High Fidelity

by Nick Hornby

THE MILLION-COPY INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER & SOURCE OF THE 2020 HULU SERIES

'One of my favourite novels' Zoë Kravitz in Vulture
________________

Do you know your desert-island, all-time, top five most memorable break-ups? Rob does.

But Laura isn't on it - even though she's just become his latest ex.

Finding he can't get over Laura, record-store owner Rob decides to revisit his relationship top hits to figure out what went wrong. But soon, he's asking himself some big questions: about relationships, about life and about his own self-destructive tendencies.

Astutely observed and wickedly funny, Nick Hornby's cult classic explores love, loss and the need for a good playlist. A must for readers of David Nicholls and music geeks everywhere!
________________

'A triumphant first novel. True to life, very funny and moving' Financial Times

'Extremely cleverly observed' Mail on Sunday

'If this book was a record, we would be calling it an instant classic. Because that's what it is' Guardian

'Leaves you believing not only in the redemptive power of music but above all the redemptive power of love. Funny and wise, sweet and true' Independent

• ISBN10: 0241969816
• ISBN13: 9780241969816
• Publish Date: 2 January 2014 (first published 6 April 1995)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 14 April 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 256
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/isbn/9780241969816

Reviews

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

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.

This book originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/11/11/book-review-high-fidelity/