Por um lado, humor delicioso e paixão autêntica pelos livros. Por outro, varias referencias pra mim totalmente obscuras ...

Why am I reading book reviews written more than 10 years ago, about books that I've already read or have no interest in reading? Because Nick Hornby makes everything readable, in his simple way of putting things (simple to read, difficult to write, I'm sure). He never fails to be witty and entertaining. The good news is my reading list only grew to four more books after reading this.

Molto carine le considerazioni sulla lettura ad inizio capitolo, purtroppo però alcuni momenti del libro un po' pesantini e prolissi.... comunque consigliato a chi ama la lettura!

"The Complete Polysyllabic Spree" is the complete collection of Nick Hornby's monthly columns that he wrote for the US magazine "Believer".

The columns has his humour laced throughout them. I don't like starting a new book immediately after finishing a book. I like to take a few days off in readiness for the new book and I think this book is perfect to dip in and out of if you are between books, a literary palate cleanser.

There were a lot of things I found interesting and revealing about this collection. Nick Hornby's son has autism so he has read a lot of books about autism. He has a love of Charles Dickens especially his writing style which is the opposite of sparse and no Christmas is complete without reading a Dickens book. His friends are part of the literati and would never recommend a book such as "Mystic River" to him which he thoroughly enjoyed. I found some recommendations for books to read: "Blockbuster" by Tom Shone, "Housekeeping" by Marilynne Robinson, and "Then We Came To The End" by Joshua Ferris. The last two books have both won PEN/Hemingway Award , so another award to keep track of for recommendations.

3 stars.

Com Alta Fidelidade, romance sobre as agruras emocionais de um trintão fã de música, o inglês Nick Hornby moldou parte do panorama cultural dos anos 2000, tornando populares citações da cultura pop e listas arbitrárias de "cinco melhores". O novo livro de Hornby, Frenesi Polissilábico (tradução de Antônio E. de Moura Filho, Rocco, 264 páginas, R$ 33) promove o encontro entre o estilo leve e descompromissado do autor e um terreno normalmente encarado como “mais nobre”: a crítica literária.

Frenesi Polissilábico (o título original, Polysyllabic Spree, faz uma brincadeira com a banda texana Polyphonic Spree, um grupo de "rock coral sinfônico" com mais de 20 integrantes) é um diário de leitura no qual Hornby conta o que leu e que circunstâncias interferiram na leitura (livro lido nos intervalos das mamadeiras do filho recém-nascido, o livro era escrito por um amigo, e assim por diante). O volume reúne 29 textos publicados entre setembro de 2003 e junho de 2006 na The Believer – revista americana de literatura idealizada por escritores, entre eles o elogiado Dave Eggers, e que tinha como política editorial a proibição de críticas negativas. O modo como Hornby exercita seu humor debatendo-se contra essa norma e sacaneando o corpo editorial da publicação é uma atração por si só. Uma imposição, contudo, que o próprio Hornby aponta como educativa – passou a abandonar os livros que não gostava e eleger obras que teria maior possibilidade de apreciar.

Ao falar de livros, Hornby não é um escritor/crítico aos moldes de Mario Vargas Llosa, John Updike ou Martin Amis. Ele comporta-se mais como a voz do leitor comum – e por "comum" aqui entenda-se o leitor medianamente instruído de classe média (comum na Europa, mas talvez presente em número menor no Brasil da falência educacional). Ele é arrebatado pelo sentimentalismo de Dickens em David Copperfield, incomoda-se com o cerebralismo ensaístico e autorreferente de Philip Roth em Complô contra a América, decepciona-se com o Cândido, de Voltaire, por ser a base de um sentimento pessimista que é a tônica na contemporaneidade.

Hornby defende que a leitura deve ser divertida, uma proposição que talvez possa ser polêmica – mas ao menos o escritor é coerente consigo mesmo. Seu livro é lido com prazer e graça.

Inizialmente ho apprezzato i succulenti spunti per nuovi titoli da leggere, le informazioni su Hay on Wye, che in Inghilterra dispone di quaranta librerie dell’usato nell’arco di pochi metri, o quelle sulla setta dei Polysyllabic Spree che hanno dato vita alla rivista letteraria del Believer; ma a poco a poco queste ed altre dritte, snocciolate dalla penna tragicomica di Hornby, che sa come rendere spassosa persino la saggistica, sono diventate un po’ noiose e ripetitive.
Ho compreso solo a metà dell’opera il motivo: a parte qualche recensione di testi di fama internazionale o veri e propri classici di cui è piacevole conoscere il parere irriverente di Hornby, questo scrittore è troppo nazionalista e “easy” per diventare un esempio da seguire in fatto di letture.
Proprio poiché la sua prosa ha uno stile inconfondibile, così anche le sue scelte letterarie non solo sono prevedibili, ma anche poco consistenti, se si escludono quei rari casi sopraccitati.
Non vorrei risultare spocchiosa dicendo questo, semplicemente ho compreso che, pur apprezzando il graffio della sua penna, ho poco interesse verso i testi troppo anglosassoni di cui si è nutrito lo scrittore negli anni tra il 2003 e il 2006.
Unica cosa che mi accumuna all’umana esperienza di lettore accanito di Hornby è l’essere genitore e come tale, citando un passo direttamente tratto da quest’opera: “..se avete bambini, al prossimo Natale regalate al vostro compagno/compagna dei buoni-lettura. Ciascun buono riserva al portatore due ore di lettura mentre i bambini sono svegli. Può sembrare a buon mercato, ma i genitori converranno che in termini reali costa più di una Lamborghini.”
Che perla di saggezza e quanta verità!

vorrei essere pagata per fare esattamente lo stesso lavoro (recensire libri ma prenderla come giustificazione per parlare di qualsiasi cosa io voglia)

Bestsellerautor Nick Hornby hat nicht nur Romane geschrieben, sondern auch monatliche Kolumnen über sein Leseleben verfasst. In diesem Buch finden sich Texte aus den Jahren 2004 bis 2006, jeder Monat startet mit zwei Listen, die uns Büchernerds bekann vorkommen dürften: eine Liste der gekauften und eine Liste der gelesenen Bücher. Meist ist erstere länger als letztere, oft sogar ziemlich deutlich, und wie im richtigen Leben gibt es Monate, in denen viel gelesen wird und andere, in denen das wahre Leben in die Quere kommt, Bücher, für die er ewig braucht und Bücher, die er vorzeitig abbrechen muss.

Inhaltlich sind die Kolumnen ein bunter Mix aus Meinungen über das Gelesene, Betrachtungen über die literarische Welt und auch Erlebnisse aus Hornbys Leben, die mit Bücher gar nichts zu tun haben, vom Fußballspiel bis zur Geburt eines Kindes. Mit literarischem Snobismus kann Hornby nichts anfangen und bricht eine Lanze für das Motto "Lesen und lesen lassen", was mir gut gefallen hat.

Weniger anfangen konnte ich mit dem satirischen Element, entweder war es nicht mein Humor oder ich habe manche Anspielungen nicht verstanden. Die kurzen Auszüge aus einigen Büchern, die er in seinen Kolumnen bespricht, fand ich nur teilweise interessant, teilweise haben sie mich eher genervt, weil ich sie nicht reizvoll fand, und auch die Texte selbst haben mich sehr unterschiedlich stark angesprochen (an manchen Stellen habe ich zugegebenermaßen quergelesen).

Aber spannend war, wie Hornby einige Bücher wahrgenommen hat, die ich ebenfalls gelesen habe. Unser Urteil und unser Lesegeschmack sind nur teilweise deckungsgleich, aber trotzdem werde ich das Buch noch mal durchschauen und mir einige Tips rausschreiben. Mal schauen, wie es mir dann damit geht.

Insgesamt ging es mir mit diesem Buch genauso wie mit "31 Songs": ich habe es am Stück gelesen, finde aber, dass es sich besser zum Häppchen-Lesen eignet.

"Collected essays by Nick Hornby on reading (rather than book reviewing). Personal, very funny and frequently with unexpected and fresh associations and side stories. I would think that this one would be even better if read in increments, rather than through and through, more like it was actually written."

This is a collection of articles that Nick Hornby has written monthly for The Believer magazine and is the UK version of Nick Hornby's Stuff I've Been series here in North America. This collection combines the first two books of that series, The Polysyllabic Spree and Housekeeping vs The Dirt. This collection covers from Sept. 2003 till Oct. 2006. As always Hornby's writing is just amazing and filled with his sharp sense of humor and his ability to suck you in, even when is just reviewing books he has read. Here is what I wrote about each book


The Polysyllabic Spree

This is the first of Nick Hornby's collections from his monthly article in The Believer titled Stuff I've Been Reading. This book covers all is articles from Sept 2003 till Nov. 2004. Notable books Hornby's discusses include George and Sam (which he would later write an intro for), Moneyball, Clockers, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, David Copperfield and Mystic River. Hornby's criticism are filled it his classic sharp wit and are very fun to read. This being the first set it feels like Hornby is trying to find his grove and sometimes it is clear is read some books he really didn't want to, just to fill the pages of the monthly column. Still this is a must have for any fan of Hornby or any fan of criticism of any type. Hornby does what all critics do, make you care about what he is saying, to the point that you trust his judgement.


Housekeeping vs The Dirt

This is the second book collection of Nick Hornby's monthly Stuff I've Been Reading Column from The Believer. In this book he covers from Feb. 2005 to Oct. 2006. With this book Nick really seems to find his stride and the book is way more fun then the first one (which was still great!). Notable books in this collection include Little Children, In Cold Blood, Like a Rolling Stone, The Men who Stare at Goats, Jane Austen: The Girl with The Magic Pen, Citizen Vince, Housekeeping, Scenes from a Provincial Life, The Dirt, Into the Wild and Freakonomics. Hornby's humor is at an all time high in this collection. Read with delight as he blames his sister for writing a book about how he treated her, even though it is about Jane Austen. Or his disgust as he reads a passage from The Dirt about breakfast burrito's. Best of all when in one month he doesn't read a single book and he wastes an entire column giving out an award he invented called The Scientist of the Month Award. And still Hornby proves once again why he is such a great writer in pieces were he adds another critic's prospective on Bob Dylan (see Roger Ebert's take as well to see what I mean) and talks with passion for Scenes from a Provincial Life, a book that clearly meant a lot to him. Perhaps only Hornby could make you care about book criticism and that is just further proof of how much a gem he really is.

Great resource, snappy and funny read.

One could write about something awful with less effect to the readers while the other could write about something awful by truthfully relating it to his own experiences no matter how madly suffered they are. And in Nick's case, he is the latter.