High Fidelity - Nick Hornby: A Review

Title: High Fidelity
Author: Nick Hornby
Date Finished: Oct 12, 2007
Pages: 322
Rating: 4.5/5

High Fidelity is one of my favorite movies--John Cusack one of my favorite actors--so I was a little worried about what my reception was going to be of this book, especially since I really didn't like Big Fish (the book). Anyway, I really enjoyed the book and am glad that I just happened to pick up some of his other books at a booksale a few months ago. (Incidentally About A Boy is another movie I really enjoy--just realized they are the same author).

High Fidelity is the story of Rob and Laura, a couple who has recently broken up. What I love about this book is that the perspective is all Rob's, and Rob is a little bit neurotic and way too analytical. He reminds me of my hero Bridget Jones--except a male version and not quite so silly. I loved the male perspective, even though I'm not sure if I really believe it. For example there is one part of the book where Rob states, "Women get it wrong when they complain about media images of women. Men understand that not everyone has Bardot's breasts, or Jamie Lee Curtis's neck, or Cindy Crawford's bottom, and we don't mind at all....We worked out very quickly that Bond girls were out of our league, but the realization that women don't ever look at us the way Ursula Andress looked at Sean Connery, or even in the way that Doris Day looked at Rock Hudson, was much slower to arrive, for most of us. In my case, I'm not at all sure that it ever did." He then goes on to say, "But it's much harder to get used to the idea that my little-boy notion of romance, of negliges and candlelit dinners at home and long, smoldering glances, had no basis in reality at all. That's what women out to get all steamed up about; that's why we can't function properly in a relationship. It's not the cellulite or the crow's feet. It's the...the...the disrespect" (274). Seriously??? Seriously??? Its our fault there is no romance?? This idea is way too much for me to swallow. :)

But back to the plot...So after Laura leaves Rob, who is a recordshop owner and salesman, he begins to look back at his life at the top five relationships he has had that have had the biggest effect on him. Curiously, Laura does not even make the top five list. Throughout the course of the novel, Rob realizes that Laura is on the list, and she is number one...or is she?

The book is humorous but also endearing. My only major disappointment was that one of my favorite moments in the movie is not in the book (which is actually a really close adaptation--really close). I love the end of the movie when Jack Black sings "Let's Get It On," but I thought that the way Hornby ended his novel was almost just as good. Great book, glad I read it.

2007 Challenges

2007 Challenge Review

Blogging brought a whole new element to my reading--challenges. What I really like about challenges is the themes, which in a way reminds me of grad classes--like little mini classes that I don't have to write papers for. Also, challenges helped me with getting some of those OLD TBR books off the shelf as well as helping me determine what books to read next. On the other hand, though, I didn't leave myself enough room for whimsical choices, so I often felt burned out with books I had picked months in advance.

Non-Fiction Five Challenge (5 books)

Nickel and Dimed - Barbara Ehrenreich (Economics)

Thunderstruck - Erik Larson (History)

Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi (Memoir)

His Excellency: George Washington - Joseph J. Ellis (Biography)

The City of Falling Angels - John Berendt (Travelogue)

What I really liked about the Non-Fiction Five Challenge was that it nudged me into reading a genre I normally wouldn't touch unless assigned for school (and even then...?). The toughest book to slog through was definitely His Excellency; I honestly can't choose one that I liked the most--and not because I loved them all. Oh well!

By the Decades Challenge (13 books)

The Portrait of a Lady - Henry James (1880s)

The Awakening - Kate Chopin (1890s)

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (1900s)

Howards End - EM Forster (1910s)

Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton (1920s)

As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner (1930s)

Johnny Tremain - Esther Forbes (1940s)

Night - Elie Wiesel (1950s)

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1960s)

The World According to Garp - John Irving (1970s)

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant - Anne Tyler (1980s)

Fall On Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald (1990s)

The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood (2000s)

What I really liked about this challenge is that I was able to read pieces of fiction from a timespan of about 115 years. The differences between the earlier pieces to the later pieces is remarkable, really highlighting how the novel has developed. My favorites would have to be Fall On Your Knees and The Blind Assassin; my least favorites were Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and Howards End.

RIP Challenge (12 short stories)

Tales of Edgar Allan Poe - Edgar Allan Poe

I've been wanting to read this collection for a while, but I ended up really struggling with getting it read! My favorite stories were "Pit and Pendulum" and "Tell-Tale Heart"; there were several other stories (e.g. The Gold-Bug) that didn't strike my particular fancy.

Something About Me Challenge (5 books)

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquirel

High Fidelity - Nick Hornby

Sea Glass - Anita Shreve

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

This was a fun challenge because it was so different and the books I chose were from a pool of selections from other bloggers. The only book on this list I didn't really like was Like Water for Chocolate. All the rest were books that I enjoyed a lot--The Thirteenth Tale and High Fidelity being two of my favorite reads for the year.

Classics Challenge (3 books)

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Emmuska Orczy

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

Once I started paying more attention to my reading habits, I was surprised at how many classics I read throughout the year. This challenge was easy to fulfill and I liked Frankenstein and The Scarlet Pimpernel a lot; Little Women did not live up to my re-reading expectations.

Armchair Traveler Challenge (6 books)

Travels with Charley - John Steinbeck (America)

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan)

The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien (Vietnam)

Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert (Italy, India, Indonesia)

The City of Falling Angels - John Berendt (Venice)

Snow - Orhan Pamuk (Turkey)

One of the goals I have is to really reach outside of my boundary comfort zone. Most of the authors that I read are North American or British and while the locales differ from story to story, I haven't exposed myself a lot to writers from different countries. While I didn't do this except for maybe Snow, this challenge certainly raised my awareness. A Thousand Splendid Suns was my favorite of the bunch; Snow was my least favorite.

2nds Read Challenge (3 books)

Thirteen Moons - Charles Frazier

Flesh and Blood - Michael Cunningham

Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

Overall I enjoyed my second helping of these three authors, but none of them were as good as the first I read by the authors (Cold Mountain, The Hours, and Pride and Prejudice). But all three authors I would devour for a third helping!

Total Challenges: 7 (one challenge not listed: 07-08 Book Awards Reading Challenge)

Total Challenge Books: 35 (one cross-posted in two 2007 challenges)
New Authors: 22

Something About Me Challenge

August - December 2007

This is it...I swear! I have vowed to myself that this will be my last challenge for the year until some of the others get under control. Well, since I'M the control, and I've determined this is all I can logically handle, this is it. :)

Lisa at Breaking the Fourth Wall is hosting the Something About Me Challenge. The basic premise is to list five books that represent something about me, but the catch is that I don't read this five books--others doing the challenge read them. So, after everyone posts their books, we pick five from the *large* list to read and at the same time learn something about the other participating bloggers. I love this idea and I'm glad that Lisa is hosting!

So, these are the five books that represent me:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - This book restored my love of literature as a high school senior. But also because it is the most romantic book--tragic, but who could forget those harrowing words, "I AM Heathcliff."

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult - Picoult always shows all sides to every story, and this one I could especially relate to as my younger sister had a kidney transplant 5 years ago (when she was 18). Although I wasn't in exactly the same circumstances, I could relate to Kate's siblings.

Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery - Because I grew up in Canada, and when I was little I wanted to be Anne so badly. I loved her--still do.

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding - Because I, like Bridget, obsess about strange things, fantasize about what could be, and over complicate things in my head. I love Bridget--she is my hero.

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf - Her female characters are all so different, but I think that everyone could find a woman in this novel with whom they relate to. And besides, I think we've all had days like Mrs. Dalloway. (If you've read this and like it, you must read The Hours by Michael Cunningham).

And then these are the books that I have picked from others' lists to read:

• The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquirel
• High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
• Sea Glass by Anita Shreve
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Alternates:

• The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
• The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
• The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood

Yeah! Let the challenge begin...

A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby

Title: A Long Way Down
Author: Nick Hornby
Date Finished: Feb 14, 2009 #7
Published: 2005 Pages: 333
Rating: 2.5/5

Four people meet on top of a popular suicide building on New Years Eve, and although none of these four know each other, they all have the same intention of jumping. These characters couldn't be more different from one another: Martin is a divorced middle-aged celebrity who has just gotten out of prison for sleeping with a fifteen year old; Maureen is the mother of a disabled teenager and hasn't had a social life--or any life in nineteen years; Jess is a teenaged troublemaker whose sister disappeared a few years prior, and JJ is an American whose band just broke up and his girlfriend has left him.

When the four get to talking on top of the roof, they learn that maybe they can help one another for the next six weeks when they will reevaluate their lives and decide whether or not they still want to commit suicide. Throughout the rest of the novel, the characters band together to fix some of the messes that they've made and even make right out of a few wrongs. But in the end will it be enough for these characters to find a reason to live?

It sounds like a depressing novel, but it really isn't. Hornby has a dark kind of humor that lets the reader know that--hey, it really isn't as bad as it seems. Each character has his own voice in the novel as each chapter is written from a different character's point of view, so not only did I get to see the character through his/her own eyes, but also each character through the others' eyes. One of my favorite aspects of a book is point of view, and I think that Hornby does a great job of giving each character a distinct and unique voice.

In the end, though, it didn't keep me interested enough in the story. I sometimes found myself forcing my way through each chapter to try and figure out just exactly where this unlikely story was going. I didn't care about most of the characters, particularly Martin and Jess who I strongly disliked, and for such a serious topic (ie suicide), I thought the plot was rather superficial. Grrrr! I know others really love Hornby, and I enjoyed High Fidelity when I read it two years ago, but I was really disappointed in this one. I did, however, get a kick out of the literature/music references in the book and particularly loved JJ's thoughts on reading:

"Why does reading freak people out so much? Sure, I could be pretty antisocial when we were on the road, but if I was playing a Game Boy hour after hour, no one would be on my case. In my social circle, blowing up ****ing space monsters is socially acceptable in a way that American Pastoral isn't" (193).

Yes, JJ. My thoughts exactly! Do I recommend this one? If you're a Hornby fan, go for it. Otherwise, I don't know if I'll be passing this one on or keeping my copy. And another warning--the language is incredibly bad. I'm not a prude when it comes to language, but it is quite excessive.

*************************************************************************
Booo! I hate writing reviews like this. And maybe it is exacerbated by my blogging slump of late. I've hardly been on my reader at all the past few weeks. And I hate that, but I'm finding myself a little discouraged at my lack of "free" time and the amount that my favorite bloggers post. :) This is not a gripe at you guys, but I am having to figure out the best way to read the blogs that I love. It may come down to skipping meme posts--the Monday Musings, Library Loot, Friday Fill-ins, etc. Or picking one or two posts from a blogger a week instead of trying to catch up with 7 posts at the end of the week? Anyway, for now I've just been avoiding. And although you probably don't notice my absence, I notice and it bugs me.

How do you keep up with blogging without it running your life?

2007 Reads

2007 YEAR IN REVIEW!!

I can't believe this year is over with already! Of course, it does seem like a long long time ago that I was reading those first dozen novels on the list below. 2007 was my best year for reading, which in many ways is a little ironic to me since I'm not in school reading 3 books a week anymore.

I finished 58 books, participated in 8 reading challenges, knocked 39 books off the TBR pile (books I owned prior to Jan 1, 2007), and found the world of blogging and all the wonderful bookbloggers.

Here is my 2007 List (links will take you to my thoughts on the book--books in RED are some of my favorites for the year--which doesn't discredit the rest...):

1. The Pilot's Wife - Anita Shreve


2. Kissing in Manhattan - David Schickler
   
3. Gilead - Marilynne Robinson


4. Night - Elie Wiesel


5. The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards


6. Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man - Fannie Flagg


7. Nature Girl - Carl Hiaasen


8. Talk Before Sleep - Elizabeth Berg
   
9. The Widow of the South - Robert Hicks


10. Vinager Hill - A. Manette Ansay


11. Sideways - Rex Pickett
    
12. The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood


13. Rich in Love - Josephine Humphreys


14. Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding (re-read)


15. Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult
    
16. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez


17. A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway
    
18. Fall On Your Knees - Anne-Marie MacDonald


19. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant - Anne Tyler


20. Ireland - Frank Delaney


21. The Awakening - Kate Chopin


22. The Portrait of a Lady - Henry James


23. The Tenth Circle - Jodi Picoult


24. Thunderstruck - Erik Larson
    
25. Nickel and Dimed - Barbara Ehrenreich


26. No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy


27. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad


28. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini


29. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides


30. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling (re-read)


31. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling


32. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott


33. The City of Falling Angels - John Berendt


34. Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood


35. The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Emmuska Orczy


36. Keeping Faith - Jodi Picoult


37. Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquirel


38. Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson


39. His Excellency: George Washington - Joseph J. Ellis


40. Big Fish - Daniel Wallace


41. The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield


42. Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi


43. Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert


44. Travels With Charley - John Steinbeck


45. Howards End - EM Forster


46. As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner


47. High Fidelity - Nick Hornby


48. The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien


49. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley


50. The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton


51. The Tales of Edgar Allan Poe - Edgar Allan Poe


52. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen


53. Flesh and Blood - Michael Cunningham


54. Sea Glass - Anita Shreve


55. The World According to Garp - John Irving


56. Snow - Orhan Pamuk


57. Johnny Tremain - Esther Forbes


58. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

In 2008 my reading goals are slimmed down a little bit to take off some pressure (not really sure where the pressure is coming from!!). My goal is to read 36 books by December 31, 2008. I will enter challenges at my own risk and may not even formally participate but just keep personal tallies. I also vow to keep my read/unread ratio to at least 60/40% (in other words, keep the book buying to a minimum!). And last but not least, enjoy enjoy enjoy.