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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I listened to this as an audio book over the course of 2 days. I haven't listened to an audio book in a long time and it's outside of what I would usually read, so I can't tell if the narrator's voice got more annoying, the characters did, or both. I felt sad for the three main characters by the end, and there was no empathy in my sadness. By the end I just wanted it to finish.
Nobody writes insecure and neurotic people as well as Nick Hornby. Okay, there's Woody Allen. But Allen lacks the uniquely-British calm facade that pretends everything is fine; splendid, in fact. I'm not British, but as I was reading this book, I was impressed by how, just from having grown up in an ex-British colony, I have absorbed a lot of that into my psyche. I completely bought into how each of his main characters over-thinks and second-guesses their own actions and how the spoken dialogue is but a fraction of the one that goes on inside the character's head.
The story is about Annie and Duncan, a couple, and Tucker Crowe, the singer-songwriter who is the object if Duncan's obsession. After Annie splits up with Duncan, she makes the acquaintance of Tucker and ends up having him (and his young son) stay at her house.
An absurd storyline, really. But who says absurdity is bad? Especially when the absurdity carries truth in it, such as the way Duncan justifies in his mind to himself that he is superior to the young man who, like him, is standing outside the house of Tucker's old girlfriend; and the way Annie uses algebra to calculate how much of her 15 wasted years with Duncan has caused her.
It was a delicious read for the most part, and a slightly uncomfortable one as well, when I recognized my own neuroses and insecurities. I have to say, though, about three quarters of the way through, I needed a break from all those wounded and fragile egos. Luckily (cunningly?) Nick Hornby inserts a laugh-out-loud scene using a common and totally benign greeting when two of the characters meet. That scene is priceless. Had the novel ended there, several threads would have been left hanging, but it would have worked for me.
The story is about Annie and Duncan, a couple, and Tucker Crowe, the singer-songwriter who is the object if Duncan's obsession. After Annie splits up with Duncan, she makes the acquaintance of Tucker and ends up having him (and his young son) stay at her house.
An absurd storyline, really. But who says absurdity is bad? Especially when the absurdity carries truth in it, such as the way Duncan justifies in his mind to himself that he is superior to the young man who, like him, is standing outside the house of Tucker's old girlfriend; and the way Annie uses algebra to calculate how much of her 15 wasted years with Duncan has caused her.
It was a delicious read for the most part, and a slightly uncomfortable one as well, when I recognized my own neuroses and insecurities. I have to say, though, about three quarters of the way through, I needed a break from all those wounded and fragile egos. Luckily (cunningly?) Nick Hornby inserts a laugh-out-loud scene using a common and totally benign greeting when two of the characters meet. That scene is priceless. Had the novel ended there, several threads would have been left hanging, but it would have worked for me.
Nick Hornby didn't rely on any clever twists or jokes to tell this story. That's too bad, because it's kind of why I like his stuff. The best things I can say for this book is that I read it quickly, and it helped me go to sleep at night because I wasn't challenged in any way.
3.5
A sort of fun, sort of laughable romp.
I felt like Hornby did a good job really describing those sort of indie fans who become obsessed with a musician and make them so much more than they are.
The end felt a little rushed to me and I was left wanting a bit more.
But that's life isn't it?
A sort of fun, sort of laughable romp.
I felt like Hornby did a good job really describing those sort of indie fans who become obsessed with a musician and make them so much more than they are.
The end felt a little rushed to me and I was left wanting a bit more.
But that's life isn't it?
Nick Hornby manages to both skewer and love stuff simultaneously. Music. Music Criticism. Digital age relationships. And it's awful. And romantic. All at once. I don't know how he does that. It's like a romantic comedy - but with acidic, painful, beautiful commentary on what it's like to live now. In someone else's hands, it would leave you in despair. But somehow Hornby makes it all worth it.
Another great book by Nick Hornby. Hornby develops his characters so well, I feel I know each character personally. He's so funny and the dialogue flows, it's hard not to read in one sitting.
In the same vein of "relationship" books as "High Fidelity" and "About A Boy". Told from the point of view that is a few years older than those books. If you liked those, then this is a very enjoyable read even with the (probably purposeful) ambiguous ending.
Brillant! One of Hornby's best. His insight into relationships, music and life shine thru again in this book.
I saw the movie then read the book. Both were excellent! I usually do the opposite so it was interesting doing it this way. Probably made me appreciate the movie as well as the book more.