Journal Entry 1 by apophoreta from Deventer, Overijssel Netherlands on Sunday, March 30, 2003

The main character in this book is Rob Flemming, a thirty-five year old, music-shop keeper. He had numerous relations, but doesn't seem to hang on very long to the same woman. His latest girlfriend is Laura and the story starts with their split-up.
Rob is a real bastard now and then, but that's what makes him, in my opinion very interesting.
When you've read other books by Hornby, you will recognize (and probably appreciate) his humorous style of describing real live situations.
After reading this book, I'm certainly going to watch the film version (I'm especially interested in the scene where Rob tries to hide from Laura, by diving in someones garden. It made me almost roll over the floor laughing). 

Journal Entry 2 by apophoreta from Deventer, Overijssel Netherlands on Tuesday, April 22, 2003

Just before visiting my dentist (who shares, by coincidence, the same surname as nrrdgrrl) I dropped the book at the post office.
So it's now on it's way to nrrdgrrl (thanks to Cliff).
Happy reading. 

Journal Entry 3 by nrrdgrrl from Fourways, Gauteng South Africa on Wednesday, April 23, 2003

woohoo! it feels like having my birthday! there's people in this world who send me books voluntarily!

ehm. [straight face] as you may have guessed this is the first time someone offered me a book because of the wish list i recently made. thanks cliff1976!

thanks even more to apophoreta, who sent me a book i've really wanted to read for a very long time and kept forgetting to buy. now i still don't own it but at least i will have read it.

also very nice is that my sceptical husband, who teased me much about my book spreading sprees, now has proof that i'm not the only one. there really are more people in the world who commit random acts of kindness.

finally, about the book: i have listened to pop radio as long as i can remember and have a huge amount of trivia knowledge that's of no use in real life.
it's one of the reasons i'm quite fond of a particular dj here in the netherlands. rob stenders shares my peculiar taste and all the trivia that goes with it. he went nuts when the movie of this book came out - he felt it depicted his life. because he plays what i like, it feels a bit like returning the favour to read this book :o)
(confessing this make me feel like a teenage groupie...)

trivia geeks, here we go!  

Journal Entry 4 by nrrdgrrl from Fourways, Gauteng South Africa on Wednesday, May 07, 2003

funny. the beginning of the book is bloody brilliant. i had to read out aloud almost the entire first part to whoever happened to be around me. and read it again when someone else entered the room.
hornby's observations of teenage love and budding sexuality are so much on-spot it's almost scary.

but then the second part. it might be because i have a lot going on right now, but this does not force me to read on, like the first part did. halfway through the book i feel like adultery. my eyes keep drifting to those other books, who benevolently flash their eyelashes at me.

maybe it's just that the phase the protagonist is going through here doesn't appeal much to me. i keep wondering what laura is doing, not what rob is up to.

anyway. onwards!
new words here later. 

Journal Entry 5 by nrrdgrrl from Fourways, Gauteng South Africa on Sunday, May 11, 2003

i'm terribly sorry. but maybe just for myself. which would suit the book very well.

i've been looking forward to reading this book for ages. and now that i've finished it, i just dunno. i stick with my statements in the previous journal.
[the exaggerated use of the word 'i' here also fits the book very well]

which is a pity, really. because yes, i did read two other books in between. i just couldn't remain monogamous.
yeah sure (yawn), that also fits the book. but is my loss of attention a sign of good craftsmanship or did hornby just take it too far?
no, i'm not going to discuss the length of my attention span here.

after the boring part there are a few good laughs and a couple of fine observations, but it all gets too... disney. suddenly rob - not having changed the least bit during their separation but still in full and sulky grief over their split - is saved by laura and this makes him so happy he just turns into a model husband overnight..? yuck!

especially the last couple of pages are a big no-no on the plot part. after some well-directed kicks from laura, who's trying to make him a more positive bloke, our anti-hero is in transformation. which is plausible. and then just for the sake of ending the book on a positive and very quick note, he suddenly melts like bambi. uugh!

i'm well aware the book should not have been any longer and i understand the need for the author to end a humourous book with a feel-good note. but somehow, after endlessly elaborating the whinging, the round-up is way too quick and bright.
pity.

still, seven stars on the whole.  

Journal Entry 6 by nrrdgrrl from Fourways, Gauteng South Africa on Monday, May 12, 2003

oh, btw, the book does indeed depict said dj's life. or at least the picture of it he painted on the radio. his relationships, his behaviour towards others in general... including the blissful end of the story.  

Journal Entry 7 by nrrdgrrl at controlled release in Hilversum, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Monday, May 12, 2003

Released on Monday, May 12, 2003 at controlled release in hilversum, noord-holland Netherlands.

being alone isn't always nice for a traveller. so i decided to give him a companion. which caused me to erase all the little drawings i'd made on the envelope, for security reasons.
i wonder if the companion will survive.

this book being in english, i took the liberty of adding an english language bcid sticker. unfortunately it went a bit crooked. i'm sorry.

dear jgralike, would you please consider sending the book to aaratnayake, or to hand it back to me so i can send it? it's on his/her wish list you see, and i'd like to return a favour. 

Journal Entry 8 by jgralike from Oisterwijk, Noord-Brabant Netherlands on Tuesday, May 13, 2003

Book arrived, companion survived, I heared.
I will send the book to aaratnayake if wanted: I promised her I would come back to her when I have read it, to check if anybody else already fulfilled this wish. 

Journal Entry 9 by jgralike from Oisterwijk, Noord-Brabant Netherlands on Thursday, June 05, 2003

I'm sending this book to aaratnayake today, without having finished reading it: I gave up after 75 pages. I gave it a few tries, but every time I picked it up, I was bored, and started reading another book.
That is the most I can tell about it: other books catch my attention, this book does only irritate me: people figuring in it are wasting their time, as I see it, and not in a funny or entertaining way, but in a way that makes me yawn. I could not find the humorous parts, nor the brilliant.
So it has been waiting for too long now, it is not 'getting me', and it is time for High fidelity to cross the ocean.
Seeing the high scores this book gets from many, I hope aaratnayake is one of the people who really love it! 

Journal Entry 10 by aaratnayake from Minneapolis, Minnesota USA on Thursday, June 19, 2003

Thanks to jgralike and nrrdgrrl for passing along this book. it will be my second nick hornby book. unfortunately i am drowing in books right now so it will go in the middle of my to be read pile after harry potter 5. and then it will be passed on to someone else who might be wishing for it. i love book crossing and am happy to have met and traded with such good people. thanks again:)