High Fidelity is about a man called Rob who has just split
up with his long time girlfriends. She’s not the first person who’s broken up
with him and she certainly hasn’t broken his heart the most. He has a top five
list of the girls who have done that. Rob runs a record shop and has two
assistants who help him in the shop. They are all obsessed with music and
heaven forbid if you have the wrong records in your collection. Rob is very
self-centred and childish. Even when a situation is obviously about someone
else, if he isn’t paid enough attention he throws a strop and storms out. He
obsesses about all the wrong things and just hasn’t got a clue. High Fidelity
tells the story of how Rob copes after Laura leaves him and he has to do
everything for himself again.
Nick Hornby has a good writing style. It’s easy to read and
you just get taken along on the journey without too much effort on your part.
He really gets inside the mind of his character. The book is written from Rob’s
point of view, so we have no idea how the other characters feel, only what Rob
thinks they feel. Hornby builds a complete picture of Rob and you feel like you
know him inside and out which is good, to be able to know a character that
well. I think the way it is written would appeal to a male audience as there
are lists and nerdy music information that I think would appeal to the male
brain.
I really did not like Rob is a character. If it wasn’t about
him he didn’t care. He didn’t think before he spoke and, most of the time,
regretted it immediately after he’d said it. I just wanted to punch him in the
face for 95% of the book. I persevered and to be fair, he did grow up a bit by
the end of the book and got a bit more likeable. He wasn’t mature enough to do
it on his own though. If it weren’t for some of the female characters he would
have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I think to a certain extent he is stuck
in a rut and doesn’t know how to get out but that isn’t an excuse for some of
his actions. He doesn’t really know what he wants so can’t be happy with what
he’s got. I kept reading because I did like some of the other characters in the
book. Unfortunately, being from Rob’s perspective you don’t get to learn an
awful lot about anyone else, except Laura. Mainly because he isn’t interested
in anyone except himself.
I think I would give another Nick Hornby book a go. His
writing is engaging and he certainly knows how to write a full character. The
main reason I read this book was because I wanted to see the film so I’m
interested to see how that goes. I hope that what goes on in Rob’s head is what
goes on in the heads of all men or we should probably be a bit worried. I have
a feeling that some men have more self-control than Rob though. At least I hope
so. I’m not entirely sure where the funny bits were in the book, all the quotes
on the front said it was really funny. It mostly just made me really really
angry. I would not want to spend any time with Rob at all. The book might be
worth a read to encourage you that even the most immature people have the
potential to grow up at some point. Given the right encouragement and pushing
of course.
Overall rating 2 out of 5.
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