High Fidelity

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Rob is a thirty-five year old slacker that has just been ditched by his girlfriend Laura who has grown tired of Rob’s sulkiness. She runs off with Ian, a prick that used to live in the flat right above them. From the point when Laura leaves Rob, life is a downward spiral of too much thinking and too many “top five” lists. By the help of a friendly one-night stand (and some bottles of wine) Rob slowly gets his life back on track and desperately struggles to get back with Laura.

High Fidelity is an excellent book that deals with a range of interesting themes. For starters, there is the distinction theme. Rob eats, breathes and sleeps music. It is his passion and profession. His entire identity is based on his great taste of music. People who do not share his elevated taste are fools. A record collection containing Billy Joel, The Beatles and Tina Turner would whiplash him (they would not exactly squeeze into Rob’s list of Top Five Artists). To Rob, the important thing is not what you are like but what you like. So let me ask you, have you ever been to a party, glanced at the host’s movie collection and frowned on Göta Kanal 2? Have you ever been surprised that one of your mates is wearing white socks outside the gym? Even though I am exaggerating, I think it is quite easy to fall into the trap of feeling superior when your identification is based on taste. Because … if your taste is not that exquisite, but accessible to others … exactly who are you then? The construction of an identity is not only based on the things you like but also the things you do not like. This is why Rob is so condescending.

Another thing I like about High Fidelity is the way we get to share the narrator’s thoughts. This reminds me of the Swedish movie Vuxna människor. In that movie the main character "thinks out loud" in a way that a (male?) audience can identify with. As High Fidelity is about separation and reunification all the thinking in the book covers some things that painfully remind you of the break-up process of a relationship. What could I have done differently? Is she happy without me? Maybe the cruellest part is when Rob is lying in bed late at night and imagines how Laura is sleeping with her new boyfriend. We have all been there, have we not?

Obviously the book is about music and pop music in specific. Repeatedly, Rob is thinking of whether he likes pop music because he is unhappy, or if he is unhappy because he likes pop music. What do you think? Is pop music a form of consolidation or does it strengthen the bad mood you are in?

Along with Ben Elton and Bret Easton Ellis, Nick Hornby is probably my favourite author. Do you guys know of any similar writers?

Link: Some songs mentioned in the book (Spotify)