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31 Songs
 
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31 Songs (Paperback)

by Nick Hornby (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; New ed. edition (28 Jun 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141013400
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141013404
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 47,462 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #99 in  Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Scores, Songbooks & Lyrics > Rock & Pop

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
There is nothing quite so incomprehensible as love: 31 Songs is Nick Hornby's account of a selection of the music that lives deep in his heart and it is beside the point that most of us would make radically different selections. He makes some useful distinctions--these are not songs he loves for their associations so much as particular songs through which he learned more about his capacity for loving songs in general. Along the way, he talks movingly and intelligently about other matters on which those songs impinge--his relationship with his autistic son, his limited but real capacity for spirituality--but the songs rather than Hornby and his life are his real subject. It would be almost impossible to read this book and not get caught up in at least some of Hornby's enthusiasms--where you read thrillers trying not to cheat by looking at the end, here you spend time hoping the discography will be as good as the rest of it, and of course it is. The book is a serious attempt to define what it is about rock and pop that speaks to us in ways other types of music might not; those who either do not share Hornby's tastes or who have more eclectic ones will find it a useful and enlightening explication of what rock and pop do. --Roz Kaveney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
'I decided that I wanted to write a little book of essays about songs I loved ... Songs are what I listen to, almost to the exclusion of everything else.' In his first non-fiction work since Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby writes about 31 songs that either have some great significance in his life - or are just songs that he loves. He discusses, among other things, guitar solos and losing your virginity to a Rod Stewart song and singers whose teeth whistle and the sort of music you hear in Body Shop. 'The soundtrack to his life ... a revealing insight into one of Britain's most popular writers' Evening Standard

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Customer Reviews

29 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (11)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (29 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars What Does Music Mean To You?, 7 Jan 2004
What a great book. I cant explain how much it means to read honest, insightful and funny thoughts about music. But if music is your bread & butter (& jam) then you'll read it and just get it.
The chapters are song titles, but Hornby’s book is less like 31 song reviews, and more like a collection of essays about what music means and has meant to him, and how he has evolved musically. This is a passionate man who makes a lot of sense. As well as exploring a big bag of beautiful, personal, classic tunes that have shaped his musical development & generally made life more enjoyable, he talks about the value of a good pop song, puts musical intellectuals in their place, and admits to all kinds of uncool favourites. Cant really say more except, read it. If you're a happy music addict, you look back fondly at all the stuff you used to like, the stuff you didn’t used to like but now do, and now look forward to all the great stuff you’ve yet to hear and love - this book is for you. Thank you NH.
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54 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Singin' Him His Song..., 22 Jan 2004
By "weebuns" - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
“Songs are what I listen to, almost to the exclusion of everything else. I don’t listen to classical music or jazz very often, and when people ask me what music I like, I find it very difficult to reply, because they usually want names of people, and I can only give them song titles”.
So began the illustrious gathering of 31 songs – most of them loved, some of them once loved and all of them significant to Nick Hornby. They begin with Teenage Fanclub’s ‘Your Love Is In The Place Where I Come From’, ending with Patti Smith’s ‘Pissing In A River’, and encompassing singers as varied as Van Morrison and Nelly Furtado, songs as different as ‘Thunder Road’ and ‘Puff The Magic Dragon’ (reggae style). He discusses, among other things, guitar solos and singers whose teeth whistle, and the sort of music you hear in ‘The Body Shop’.
The mind of a musician is a difficult one to fathom, that of a music fan is even more so. Hornby lists his favourite songs and albums, by way of anecdotal explanation, and describes just what it is about music that stirs the blood in his trademark succinct and sparse fashion. He reveals intimate details about his family with touching references to his autistic son and his hope and fears for his future.
We might not agree with Hornby’s eclectic song choices, but will be more likely to side with his topography of the musical mind. He is unashamed in his adulation of songwriters, and admits that he writes books because he cannot write music: “Maybe it’s only songwriters who have ever had any inkling of what Jesus felt like on a bad day”. Hornby loves the relationship that anyone has with music: “because there’s something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out”. This is as good an attempt as you’re likely to get. It is at best interesting and informative, as well as entertaining, and will have you humming by the final page. I have to admit I knew only of half the musical material written about. Maybe, and if it ever goes into reprint, a complimentary CD will be supplied. Apparently, some National Sunday newspapers are doing this already…
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23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A kinder, gentler Fever Pitch, 5 Dec 2003
I read Songbook (the US version of 31 Songs) before a trip to the UK, and Fever Pitch (that I picked up at Harrod's) on the flight home. It's a similarly personal, almost autobiographical, book, but 31 Songs is obviously a more mature work, at least in tone. He's now ten years on from the man he was when he wrote Fever Pitch, and the depth of feeling about the songs, his experiences (particularly when writing about his son, and his friend the record store owner) is far more profound than his description of his football mania. But no less hilarious, frequently. Another fine work from one of my favorite contemporary writers.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Offcuts from the carcase of bloke-lit
'31 Songs' isn't as profound as it thinks it is; it's a fun, quick read and rather enjoyable for the most part. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Patrick Neylan

1.0 out of 5 stars Pretentious, self indulgent and uninteresting!
I have loved Nick Hornby's books, but this is a real stinker. I bought it from a bargain bin, and once I had read it, I felt like putting in a real bin! Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mr. C. J. Iredale

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book to read in the loo
This is a dipping in and out book. It's great when you want something to read that's magazine article length and not too taxing on the brain cells. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley

4.0 out of 5 stars Good fun
I enjoyed this light hearted review of 31 Songs that had touched the life of Nick Hornby who is obviously a very talented writer and a knowledgeable music fan. Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2007 by jol legend

4.0 out of 5 stars good read
31 Songs consists of essays about songs that Nick Hornby loves. As always he is an easy read. He and I are the same age, so its fascinating to find out what he listened to growing... Read more
Published on 1 Dec 2005

5.0 out of 5 stars great musical tips
Thanks very much Nick Hornby. I've read just about all of his books and have always liked his style. Read more
Published on 4 Nov 2004 by telelover

2.0 out of 5 stars Mostly pointless subjects, but some pretty good parts
I've heard that Nick Hornby is a very good author, and this was the first book of his that I read. Firstly, I would like to say that the beginning was pretty engaging and I read... Read more
Published on 24 Sep 2004 by jan8880

3.0 out of 5 stars Good read but the old man shows through
This is an interesting read, and though I have heard few of the songs he talks about, he inparts his enthusiasum and interest to the reader. Read more
Published on 2 Jul 2004 by static1635

5.0 out of 5 stars An honest, unpretentious book about music and life
Half of the songs I'd never heard of in this book, but it didn't matter. These are 31 songs that Nick Hornby wanted to tell us about, and I'm glad he did. Read more
Published on 23 May 2004 by shellysheroes

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy
Firstly this is not an all time greats list. Nick Hornby does make that very clear, yet it's amazing how many reviewers take him to task for forgetting their favourite song or... Read more
Published on 24 April 2004

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