High Fidelity, the movie, has somehow become a sort of comfort food for me. I watch it every now and then, and even though it's become exceedingly familiar, it continues to entertain. It seems the same may be happening for the book version. This was the second time I read the Nick Hornby novel, which, I guess, makes for a total of almost ten repeats of book and movie. High Fidelity is up there with The Truman Show for entertainment that I have yet to tire of. There is nothing wrong with repetition, but there is some irony in going back to reread books about being afraid of moving on in life.
Rob is a music geek who, with a pair of attendants, one anodyne and one aggressively insecure, runs a low-key used record store in London. His store is losing money and, as the story opens, his girlfriend Laura has left him for the guy upstairs. In an effort to understand why he keeps striking out with his loves, he tracks down his "top five" breakups, starting from high school. To exercise his demons, he hooks up with an American musician, because he (and I'm quoting from memory, either book or movie) "had always wanted to sleep with someone who had a recording contract". Along the way, Rob has to contend with his insecurities and learn to be a decent human being. Hornby's tone hides the fact that the main character is a genuine jerk for most of the time and, once the realization hits the reader, it's a nice way of realizing how immune we are to bigotry when the bigot is us.
It's a Nick Hornby novel, so the characters have whimsy and depth and the plot is gentle, but a little preachy. It shares a space with other contemporary fiction, like The Martian and The Cuckoo's Calling, that is approachable, funny and moderately well reviewed by critics. It doesn't take itself very seriously, which all but precludes it from winning a Pulitzer or making it to any best-of-the-decade lists. But in terms of quality - of writing, character development, insight or tone - High Fidelity is an excellent work and not to be dismissed.
It's difficult for me to talk about High Fidelity, the novel, in isolation and without reference to my beloved movie adaptation. While I was reading, I could hear John Cusack's voice speaking the part of Rob and Jack Black singing Let's Get It On. Some of the lines are shared word for word between the two medias. At times it seems like the movie is more a reading of the source material - it even shares some of the music references! High Fidelity has been there to support me through several stages of my life. In adolescence, I could sympathize with the terrible breakups. Now, as an adult, I'm more a sucker for the "Where is all this going?" -part. I keep finding new levels.