HIGH FIDELITY BY NICK HORNBY

Readers’ Notes for High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Who wrote this piece?

Nick Hornby was born in Redhill, Surrey, England, in 1957. When he was 11, his father took him for the first time to watch Arsenal play and a lifetime’s obsession with football began. He studied English at Cambridge University, and then worked as a teacher of English to foreign students, a literary critic and as the pop music critic for The New Yorker magazine. Fever Pitch (1992), his passionate, bestselling memoir about being a football fan, was followed by three funny and poignant bestselling novels, High Fidelity (1995), About a Boy (1998) and How to be Good (2001). In 31 Songs (2003), Nick Hornby muses on 31 songs of personal significance, and his most recent book, The Complete Polysyllabic Spree (2006) is an account of his reading.

Author photo: © Jonathan Pilkington

Click here for more biographical details and a critical perspective of Nick Hornby

There is also information about Nick Hornby here as well.

What is the piece and what is it about?

High Fidelity (Penguin, 2001) is a novel of about 250 pages. Like Nick Hornby’s other novels, it explores male obsessions, crises and weaknesses.

The story shows how Rob - a directionless 35-year-old, who runs a failing record shop in north London and lives alone in a grotty flat (Laura, his long-term girlfriend, has just left him) - slowly climbs out of his unhappy rut and grows up. The novel’s central focus is Rob’s emotional inadequacy: ‘Laura knows that I’m someone who doesn’t really bother, who has friends he hasn’t seen for years, who no longer speaks to anybody that he has slept with. But she doesn’t know how hard you have to work at that'.

High Fidelity is an acute study of loneliness (‘lonely people are the bitterest of them all’) and depression: ‘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 stop you floating away … 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.’

For most of the novel, Rob’s misery seems connected to his obsession with pop music: ‘Which came first, the music or the misery? Did I listen to music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to music?’

High Fidelity is a wonderfully articulate novel about being desperately adrift and unable to put feelings into words: ‘“Have you got any soul?” a woman asks ... That depends, I feel like saying; some days yes, some days no. A few days ago I was right out; now I’ve got loads, too much, more than I can handle. I wish I could spread it a bit more evenly, I want to tell her, get a better balance, but I can’t seem to get it sorted. I can see she wouldn’t be interested in my internal stock control problems though, so I simply point to where I keep the soul I have, right by the exit, just next to the blues.’

The title resonates. High Fidelity is ultimately about the redemptive power of love: ‘I feel that I don’t need to offer to become a different person: it has happened already'.

What kind of read is it?

Funny, sad and thrillingly true-to-life.

High Fidelity is also wonderfully readable. Rob narrates his own story with plenty of ‘joky understatement’ and his voice is so lively, funny and honest that you can’t put the book down: ‘It’s brilliant, being depressed; you can behave as badly as you like'. When you have finished the novel, you feel warmed by its optimism and compassion, although its dark themes cast a long shadow.

When we’ve read it, how could we structure our discussion?

• How do you react to Rob at the beginning of the novel as he reminisces about his ‘top five most memorable split-ups’ and rages against Laura?
• Rob’s honesty is startling and he squarely confesses his fears and foibles. To what extent do you find him a sympathetic character?
• ‘It’s not what you like, it’s what you’re like that’s important.’ What do you think Rob has learned by the end of the novel?
• To what extent do you think Rob’s story is a convincing portrait of a contemporary male mid-life crisis?
• 'I’m just trying to wake you up.' What qualities do you admire in Laura?
• How do you react to Dick and Barry? Do you know people like them?
• What impression do you get of Rob’s parents?
• What was the funniest moment in the novel for you?
• ‘… from whichever angle I examine it, it still looks as though (Laura’s) done it because she loves me.’ How does the novel leave you feeling about romantic relationships?
• When High Fidelity was first published, one critic described it as: ‘A seriously profound book about the things in life which really matter.’ How far do you agree with this? How would you sum up what the novel is about?

Reading group tips

Rob thinks of his record collection as a kind of soundtrack to his life - what he was listening to when … what a certain song reminds him of … and so on. As a way of choosing new books to read in your group, you might like to suggest novels which you read during particularly difficult times in your life. You could describe your original response to these books and talk about the associations they have.

If we enjoyed this, what other writing might appeal to us?

Nick Hornby’s memoir Fever Pitch (1992) is written with self-deprecating humour and demonstrates a deep passion for football. It also reflects on the destructive nature of the game and the escape it offers.

J. D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951) is a modern classic about the transition from childhood to adulthood. It is narrated by a troubled 16-year-old and tackles themes of loss, cynicism and alienation.

Books by Nick Hornby on the enCompass website.