High Fidelity [Serbian] [Paperback]

Love,music and sex are the three poles around which the story moves. Love:'High Fidelity'is clearly a story about love.The action starts with Rob,the protagonist,splittig up with his historical girl friend Laura.The narration ,then,goes on telling the effects of this important event on Rob.Besides,thhe author underlines how the end of the love relationship between Rob and Laura has indirect consequences on all the people who know them.The initial splittig up of Rob and Laura acts a trigger of all events told by Hornby. So,we witness the process of maturatio of Rob and Laura.At the same time,however,every single character takes on a different role and a different importance in the econonmy of the whole story,according to specific periods of Rob's life. Music and sex:music is extremely important for Rob,as well as sez.Wecannot say that they are secondary themes in'High Fidelity'.They are peripherial elements but simultaneously they give the story something more which is difficult to identify.They are'the salt' of 'High Fidelity'.Without music and sex there would be no Rob.In addition,these two elements are essential to understand Rob's way of thinking.It is thanks to music and sez that Rob is not a flat character,but complex,immature and everchanging.

I think that one of the most appreciable features of 'High Fidelity' is how the author depicts interesting and complex characters.More properly it can be said that Hornby's success is based on the fact that he does not present specific characters,but very common men and women. At the end of the book you fell particularly fond of Rob,Laura and all the others.It is as if you had the impression of knowing them very well. Often,when following Rob's thoughts about his love affairs i have had the opportunity to recognize my own ideas about women,love relationships and sex.And i also think this would be the same feeling of many male readers. The two main characters are Rob and Lauar.You can look at Rob as an Everyman.Rob is a 35-year old owner of a record store in London.He is a pop fan.He is unsecure,passionate.sometimes immature and generally unable to have a complete control of his life.This is probably because he pivots,even if uncounsciously,on Laura's figure.Actually,although Laura is not so present on the scene,she is a sort of catalyst of male(and Rob's)feelings. Hornby is very skilful at describing his cgaracters ,especially Rob and Laura.In particular he makes them undergo a process of change and maturatio which results in a very long,difficult task for both of them.

Even if 'High Fidelity' is not a musical book,it is possible to say that music is the backbone spine of the book.Probably it is reckless to say that it is a sort of protagonist of the story,but surely it has a vrey important role.Music,and more exactly,pop music,is a central element in Rob's life.The same is for Barry,Dick and maybe Hornby too!It is a sort of 'credo'.They consider music so important that they can judge a preson according to his/her musical tastes.But music has a deeper meaning for rob.He believes in fact,that there is a strong relationship between music and feelings.For this reason he always tries to find a song for every single moment of his life,depending on his mood(see for example when he thinks about pop songs on death:<<...we have about seven squillon hours' worth of recorded music in there,and there's hardly a minute of it that describes the way Laura's feeling now>>). Besides,from a psychological point of view,it is remarkable to notice that Rob considers his record collectio as a sort of refuge from the external world,women and feelings. Last but not least,for Rob,music has an 'epiphanic power'to recall past episodes of his life to his mind(<<...the song that makes me cry used to make me puke.When it was a hit,i was at college...>>).

Have you ever tried to find out the connectio,if there is any,between the title of the book and its content? Think about Hornby's work for example. 'High Fidelity'is absolutely a good and meaningful title.Clearly,it can be associated with music,one of the central element of the story.Besides it can be referred to the troubled love affairs of the protagonist,to the 'High Fidelity' of his former girl frineds and,especially,of Laura.Finally,in a very ironic sense'high fidelity'is not just a typical features of Rob's character wiht women.

The style adopted by Hornby is not particularly informal. Sometimes the language is a bit colorful,but effective.The story is written in the first person,so for this reason,it is very involving. On the whole the narration is based on a deep psychological characterization.The author in fact focuses his attention on their thoughts and feelings.In this way many chapters are told through Rob's reflections or dialogues(both direct and indirect). Froem a linguistic point of view the narrator mostly uses the present simple tense of the verbs.This gives the reader an idea of immediacy of the actions told. Besides there are many ellipses(and a general use of noun phrase) that suggest a sense of informality which is peculiar to the whole story.

Trying to sum up,i liked Nick Hornby's work.I appreciated his way of telling a story which 'tastes of real',because of its freshness and liveliness. Definitely remarkable,the ability of Hornby who takes you by the hand and leads youthrough the episodes of a common nan's life,by disclosing his fears,his idiosynchrasies,his emotions and feelings. Everything giving the reader some little precious pearls of male way of thinking.