I read this book in Believer installments to do each month justice. My favourite parts were the mentions of The Polysyllabic Spree. I loved how their membership levels changed quite often. I just wish I had read the same books. I'd read a few but not enough, and no I'm not an avid 'The da Vinci Code' reader. I loved the movie instead.
Great idea. Makes me think of the massive amounts of books I have collected and not read yet. I purposely stay away from the recommendations and donations of friends (unless said book is on my Wishlist - and yeah, I have a monumental wishlist too).
Thanks Nick - looking forward to reading much more!

This is a book about reading books. It is a collection of monthly articles that Nick wrote for The Believer magazine basically about the books he bought and/or read each month. He is as funny if not funnier as a non-fiction writer and I enjoyed this book immensely.

Although it was quite odd, it didn't disturb me too much that the articles were written more than ten years ago and there were a lot of references to then-current events.

But the best thing about this book, I think, was the intro. It deals with the whole phenomenon of which books SHOULD we read vs. which books we actually ENJOY reading. This seems to be a common topic of conversation among people who read and the older I get, the more I tend to take Nick's side of concentrating on the books I enjoy and this intro was a good reminder of that.

In any case, I would recommend this book to both fans of Nick Hornby and those who like to think about the act of reading itself.

A book that should be ideal for Goodreads patrons, as the author reproduces a magazine column where he lists the books he bought and the books he actually read each month. Full of his usual insights and dry wit, it can be an expensive book to read - I've acquired 3 new authors on the back of his recommendations!

Before there was GoodReads, there wasn't nearly enough discussion in my life about HOW we read. The thought process behind how one book leads you to another. Or how much our personal lives or moods influence our perception of what we are reading.

Polysyllabic Spree (or the version I read, The Complete Polysyllabic Spree)* is a collection of Nick Hornby's monthly columns in The Believer which chronicles his experiences in reading. Not just what he thought of the books he read, but the thinking that led him to what he read, and the context surrounding the books -- what he previously knew about the author, how he heard about the book, how a rigorous football schedule influenced his reading prowess in a particular month. I love how he lists the books he read alongside a list of the books he bought, intending to read but never got around to. It turns out famous authors are just like us.

This book is like following the reviews of a really talented GR friend:

Years and years ago, I read a great interview with Jam and Lewis, the R&B producers, in which they described what it was like to be members of Prince's band. They'd sit down, and Prince would tell them what he wanted them to play, and they'd explain that they couldn't--they weren't quick enough, or good enough. And Prince would push them and push them until they mastered it, and then just when they were feeling pleased with themselves for accomplishing something they didn't know they had the capacity for, he'd tell them the dance steps he needed to accompany the music.

This story has stuck with me, I think, because it seems like an encapsulation of the very best and most exciting kind of creative process, and from the outside, the craft involved in Mystic River looks as though it must have involved the same stretch. Lehane has done everything that a literary novelist is supposed to be able to do (this is a novel about grief, a community, the childhood ties that bind); the intensely satisfying whodunit element is the equivalent of the dance step on top.

And also like following the reviews of a really talented GR friend, the result has been the explosion of my "to read" list.

I enjoyed his commentary which often had me laughing out loud. In a Cultural Fantasy Boxing League, I'm not sure how long this book could hold out against To Kill a Mockingbird, or The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (to use his reference ). But I enjoyed reading it.

* I read The Complete Polysyllabic Spree, which is twice as long as The Polysyllabic Spree, which I think would have been the ideal length.

This is not a book of book reviews. This is a book about book reading experience with some related things and comments on books read and bought each month (which are listed, along with books left unfinished... if the book was particularly disliked, they are left anonymous-looking: no negativity in these monthly things are allowed, which is a good thing). The time is from September 2003 to June 2006, though it's not every-month sort of thing. These appeared first on the "Believer" magazine. In-between are some book extracts, including bits from "Persepolis", "David Copperfield" and one on a typical morning with two autistic boys (which is a complicated process but far from grim reading).

I did end up being curious about some books in there, and managed to find a few books to look further into. Also got bigger interest in getting and reading Wilkie Collins' "No Name" and Dickens' "Old Curiosity Shop". And now I'm pretty damn glad I have no chance of meeting Philip Larkin (but still keep liking his poems).

And what about the reading-related things? For example: holiday reading; getting picky when you know more about something than the author does; how hard it is the predict which books last to become classics; how far one should cut out things when trimming one's own writing; impact of baby's arrival on book reading (in NH's case, not much but *duh* XD ).

And I wish he had been smarter than trying scifi by reading Banks' "Excession" - it is *not* fit for that sort of thing. Maybe reading "Time Machine" by HG Wells or some Ray Bradbury short stories would've done a better work, but what can you do? *shrug* I do like that he dislikes the gleefulness of 'now *this* is so wonderfully not Politically Correct' thing:
"usually it means, quite simply, that a book or a movie or a TV programme is racist and/or sexist and/or homophobic; there is a certain kind of cultural commentator who mysteriously associates these prejudices with a Golden Age during which we were allowed to do lots of things that we are not allowed to do now. (The truth is that there's no one stopping them from doing anything. What they really object to is being recognized as the antisocial pigs they really are.)"

But anyway, this was one amazingly quick read, some laughs were had, as well as interesting information and some great recommendations. Not just another book about books to me, but a worthy good ride. So I recommend reading this ;)

Nonostante non conoscessi la maggior parte dei libri citati da Hornby il libro mi è risultato comunque davvero d'intrattenimento. Ho riso in molti punti e ho sottolineato altrettante frasi. Un libro che consiglio a chiunque abbia la passione per la lettura :)

Blog Stories Review: http://storiesbooksandmovies.blogspot...

Spesso leggiamo libri che pensiamo di dover leggere o che avremmo già dovuto aver letto, o che altri ritengono che noi dovremmo leggere”

Una vita da lettore non è mai stato nella mia lista dei libri che devo leggere, che avrei dovuto leggere o qualche-altra-peripezia-grammaticale-con-'dovere'. Non ho mai avuto la più pallida intenzione di leggerlo. Eppure, eccomi qui a parlare proprio di questo libricino firmato Nick Hornby. Costui probabilmente direbbe che ci sono inciampata sopra, termine troppo poco elegante persino per un blog come questo. Quindi traduco: casualmente, leggendo Febbre a 90, ho trovato questo libro e, a causa dell'orribile copertina, ho cercato di evitarlo, ma lo scontro/incontro è stato inevitabile.

“Ma vi prego, se state leggendo un libro che vi sfinisce, lasciate perdere e leggete qualcos’altro, come quando mettete mano al telecomando se non vi piace un programma televisivo”

Fortunatamente, il metodo zapping-letterario proposto dallo stesso Hornby non è stato usato in questo caso. Lo stile inconfondibile di uno degli scrittori più pop di sempre è accattivante, geniale e confortante. Mi sono sempre sentita un'idiota tutte le volte che ho pensato di abbandonare un libro. Mi è sempre apparso come una pratica da teppista, da nemico della letteratura. Ma bisogna ammettere che il buon Nick è riuscito a convincermi: se un libro è una tortura per te, evadi dalle sue minacciose ed ostili pagine stampate e scappa più lontano che puoi. Questa è la mia nuova 'filosofia'.

“Anche se si amano i film e la musica quanto i libri, in un qualunque periodo stabilito di quattro settimane è sempre molto, ma molto più probabile trovare un grande libro che non si era mai letto di un grande film che non si era mai visto, o un grande disco che non si era mai ascoltato: e un assiduo consumatore di film e musica finirà per esaurire il repertorio.”

Ho scoperto titoli interessanti leggendo Una vita da Lettore. Probabilmente la mia wishlist è raddoppiata dopo questa lettura. È proprio questo che amo dei libri: quando credi di aver trovato il tuo libro, quello che ti aspettava da una vita nascosto dietro un angolo, ecco che improvvisamente compare un potenziale libro preferito. La letteratura non finirà mai di stupire essendo un mondo con mille mondi dentro. Un po' come Inception: andando sempre più vicino al mondo raccontato da un autore, i minuti diventano giorni, gli attimi diventano fantastiche avventure.

Una lettura superconsigliata :)

Az első Hornby-olvasásom volt, vagyis az első sikeres. Egyszer már nekifutottam a Fever Pitch-nek, de az nagyon nem ment. Persze, láttam egy-két könyvéből készült filmet, és annyian szeretitek, hogy mindenképpen akartam adni neki még egy esélyt. Aztán a Budapesti Molyklub júniusi alkalmára a várólistán legrégebben ücsörgő könyv volt a feladat, és engem ez a könyv várt ott, magyarul. (Még valamikor ezer éve vettem, amikor hajlandó voltam eredetileg angolul megjelenteket magyarul olvasni.) Biztos, ami biztos, ránéztem az eredeti adatlapjára, végigcsillagoztam az idézeteket, mert óriásiak, és felfedeztem, hogy csak 2 font a kindle-változat, úgyhogy megvettem (a folytatás is 2 font, azt is – ebből már sejthető, hogy tetszett).

Két nagy baj van vele: az egyik, hogy iszonyúan kedvet csinál egy rakás könyvhöz, amit még nem olvastam, úgyhogy várólista-csökkentés helyett várólista-duplázás lett belőle (jó, nem, de sokkal hosszabb lett). A másik tényleg probléma, de csak a kindle-változatban: az idézett graphic novel olvashatatlan volt, telefonon kellett végül kinagyítani.

Nagyon bírtam a humorát, a folytatást is biztosan el fogom olvasni. Egy amerikai magazinban megjelenő könyvkritikai rovat cikkeit gyűjtötték össze, szóval ha valaki ott már olvasta… nem valószínű, igaz? Mondjuk annyira személyes és szórakoztató, hogy inkább emlékeztetett valamiféle analóg molyra. Tömegközlekedési eszközökön csak akkor ajánlott olvasni, ha nem zavartatjuk magunkat az időnként kitörő elfojthatatlan vigyorgástól (esetleg kuncogástól, hangos felnevetéstől – gondolom, vérmérsékletfüggő).

A Polysyllabic Spree egyébként a The Polyphonic Spree nevű, a wikipédia szerint pszichedelikus pop és szimfonikus rock műfajokban utazó, soktagú rock kórusra utal (bármit is jelentsen mindez), amúgy pedig egy rendkívül szórakoztató visszatérő poén a váltakozó létszámú szigorú vezetőségről, akik miatt a lehúzó kritikákat például csak szerző és cím nélkül írja.

Hornbyval ismerkedéshez abszolút ajánlott, erős önuralommal rendelkezőknek pláne, különben súlyos várólista-növekedést okozhat (és esetleg bankszámla-zsugorodást, mert könyvtárból kevéssé beszerezhetőek az említett könyvek).

Books about books, what’s not to love. Funny and enjoyable but skimmed some parts.

Brillante. L'ottima rubrica dell'Hornby viene racchiusa in 270 pagine impreziosite da un'ottima traduzione. La rubrica che io stessa vorrei essere in grado di scrivere. Divertente, personale e puntuale. Una lettura consigliata a chiunque viva "una vita da lettore".

Other than few digressions into child-rearing anecdotes and soccer, a truly hilarious book. Hornby's defense of reading is as passionate as his acerbic humor when it comes to how hard it is not to judge peoples' reading choices. The polar opposite themes make for a lot of laughs. The chapters that cover his struggles to read and appreciate "literary fiction" are very funny, as well, especially as he struggles with several books over several chapters. Over several months. My new list of authors to check out is impressive, thanks to Hornby's recommendations, and he includes many samples of their work. I discovered Joshua Ferris through Hornby's columns, which compose this collection.

Letteratura inglese