Read This, Write That

Books you should read. Grammar you should know.

Posts tagged Nick Hornby

Notes

Read This. Books that become movies sometimes get a bad wrap, so let’s get this out of the way right now: The movie is good. The book is better. I can hear both sides of the chorus condemning me already. Everybody, keep your pants on-or don’t, this is an entirely pants-optional kind of blog-and just hear me out. Do I love John Cusack? Yes. Do I enjoy his movies, particularly when his sister is in them AND gets to call him an asshole? You’re goddamn right I do. So why then, in this case, I’m a choosing the book’s side? Excellent question. I’m sticking with the book simply because I read it before there was a movie and I fell in love with it. That’s it. This is a rare case in which I really can’t fault the movie much at all, the biggest change being a fairly seamless shift from London to Chicago. It’s no secret, Nick Hornby’s books translate well into movies. So, back to business… My desert-island, all-time, top five reasons why you should read this book, in no particular order: A musical education. For all its merits as a book, this book also has great value as a source of playlists, albums and forgotten tracks. Geek relatability*. The vinyl collector and the book collector have more in common than either would probably care to admit. Ever use crazy systems to rearrange your bookshelves? Especially when going through big changes? That’s what I thought. A strong argument for the first-person. Our narrator is our main character and he’s not always honest with us. “I” statements can get repetitive or boring, but here depth is achieved through an unreliable narrator who is forced to make realizations and come clean. It’s smart, engaging and fun, even when he’s pretty unlikable. Self-reflection. Can you reduce yourself into lists? As our narrator does it, so will you. I dare you to resist the urge to play along. For instance, I can make a top five split-ups list (in chronological order) and upon doing so realize that only three of the five really matter. Good times. An even stronger argument for the present-tense. Present-tense can feel hokey when not executed well. This is one case where it is not a gimmick. Through the narrator’s inner-monologues and real-time interactions, we sort through the mess with him. We are his confidants and his jury and he knows it. This lends a certain sense of interactivity other books can’t seem to achieve. Maybe it’s because I have always loved making lists, maybe it’s because I had just gone through an insane break-up when I found this book. Either way, High Fidelity came through for me and I’m willing to bet it’ll do the same for you.  *Full disclosure: apparently “relatability” isn’t a word and thus, belongs with the others eating fish heads in the attic. How is it not a word when there is no one word that can express that exact thing? Somebody get Merriam and/or Webster on the phone…

Read This.

Books that become movies sometimes get a bad wrap, so let’s get this out of the way right now: The movie is good. The book is better.

I can hear both sides of the chorus condemning me already. Everybody, keep your pants on-or don’t, this is an entirely pants-optional kind of blog-and just hear me out.

Do I love John Cusack? Yes. Do I enjoy his movies, particularly when his sister is in them AND gets to call him an asshole? You’re goddamn right I do. So why then, in this case, I’m a choosing the book’s side? Excellent question. I’m sticking with the book simply because I read it before there was a movie and I fell in love with it. That’s it. This is a rare case in which I really can’t fault the movie much at all, the biggest change being a fairly seamless shift from London to Chicago. It’s no secret, Nick Hornby’s books translate well into movies.

So, back to business…

My desert-island, all-time, top five reasons why you should read this book, in no particular order:

  1. A musical education. For all its merits as a book, this book also has great value as a source of playlists, albums and forgotten tracks.
  2. Geek relatability*. The vinyl collector and the book collector have more in common than either would probably care to admit. Ever use crazy systems to rearrange your bookshelves? Especially when going through big changes? That’s what I thought.
  3. A strong argument for the first-person. Our narrator is our main character and he’s not always honest with us. “I” statements can get repetitive or boring, but here depth is achieved through an unreliable narrator who is forced to make realizations and come clean. It’s smart, engaging and fun, even when he’s pretty unlikable.
  4. Self-reflection. Can you reduce yourself into lists? As our narrator does it, so will you. I dare you to resist the urge to play along. For instance, I can make a top five split-ups list (in chronological order) and upon doing so realize that only three of the five really matter. Good times.
  5. An even stronger argument for the present-tense. Present-tense can feel hokey when not executed well. This is one case where it is not a gimmick. Through the narrator’s inner-monologues and real-time interactions, we sort through the mess with him. We are his confidants and his jury and he knows it. This lends a certain sense of interactivity other books can’t seem to achieve.

Maybe it’s because I have always loved making lists, maybe it’s because I had just gone through an insane break-up when I found this book. Either way, High Fidelity came through for me and I’m willing to bet it’ll do the same for you. 

*Full disclosure: apparently “relatability” isn’t a word and thus, belongs with the others eating fish heads in the attic. How is it not a word when there is no one word that can express that exact thing?

Somebody get Merriam and/or Webster on the phone…

Filed under Read This. High Fidelity Nick Hornby books