds the need to indulge in some kind of flighty poetic style, even when his main character, Rob Fleming, is feeling his most depressed. Hornby's strength comes more from observation, characterization and an acute ear for dialogue than anything else; all of his strengths come together to make HIGH FIDELITY an often stimulating and entertaining read. It's not a book with grand themes or lofty pretensions: it's simply a story about a self-absorbed manchild who is trying to deal with the painfulness of a breakup in his own distinctive way. The author's honesty about love is its strength; so is Hornby's sharp characterization of the main character. Rob Fleming, the former DJ who is now running a failing record store, may not be the most likable main character in all of literature, but in Hornby's hands he is always a fully realized and mostly intriguing character (even if his self-pitying does occasionally become irritating). Hornby's insights into the highs and lows of relationships are almost always fascinating (especially for me, since I have yet to truly experience the kinds of feeling Rob feels in the novel); the result is a novel that is entirely fresh and wonderfully observant. Heck, music fans might get a kick out of it too, what with all the music references peppered into the narrative. HIGH FIDELITY comes highly recommended by me; Stephen Frears' film adaptation is pretty good too.

One of my weaknesses is a fondness for novels about fictitious music groups, evidenced by some of my favorites: George R.R. Martin's The Armageddon Rag, Iain Banks' Espedair Street and Roddy Doyle's The Commitments. To this group I can now add the first novel by Nick Hornby, appropriately titled after words found on many of your finest long-playing records.
Rob, Barry and Dick are clerks at an offbeat record store, the type of store which never seems to attract many customers but still manages to stay in business. They've got some of the latest CDs, but their mainstay business is handling those obscure wax singles and recordings by local artists. The three also have a fondness of putting together lists of their "Top 5" things: films, Elvis Costello songs, episodes of "Cheers," etc. The story is told in the first person by Rob, as his Top Five list of ex-girlfriends.
The whole premise here is unassuming, yet Hornby's gift for capturing the ennui of the dropped out class with gifts for accumulating an extraordinary amount of trivia is perfect for the plot. While this sounds suspiciously like a Generation X novel, or maybe even the plot to Kevin Smith's movie "Clerks," Hornby escapes the genre by writing a charming book filled with hope and love (although there's some guilt and pain that has to be dealt with before you get to the end). I enjoyed Hornby's style as well--clean, with lots of true- sounding dialogue, and embellishment only when necessary. A great first novel, and a writer to watch for in the future.