Rating: 
Summary: An OK Read... read Stephen Fry or Hugh Laurie for laughs
Review: I was stranded in an airport in Managua, desperately fighting ennui... this book only added to it. After reading other readers' reviews in Amazon, I bought it. MISTAKE! The dialogue was witty and sharp at times, but most of the time the reader does not develop any empathy with the main character, Rob. The entire book seemed like an exercise in self-absorption and veered into whining a tad much. The only question remains after reading this book is why in the world would any woman snog/shag/etc this self-centered, egotistical, whinny little man-boy? (other than the law of averages, as one of the more bearable parts of the book points out).
Rating: 
Summary: Why did I read it so fast!
Review: This book is so real and the story so tangible it's hard not to relate to the story or to the character. It's clever, unpretentious, hilarious and so unbelievably real is scary. One of the best books I've read in a long time, one of those books that make you sad when you are finished and makes you want to read more. What am I gonna do now? Can somebody please tell Nick Hornby I want to read more about this character?
Rating: 
Summary: Hysterical!
Review: It's not often an author masters the difficult skill of writing humor, but Nick Hornby takes the big prize for his rip-roaring novel High Fidelity. I really loved this book.As a record collector, I was drawn to the book immediately. Within these pages my thirst for great and obscure rock music was satisfied, but as I read, I began to care about the narrator/protagonist Rob, the 30-ish record shop owner, right off. Why? Because his voice is so genuine and self-deprecating. And maybe being a woman gave me even more reason to love the guy: he comes across as a passionate man struggling inside an immature and obsessed teenager--but with a difference. And I can't tell you exactly what the difference is, but it has something to do with the character's self-knowledge. He knows it's time to grow up, but he doesn't want to, and he doesn't really see why this gets in the way of his success, as it were. The older I get, the more I realize that most of us feel this way, and that seems like a harmless enough quality, really. This novel captures an authentic character. Part of the entertainment in this novel has to do with its style, of which it has a ton. Hornby is a clever writer who has fashioned a narrator so bent on succeeding in his relationship, that he's constantly checking himself and "top fiving" everything. I found this absolutley hilarious and realistic. His misery is alive and gnawing at him as he labours to figure out his failures, and it comes out in some of the funniest dialogue written. Just read the first few pages and you'll be hooked. The voice shines. There's no challenging plot or point to scare readers away, either. It's just pure entertainment with so many great musical footnotes that readers may find themselves digging out the music Rob ranks. And by the way, the movie really captures this character and his world well, but typically, the book is just so much more crystal clear.
Rating: 
Summary: What's so funny?
Review: What is so funny about a man who doesn't want to, or can't, grow up? When I started reading this book I liked the dry British humor and the self-deprecation of the main character, but towards the end I wondered if the author really had any distance from his character. The turning point for me was the dinner party that he attended after resuming his relationship with his x-girlfriend. When she's sure he liked her friends, she directs him to look at their boring record collection and makes the point that hey, it's possible to be really nice and interesting and have a boring record collection (wow! really?). There's an earnest quality to the writing here that makes me suspect the author thinks this might be news to a lot of people reading the book. The worst part is that he might be right, and that's depressing. I've always thought that an obsession with pop music was infantile, like someone who still favors food like pigs-in-blankets and popsickles. As you mature it's normal to appreciate more complex things, whether it's food, music, or relationships. The author presents this as something difficult for anyone to achieve. I just don't think it's that hard.
Rating:
Summary: Darn good...
Review: I'm one that prides myself on the bulk of my reading, but lately I haven't been able to finish a book. Recently I've tried both _Dorian Grey and Talented Mr. Ripley, neither of which I finished. Then I read High Fidelity, and it was very engaging: I actually read it from cover to cover in about two days (which is fast for me). I suggest this book. It's one of the best recent pictures of lit I've read in a very long time. Now I look forward to seeing the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Funny and talkative. Do all guys think like Rob?
Review: I saw the movie first and loved it. It follows the book so closely that the book is almost like a movie script. But the parts that are not in the movie are equally funny and smart. Rob is a very self-conscious guy. Following all his thoughts, even the ones he tries not to think about, is an eye-opening experience for me. I especially enjoyed his string of thoughts right before he had sex with Marie. Is that how a guy thinks? So different from us girls. Overall, Rob is a very believable character. Even if you have seen the movie, this book is still a fun read. That's all I have to say about this book.
Rating:
Summary: High Fidelity
Review: A touchingly drawn portrait of life in middle-class England. A story at once sweet, sad, funny, and delicate. Put it on your top 5 list of books to read!
Rating:
Summary: This Book is Brilliant!
Review: With "High Fidelity" Nick Hornby succeeds in creating a believeable, sympathetic, intelligent character in Rob Gordon. Hornby's style is conversational yet aviods any hint of cliche. As an aspiring writer myself, I only hope that I will one day be able to articulate my thoughts in such a refreshing and though-provoking manner as Hornby has. This book was impossible to put down and when I was finished I longed for more. Now onto his other books. This is how I wish I could write.
Rating:
Summary: FUNNY MUSIC
Review: Hornby makes you laugh the British way, with sharp dialogue and jokes that are funny indeed, and the whole sorry tale is permeated with a compassion born, one presumes, of experience. This is a rare book, so hilarious that you often wonder how the writer can also make it so sharp about sex and manliness, memory and music. Many men will find in Hornby's pages shadows of themselves, leaving everyone believing not only in the redemptive power of music but above all the redemptive power of love. An instant classic, only equalled by this writer's next feat, "About a Boy". I must say that I particularly enjoy Hornby's writing style and his easy way of conveying feelings through his delicate wording of emotions: you don't notice it at first, but then it insinuates itself in your mind and you start sharing the narration in a personal way. I like it, I like it!
Rating:
Summary: Promising, but depressing.
Review: When the ads for the movie version of this book came out, I became curious and went to the bookstore to check out the book. Normally, I like reading British "modern" books because they have a different flow from the American norm. This book started off very promising, but left me with a bitter taste at the back of my throat. It seemed to end on a very depressed note. Maybe because I'm not a 30-something male I didn't understand it. But when my boyfriend went to see the movie (the same night that I finished the book), he agreed with my reaction. Nick Hornby wrote this book in first person, but I absolutely could not relate to it. Rob seemed very flat and uninteresting, and his friends were quite stereotypical (the nervous, shy one and the big, seemingly stupid one). I vowed never again to read a Hornby book if it'd only leave me feeling cheated and depressed. Then, I picked up "About a Boy" and it's the exact opposite. Very infectious and page-turning. I think the fact that Hornby writes in third person, and switches POV between two different characters, really helped add to the story. We see his characters from other peoples' point of view, not just their own selfish ones.
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