I wish High Fidelity had been about the friends from the music shop. They were a lot funnier than... can't remember his name. Can I just say John Cusack? John Cusack used to wear band t-shirts in all his films (notably The Clash). This guy should have been wearing t-shirts to proclaim his taste to the world. It's been a while since I've read this but I think he was listening to stuff like Arab Strap (wow, haven't listened to them in like fifteen years) and The Pixies? Anyway, I don't think it was anything particularly adventurous that every boy in high school didn't put on mixed tapes for you or that'd make you put down the book and rush onto itunes or youtube. I preferred the friends (he's too cool to admit they are his friends. Jerk!) because they liked what they liked and not just to make a t-shirt. Okay, he had enthuasism to spare, it was just the name dropping t-shirt kind, if that makes sense. The lists were for fun for them, free for all associations, and not all statement. I love passion about music 'cause then I wanna relisten and see if I can feel what they felt.

Making lists is fun though. (I'll do one right now. Music most likely to make it on the soundtracks for the two Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn films:
Marina and the Diamonds, Wolf Parade, Spoon, The Mountain Goats, Fleet Foxes, My Morning Jacket, Ellie Goulding, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Little Dragon, Tegan and Sara, Titus Andronicus, Mumford and Sons, Fever Ray, O. Children, IAMX, Laura Marling, The Drums and a freebie...Muse.)

Sometimes the observations were funny like those movie sex scenes of the man and woman coming at the same time (like McNulty did all of the time on The Wire). I really couldn't stand his love stories, though. I hated Charlie, and the girl he dated just to settle who dumped him unexpectedly was depressing. Or the virgin he tried to pressure into sex. All depressing. Laura's new boyfriend was hilarious.

My favorite part of High Fidelity is that spying on other people's collections stuff. I can't help but want to peek at books people are reading. Especially if they look like they are enjoying it (then I am jealous). I wish I had the nerve to ask people what they are reading or listening to. Instead, I obviously crane my neck and watch for that glimpse... (Goodreads is the best website ever for my spying.)

If you get excited when the cool music or book clerk compliments your taste you'll probably like High Fidelity more. I recently got the snob mocking my fantasy book choices so I'm still stinging...
(Another music list: Best monkey songs from former Genesis members:
1. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight by Phil Collins
2. Shock the Monkey - Peter Gabriel
3. ..... Mike and the Mechanics might've done one. I only know "In the living years" and that's all I wanna know (didn't even wanna know that but '80s contemporary radio didn't really give me a choice).
(I was all set to post the photo of the Cadbury ad of the drumming Gorilla but I don't wanna offend monkeys and gorillas with the comparisons. It's bad enough for Uncle Phil that a gorilla drums better than him. Phil should have been learning to walk upright instead of slick production skills!) (In the air tonight secretly rocks my world but this book taught me how to be snobby and I gotta show it off.)
Regina Spektor's song 'Fidelity' is about this book and building yourself up with pop songs and then confusing love with those love songs that built it up. Good idea. What about Cusack and that damned boom box? That makes a better case than his depressing romantic history, fo sho.

(Best animal drummers:
1.
2. )

I really enjoyed this one. It's a good fun story with interesting characterisation and a really brilliant narrative voice. I absolutely loved the writing. One thing I would day - some things do feel a little dated reading it today, and sometimes that makes the main character a bit dislikeable. I loved the Russell Tovey audiobook though, and would highly recommend it - his narration definitely made the character more sympathetic.

This book grew on me. My annoyance with Rob was growing as I turned the pages, but just as I was about to completely hate him, he does things that makes him human, love sick human, human human, that I can't help but understand where he is coming from. I know I've been there. We do have our douchebag days. We do have things we do we can't logically explain why we do but still do anyway. We have our own quirks and hang ups. And... that's okay. It won't ever come easy,it won't ever be just as how we imagined life to be and sometimes that's where the real beauty is. Books like this are always point on as it depicts life as it is, no BS, just is and there's nothing wrong with that. :)

I loved this book. I LOVED it. Again, one of those rare reads that just make you feel so much better about everything around you. And not because the characters were shitty and their life story was worse than yours, but because the characters and the overall plot was so well put together and so well written that all you could do was relax, leave criticism at the door and enter the book's amazing palace!

One way or another, Hornby manages to reveal information after information with ease and introduce such a nice dose of humor into the story! The jokes and the funny/stupid/cocky lines were so nice that I felt the book was actually somewhat like a Gatorade drink - it gave me energy and made me feel happy!

Though not much goes on in the book, I really took to the main character and his friends. I had a bit of a crush on his obsession with music - I think that's cute.

His love story was.. not the most inspired one, but enough for me to understand it and it probably was fun for Hornby to narrate.

All in all, cute, fun, lovely and a definite "spring" read, for sure!

n  "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?"n

Heartbreak and music seem to go hand in hand for a lot of people. No matter how we feel, there's always a song to either lift us up or allow us to drown in ourselves own sorrows. High Fidelity is an ode to the luxury and importance of music, which could have been oh so beautiful.



Rob has been dumped. His girlfriend Laura left him - which should be good news. Now he can do whatever he wants to, he doesn't have to worry about her trying to change him anymore, or her not appreciating the mixtapes he makes anymore. But instead, he finds himself heartbroken, unable to move on and soon questioning his entire existence.

n  "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 OK again, because then I won't want her, and I can get on with looking for someone else."n

Let's be honest, we've all been there. Rob is relatable: an adult with quirks he doesn't want to owe up to, with interests that are just a bit too niche to be socially acceptable and with insecurities that are embarrassing at his age. He's the kind of loser that Hornby likes to write about, but he is also the kind of self-pitting idiot that I really don't like to read about.



I still appreciated the characters' fondness for music, which I personally share, but being stuck in Rob's head for the duration of an entire novel was simply frustrating. Neither did I like the depiction of women here, which served for the pleasure of men and were generally depicted as inferior and infuriating creatures. I guess for people who like Nick Hornby's sense of humor, this is still going to be pleasant, but it wasn't for me.

n  "I can see everything once it's already happened - I'm very good at the past. It's the present I can't understand."n

3.5

La top five di questo libro:

1) La passione di Hornby per la musica e l'impegno profuso per essa (con annesse tutte le canzoni)
2) L'immaturità di Rob e gli alambicchi (seghe non rende) mentali che sistematicamente crea e smonta nella sua testa
3) I discorsi tra Rob e i suoi due dipendenti/amici che ti proiettano in un mondo di fanatici religiosi del vinile
4) I sorrisi che strappa al lettore
5) L'incongruenza delle azioni umane (in realtà non mi piace tanto questo punto, ma mettere solo 4 punti sarebbe stato da sfigati, citando Rob)

I’ve read one other book by Hornby (Slam) and I really liked it. However, High Fidelity was not as good. I find Rob, despite all Hornby’s efforts, to be an unlikeable jerk. He insults people, acts like a real a$$, and is over-bearing. Instead of apologizing, he just kinda shrugs his shoulders and says “that’s who I am, deal with it.” Even at the end, even though he and Laura are working to fix things, he imagines a life with another woman. And sorry, proposing over a drink after this is not character redemption. Bleh.

I didn't like the characters, the story - I didn't like anything. The main character is obsessed, and he always acts silly. I guess Nick Hornby's stories are just not my type. I'm definitely not gonna read another book written by him. Or, at least, not soon. Maybe you wonder why I continued reading the book and finished it even though I did not enjoy it. Well, that's because I never let books unfinished.

High Fidelity is about a guy trying to figure out his relationship, and his past relationships.
Rob has been dumped by Laura and is trying to work out why none of his relationships worked. He contacts and speaks to past girlfriends to try and figure out why they left him.
Starting from his first girlfriend, you get to see his romantic journey.
I loved all the musical reference, and the comic writing that this book delivers.
My favorite character's are actually Rob's two employees Barry and Dick, especially Barry, his ranting is very funny.
I think the book ends on a positive note, that Rob and Laura are moving forward.

Video review

Remember when that clown walked in and he didn't have Psychocandy? Pff! What a loser!

*3.5

This is a weird one to review as I did like it but didn't love it.

I tried to watch the movie as I love John Cusack but had to turn it off halfway through because of how much of a dick Rob is.

However, I didn't realise he was unlikeable going into the movie so I think knowing this going into the book helped me enjoy the story more and I actually felt quite sorry for him. I recently just got out of a relationship so I think this really helped me warm to Rob as, while I disagreed with a lot of his views, I could understand where he was coming from. While he undeniably does bad things I don't think he is a bad person per say even if he did cheat on his pregnant girlfriend lol.

Idk, it's weird I probs would never read this again but also i'm glad I did read it as I felt out of the loop not knowing how the story unfolds as the movie is considered a classic.

Overall,

⭐⭐⭐.5