High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

I think Nick Hornby is a great and talented writer, and I’m aware that this is supposedly one of his best novels. I honestly think this, however, is chick lit for men. I actually skipped pages of this book. Having said that, I suppose I have to admit that it goes a little deeper than most chick lit in its exploration of monogamy and love.

Rob is in his mid-30s and works in a record store. His girlfriend Laura has just left him and this has prompted him to do some soul-searching with regards to his romantic relationships. He sets out on a quest to discover the reasons for the breakdown of his ‘top 5 relationships’, believing that Laura was not one of them.

Rob is unsophisticated with simple tastes, but he’s not stupid and is actually quite romantic, though not in the traditional sense. He likes to make mixed tapes for his girlfriends. The novel has a lot of musical references which, for me, were boring and went over my head. I’m not a muso so the conversations about who’s who of the music scene were completely wasted on me.

I really enjoyed the examination of what it means to be in a committed relationship, especially the conversations held by Rob and Laura towards the end of the book. Laura is honest and much more mature than Rob. She explains to Rob that people change, and that being in a monogamous relationship means being able to deal with that. Yet, Rob hasn’t changed at all. Laura, on the other hand, has. I particularly liked the bit where Laura talks about the way individuals are not identified by their relationships, but by much more: “I’m simply pointing out that what happens to us isn’t the whole story. That I continue to exist even when we’re not together”.

Record stores are extinct now (I think?) and CD shops are even disappearing now. As I say, I’m not a muso, so I don’t really know what’s happened to them, but am I right in thinking that the record/music culture has evolved into one whose members go to gigs and follow musicians via their myspace pages?

Here is the link to the penguin page for this book.

Week 9: Love in the Time of Cholera (1985 / 1988) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This novel begins on the day that Juvernal Urbino dies. His death is unlike any other death I’ve ever read about in literature:


The novel follows Dr. Urbino on his rounds one day. That morning, his close friend had decided to kill himself on his 60th birthday to avoid getting old. At the end of the day, and just as the reader becomes attached to Urbino, the text sees him climbing a tree to capture an escaped parrot. The moment he reaches out to capture the parrot, Urbino falls to his death.


It’s an amazing way to begin a novel – to establish what the reader would presume to be the central character, only to kill him off, and in such a spectacular fashion.


The story is not about Urbino at all, but about his wife Fermina Daza.


In her youth, Fermina was perused by Florentino Ariza. Ariza continuously declared his love through secret love notes. It appeared as if Fermina responded in kind. But, when she turns eighteen, she decides to marry the more stable and respectable Urbino.


Like many of Marquez’ books, this novel takes place over several decades, chronicling the fallout of Fermina’s choice.


On the surface, it seems like a love story. Two lovers, torn apart by circumstance and chance, are eventually reunited as they reach their twilight years. But to fall for the surface plot is to fall for Marquez’ cleverly orchestrated “trick”.


The central trope in this novel is cholera. Its presence haunts the text, culminating in the final scenes where Ariza’s long awaited boat trip with Fermina is impacted physically, spiritually, and emotionally by this ever-present spectre.


My words can’t do Marquez’ beautiful prose justice, so i'll leave this review short but sweet:

This is a book that I’d encourage anyone to read – just don’t be fooled by the romance. For Marquez, love, like cholera, is a deadly illness.