High Fidelity, Engl. ed.

by Nick Hornby | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0140295569 Global Overview for this book
Registered by Sunneschii of Zürich, Zürich Switzerland on 6/30/2005
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This book is in the wild! This Book is Currently in the Wild!
13 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Sunneschii from Zürich, Zürich Switzerland on Thursday, June 30, 2005
Rob is a music junkie who owns record shop in Islington. Unable to make his relationship with Laura work, he seeks refuge in the company of the two hopeless guys, and in a one night stand, only to find that life with Laura has its unexpected attractions.


I love this book! That's why I bought this second (or third?) volume to start a bookring!:-)

It's international, please PM for joining!:-)

- pterry-96-wm (Germany)
- Rebecca1984 (Germany, Europe
- Nordkind (Germany))
- Sternschnuppe 28 (Germany)
- asterw (Greece, international)
- glade1 (USA, USA)
- averity (USA, USA)
- arugh48187 (USA, USA)<--Ist hier!:-)
- Sidney1220 (USA)
- Brujula (France, Europe)
- Anna-Lena (Germany)
- freakyfreki (Germany, *)
- Charlaya (Germany)
- DiamondLucy (Austria)
- Sirannon (Spain)
- Trelk (Switzerland)
- silentmiaouw (Switzerland)



RELEASE NOTES:

Der Buchring geht los! Viel Spass, pterry!:-)

Journal Entry 3 by pterry-96-wm from Hannover, Niedersachsen Germany on Friday, July 8, 2005
The book arrived today and made me much happier after a disappointing schoolday. Thank you Sunneschii, especially for the "Schoggistängeli", now I know what all the Swiss are talking about!!! They're really yummie! :-)
Hanna
P.S.: I'm sorry if I need longer to read the book, but there're two thick books before to be read...
P.P.S.: And excuse my "9th-grade English"! ;-)

Journal Entry 4 by pterry-96-wm from Hannover, Niedersachsen Germany on Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Just finished the book! Fantastic, although I didn't understand every word and joke(I didn't expect that anyway...).
Rob is just so sympathic, you recognize yourself in his character. At some points that was really amazing.
Unfortunately I didn't know all the songs mentioned, because I'm only 15 years old...;-)
I think the funniest parts are those in the shop with Dick and Barry.

Now I'm looking forward to read Hornby's new book "A long way down"!
The book will be travelling further soon.
Hanna

Journal Entry 5 by Rebecca84 from Münster, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Wednesday, July 20, 2005
It was in the mail today. It's the next book on my reading list, so I am sure I'll have read it by this time next week.

Journal Entry 6 by Rebecca84 from Münster, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Friday, July 29, 2005
This book was awesome. It took me only a few hours to read, but those were very funny and sad and all in all very emotional hours.

And I also didn't recognize a lot of songs, but as a 21-year old, I am more a child of the late 80s to 90s than the 70s.

The book is now on its way to Nordkind.

Journal Entry 7 by wingNordkindwing from Hamburg - Barmbek, Hamburg Germany on Tuesday, August 2, 2005
The book arrived today and I will most likely start reading it next weekend.

Thanks to Sunneschii for organizing this bookring! :-)

Update 17th August: I just gave up reading the book after 2/3... For some reason I can not explain I could not identify with the characters...

The book will now travel to the beautiful Rhine valley, where Sternschnuppe28 lives!

Journal Entry 8 by Sternschnuppe28 from Flörsheim am Main, Hessen Germany on Friday, August 19, 2005
Ich kenne das Buch schon - deshalb vorab 10 Sterne! Jetzt freue ich mich, es endlich auf englisch zu lesen.

I already know the book - that´s why I give it 10 stars right away. Now I am looking forward to finally read it in English.

Journal Entry 9 by Sternschnuppe28 from Flörsheim am Main, Hessen Germany on Wednesday, September 28, 2005
This is really one of my favourite books! Very funnily, openly and honestly written. It made me understand men much better, especially that it means much more to get a self-recoreded tape (or nowadays CD) than a bunch of flowers ...

"High Fidelity" moves on to Greece today.

Journal Entry 10 by asterw from Athens - Αθήνα, Attica Greece on Tuesday, October 4, 2005
It arrived safely today. I'll start it as soon as I finish the book I'm currently reading. Thank you Sternschnuppe28 for mailing it!

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Update 24.10.05: A couple of days after receiving the book I got a job offer in Spain... So all this time, between moving to Madrid, starting the new job and looking for an apartment I didn´t have much time to read. I just wanted to let you know that I´ve started the book today, it will take me a few days to finish it though -I´m hopefully moving to my new house on Friday.

Journal Entry 11 by asterw from Athens - Αθήνα, Attica Greece on Saturday, November 19, 2005
I had seen the movie and recently I also read "About a boy", so that´s why I wanted to read the book. I wasn´t disappointed, I really liked it. It´s nice to see a story from the man´s point of view. I also read about so many songs that reminded me of my adolescent years! (although I´m sure that Rob wouldn´t approve my taste of music) ;o)

Sorry I didn´t journal earlier on, but I only got internet connection at my new house today. I gave the book to my mother -she visited me last week- to mail it from Greece because the postage in Spain is amazingly expensive! So glade1 should receive in the next few days.

Thanks Sunneschii for organizing this bookring!

Journal Entry 12 by wingglade1wing from McLeansville, North Carolina USA on Saturday, December 3, 2005
Received in the mail today. More later...

Journal Entry 13 by wingglade1wing from McLeansville, North Carolina USA on Monday, January 2, 2006
This one had me laughing in a few places and also touched me. While my life has certainly taken a different path from Rob's (I married right out of college, have two children and a mortgage, etc.), I can still identify with that feeling of doors closing and wanting to leave "options open." This was a good story with enough quirky characters to make it lots of fun. And he kept me guessing as to what he would do with his love life until the end, but I'm glad he grew up a little. (Truly, though, I think he just voiced a lot of things many of us think--I often feel that I am just a teenager trapped in a grownup body and wish I could GET OUT!) A few passages I liked:

It's only just beginning to occur to me that it's important to have something going on somewhere, at work or at home, otherwise you're just clinging on...You need as much ballast as possible to keep you from floating away; you need people around you, things going on, otherwise life is like some film where the money ran out, and there are no sets, or locations, or supporting actors, and it's just one bloke on his own staring at the camera with nothing to do and nobody to speak to...I've got to get more stuff, more clutter, more detail in here, because at the moment I'm in danger of falling off the edge.

...

It seems to me that if you place music (and books, probably, and films, and plays, and anything that makes you
feel) at the centre of your being, then you can't afford to sort out your love life, start thinking of it as the finished product. You've got to pick at it, keep it alive and in turmoil, you've got to pick at it and unravel it until it all comes apart and you're compelled to start all over again. Maybe we live life at too high a pitch, those of us who absorb emotional things all day, and as a consequence we can never feel merely content: we have to be unhappy, or ecstatically, head-over-heels happy, and those states are difficult to achieve within a stable, solid relationship.

...

There's [a childhood photo] of me in a cowboy hat, pointing a gun at the camera, trying to look like a cowboy but failing, and I can hardly bring myself to look at it now...I keep wanting to apologize to that little guy: 'I'm sorry, I've let you down. I was the person who was supposed to look after you, but I blew it: I made wrong decisions at bad times, and I turned you into me.'


There were several more passages that struck me, but I've probably put too much as it is. I think Hornby has a good voice and can get to some basic truths with a lot of humor and empathy.

I have not seen the movie of this book, but I'd like to. Wasn't John Cusack in it? He's not British, but I think he could pull off some of the rambling dialog that makes up this story...I might have to rent it.

Thanks, Sunneschii, for sharing this one. I have already PMed averity for an address to get this moving again.

Journal Entry 14 by wingglade1wing from McLeansville, North Carolina USA on Wednesday, January 11, 2006
I have been unable to get a response from averity, so I moved ahead to arugh48187. Mailed it to her via Media Rate on 1-11-06.

Journal Entry 15 by arugh48187 from Highland Park, Illinois USA on Sunday, January 15, 2006
Found this one in my mailbox today. I only have one bookring in front of this one so it shouldn't take too long. You can keep track of its progress via my bookshelf.

Journal Entry 16 by arugh48187 from Highland Park, Illinois USA on Tuesday, January 24, 2006
John Cusack did play Rob in the movie and he did a fabulous job. He is so good at these kinds of roles; the quintessential fallible man that does a lot of thinking and wondering and self examination and ruminating and just talking crap in general. Though I have to say I am not a big fan of reading books after you've seen the movie, I had totally forgotten there was a movie until about halfway through the book. I will probably have to see it again because I remember vitually nothing about it and Rob is such a lovable guy. And Jack Black (who does Barry) is an awesome actor too.

Anyway...

The book was good and I enjoyed the insight into the male psyche. I thought that Rob's dialogues were fantastic and very true to life. I even found myself saying "Hey! I think that sometimes." Laura was a bit wishy washy, but I thought Liz was pretty good. Nick Hornby writes a good novel. I will have to find some more of his books.

This one should go in the mail as soon as I get an address. Thanks for sharing!

Released 18 yrs ago (1/27/2006 UTC) at Post Office at 153rd and Garrett in -- Mailed, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA

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Sidney1220 asked to be skipped, so this is off to Brujula. Happy Reading!

Journal Entry 18 by Brujula from Valenciennes, Nord-Pas-de-Calais France on Monday, April 3, 2006
This book has arrived safely in Belfort.
Thank you!

Journal Entry 19 by Brujula from Valenciennes, Nord-Pas-de-Calais France on Sunday, April 23, 2006
The main character, Rob, is very realistic, and reading the book you understand why his girlfriend needs to take a break and thinks things over!
It's a funny book, well written... I just regretted not knowing many of the songs and the groups mentioned.

I'll mail the book to Anna-Lena when I receive her adress.

Journal Entry 20 by Brujula from Valenciennes, Nord-Pas-de-Calais France on Monday, May 15, 2006
Mailed to Anna-Lena today!

Sorry about the delay :-(( Somehow I didn't find time to get to a post-office...

Journal Entry 21 by Anna-Lena from Vaterstetten, Bayern Germany on Saturday, May 20, 2006
The book arrived yesterday!
Thanks to Brujula for sending and Sunneschii for this Ring!

Edit (15.08.) Because of my holiday I had time to read the book. But I have to say, I didn't enjoy it. In my opinion Rob is egoistic and love his self-pity. I can't believe, thats today all men are like Rob. But I want to read the book again in German.

RELEASE NOTES:

Tomorrow the book goes to post to freakyfreki....

Journal Entry 23 by freakyfreki from Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Friday, August 25, 2006
Today i received Rob, thank you :) I have never read the novel, I have only seen the movie which I enjoyed really much, so it is very likely i will love the book as well.

________

I am a bit undecisive if I have liked the book... As someone mentioned before Rob is so selfish and dislikeable that it is hard to feel empathy with him. Granted, in the movie Rob's behaviour is in the same way bad, but at least it is easier to forgive him since John Cusack performed that role.
I know, I should not compare book and film, but I hardly could not avoid that.
So in the end, I guess "High Fidelity" contains a quite good and realistic story with realistic characters who are partially not that nice (well, that's life-like, isn't it?!).
Oh, but the dialogues between Dick and Barry are just hilarious!!!

_______

On its way to Charlaya.

Journal Entry 24 by Charlaya on Monday, October 9, 2006
Was in the mail today. :-)

It has to wait its turn, though. But I'm looking forward to reading it soon.

Journal Entry 25 by Charlaya on Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Just a short notice.
I actually finished the book about two weeks ago.
DiamondLucy and Sirannon both want to be skipped, so I'm writing to Trelk now.

- - - - - - - - - -

Completely forgot to say something about the book. ;)
It was my companion on the train to school everyday - and as such it was pretty perfect. Because it was easy to read, easy to get into and the right type of story for a train.
However I don't quite get the fuss that is being made about Horny and this book especially. It was a good read, yes. But I didn't think it funny or so special, as people say.
However, I liked reading it!
Thanks!

Journal Entry 26 by over-the-moon from Lausanne, Vaud Switzerland on Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The book is now with me, having jumped over several people! Will read it right away.

Journal Entry 27 by over-the-moon from Lausanne, Vaud Switzerland on Sunday, January 14, 2007
My taste in pop music hasn’t evolved much since the Beatles and Bob Dylan, so at first I felt as though I was the wrong generation for this book. To be honest I have never heard of all these singers and groups the narrator, Rob Fleming raves about; I began wondering if they were fictional, and had to look them up on internet. Well, seems they are real. Fortunately, I realised partway through the book that Rob was a musical nerd, and to give him some credit, he does realise, towards the end, that he can’t impose his tastes on everyone else and mellows a bit.
(and now I've read the above journal entries, be reassured, everyone: I bet very few people have heard about the musicians he likes!)
Well, apart from rubbishing my musical tastes and a lot of tedious name-dropping, the book gave me some insight into the adolescent male mind (I found Rob quite immature), and it was some consolation to be reminded that things are equally difficult for lads as they are for girls. I could not help but remember my own fraught and embarrassing teenage fumblings, and not knowing whether to do as mother expected, i.e. do nothing, allow nothing, and be considered a "nice girl"; let them get their hands into my bra, then say Stop when things got too hot, and be labelled a teaser; or let them go all the way and be called a tramp by my schoolfriends, as were the other girls who dared to take the Pill (this was the 1960s and we were frightened of it). For some strange reason, the book also revived long-quenched memories of our few "sex talks" at school, delivered by a staid middle-aged lady who, when we asked what an orgasm was like, said that it was *quite pleasant, a bit like giving your nose a good blow* (!!!).
I'm rambling, sorry.
The book is quite fun. The style is easy and conversational, and the characters all seem realistic, if a bit sketchy. I didn't find it hilariously funny, but faintly amusing, and I can imagine that men find some comfort in it (which perhaps explains how it became a best-seller). However, it is not great literature, dare I say the male version of chick lit? But if the film comes on TV I might just watch it.

Journal Entry 28 by Sunneschii from Zürich, Zürich Switzerland on Wednesday, January 24, 2007
It's finally back at home!!

Thank you everyone for participating!!:-)

Journal Entry 29 by Sunneschii at Bad Auhof in Zürich, Zürich Switzerland on Friday, May 25, 2007

Released 16 yrs ago (5/25/2007 UTC) at Bad Auhof in Zürich, Zürich Switzerland

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Auf dem roten Schrank beim Ausgang

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