High Fidelity

Nick Hornby

Britta Pietila

If you are a 20-something who has no clue what they are doing, “High Fidelity” (1995) will be like looking in one of those warped circus mirrors. It's silly, a little pathetic, and full of nostalgia. Oh, and it's also about you.

Nick Hornby’s “High Fidelity” follows Rob Gordon, a 30-something, pretentious record store owner who is often found wearing lifeless leather jackets, jeans that scrape the ground, and painfully drab band t-shirts. Living in mid 90’s London, the reader finds Rob at the beginning of his most recent heartbreak with Laura, an ex-punk now-lawyer. This debacle sends him on a “self-discovery” rampage, rehashing every lost love in an attempt to better understand why women keep leaving him.

To be concise, Rob is a shithead. I won’t tell you exactly why, but I will tell you that he is stuck in a life where he is far too comfortable with everything staying the same. As long as he has someone to belittle for changing with the tides of life, he will be just fine.

Hornby does a wonderful job of portraying an adult man losing his mind while tackling adulthood, the mundanity of life, love, and heartbreak, all while throwing music and cultural references at the reader at the speed of light. Catch! He’s sent Stereolab, The Velvet Underground, and Bob Dylan flying straight for your ears!

Based on these facts, I not only find myself longing for Rob’s pathetic life, beautiful ex-girlfriend, and dreary apartment decorated with CDs, records, and tapes, I actually am Rob. And you probably are too. We are all Rob. We are all lost, scared of change, and have a tendency to make poor decisions for the sake of love.