Whine & Cheese

Shakespeare Wrote For Money (#30)

2009 is winding down and I think I have one or two more books in me until the reading year expires, but I will quite likely have trouble finishing up all my reviews by then. Next year, I'll have to figure out a better way to keep up with them, though I am starting to feel like this blog is the proverbial falling tree not making a sound, if no one is there to hear it.

I wasn't even aware that Nick Hornby's Shakespeare Wrote For Money until I read his latest novel, Juliet, Naked.  This is Hornby's third, and sadly final, collection of his writing about reading columns from "The Believer" magazine.

I had thoroughly enjoyed the first two collections and this one is no different, although I think you can sense that Hornby was starting to run out of steam.  Alas, this is a problem I can certainly relate to with this very blog.  Having survived the first wave (or two) of blog abandonment, I thought I would plunder on... but certainly finding it difficult to keep motivated about it these days particularly with outlets such as Twitter and Facebook, but you've heard that excuse / rationale from me before, so I will just move on. 

That said, even this was the end of the road, I didn't find this any less enjoyable. Being a reading geek, once again I totally nerded out for yet another opportunity to read about reading.  Hornby makes me feel sane-ish, when he scoffs at a friend who takes a day off between books to not suffocate the just-finished one, noting "Those of us who read neurotically read, however - to ward off boredom, and the fear of our own ignorance, and our impending deaths - can't afford the time." 

The one good thing about this being the last of Hornby's reading recollections is that it will no longer add to my already mammoth to-be-read list!  Though he did manage to add a few more (getting me slightly curious about young adult (YA) lit) and even got me read a "real," non-Kindle book as my read, long ago purchased by still sitting on the shelf, certainly something that Hornby himself could relate to.  Always loved that he his monthly "books bought" and "books read" lists.  As book lovers know, often those two lists overlap!

Juliet, Naked (#27)

Alas, we have finally arrived at a book that I read so recently that I kinda sorta remember it!  I guess one of the good parts of having such a delay between reading a book and writing about it is that I could see how much of an impact it left one me, but since my brain is still clogged with 1980s trivia there is not a whole lot of room left to retain what I recently read (though I'll admit that I am getting my initial thoughts down on the GoodReads website).

After the fairly traumatic read that was Say You're One Of Them, there absolutely no doubt in my mind that I was looking for some lighter material.  One of the great things about the Kindle that I have certainly been taking advantage of this past year (and I just passed my one-year anniversary with the device) is buying new releases for less than I would have normally paid for the trade paperback versions a year or so down the line.  So it has been a lot of fun reading new stuff, hot off the presses and I could not have asked for better timing the new Nick Hornby novel Juliet, Naked.  

Some of you may be more familiar with the movie versions of his books... About A Boy, High Fidelity, or Fever Pitch, but he has definitely become one of those authors that I know I am always going to get an entertaining and comfortable read.  I likened it to slipping on a warm coat or blanket (though we don't really do that all that much here in Phoenix). 

There are three main characters in this book. Tucker Crowe is an American singer-songwriter who has achieved a devoted cult following by mysteriously retiring from music while on a concert tour of his most critically acclaimed album to date named "Juliet."  Duncan, an Englishman who is one of the most devoted of the Crowe-ologists out there, and the novel opens as he and his girlfriend Annie (who enjoys Tucker's music, but only seems to tolerate Duncan's obsession with him) are on a pilgrimage of famous Tucker Crowe USA locales. The lives of all three are upturned with the surprise find of acoustic/studio recordings of Tucker's now 20-year old masterpiece with this unplugged version dubbed (drum roll please!), Juliet, Naked.

I think Hornby is a bit underestimated as a write since he tends to write such crowd-pleasing material and with plenty of laughs along the way, his stuff certainly has never been called "serious literature."  But I really find that he is such a keen observer of human behavior and relationships.  There is plenty of mid-life crisis stuff going on in this one, that I could certainly relate to as Hornby's characters often seem to wonder how they got to where they are and wonder where the heck things are going.  Fortunately, for the readers he takes his characters in quite unexpected directions and I definitely could not have predicted where this trio ended up (though don't expect total closure). 

Here are a few classic Hornby passages (3 separate ones, it's not just one big quote/passage) that I (electronically) earmarked:

She stopped typing. If she'd been using pen and paper, she would have screwed the paper up in disgust, but there wasn't a satisfying equivalent with e-mail, seeing as everything was designed to stop you from making a mistake. She needed a fuck-it key, something that made a satisfying ka-boom noise when you thumped it.

She'd probably had three or four epiphanies in her entire life, and she'd been drunk or busy every time. What good was an epiphany then?  You really needed one on a mountaintop a couple of hours before yo were going to make a life-changing decision, but she couldn't recall ever having had these experiences singly, let alone in tandem.

Over the next few weeks, that one word was subjected to more analysis than it could probably stand.

I think all those things are sooooo relatable and again, that's what I truly love about Hornby's stuff.  It's not going to knock you out with serious subject matter or Nobel Prize winning prose (though with those passages I just quoted, I'd beg to differ) but he'll make you smile, nod your head, and even ponder your own life for the hours you'll spend with him and his characters.

On a side note, you'll probably be seeing Hornby pop up again on my reading list.  When I found this book, I had not realized (quite shocking since I am usually on top of these things) that his 3rd and final collection of essays about reading was published a bit ago. I devoured first two collections, The Polysyllabic Spree and Housekeeping Vs. The Dirt, so look forward to this one fairly soon (no promises ever when it comes to the order of my reading list!).

Housekeeping Vs. The Dirt (#19)

Figured while I was away, this would be a good opportunity to catch up on my book reviews.  I have a feeling my current book is going to take me awhile (in a good way), so I might finally not be so behind.      

... and as you can see, the next book is Nick Hornby's Housekeeping vs. The Dirt... and honestly, I am going to have a hard time coming up with something to say about it... or should I say something "new" about it.

Earlier this year, I read Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree which was a collection of his monthly columns originally published in the literary magazine, Believer... and this is just Volume 2 of that series.

So it's more of the same... Hornby writing about reading. Each month's column starts with a list of "books bought" and "books read"... and more often than not, the two lists do not match up very well...  a phenomenon any chronic book buyer (like myself!) can relate to.

At least in this collection, I had read more of the same books that Hornby did... like I mentioned, in my Spree recap it is not required that you know the books that Hornby is writing about... but it is kind of fun when you do (or have).  I also had my first disappointment in that Hornby bought a book that I had read (The Tender Bar), but never got around to reading it.  It would have been cool to hear what he thought about that book... again it's just typical book-aholic behavior ... after all, I am reading a book right now that was sitting on my shelf for over two years!

As with Spree, it is an extremely quick ... in readability and the slimness of the book.  Despite being a successful author, Hornby is no book snob... here is some advice he offers up in the preface:

If reading books is to survive as a leisure activity -- and there are some statistics which show that this is by no means assured -- then we have to promote the joys of reading rather than the (dubious) benefits.  I would never attempt to dissuade anyone from reading a book.  But please, if you are reading a book that's killing you, put it down and read something else, just as you would reach for the remote if you weren't enjoying a TV program.  Your failure to enjoy a highly rated novel doesn't mean you're dim... It doesn't matter.  All I know is that you can get very little from a book that is making you weep with the effort of reading it.  You won't remember it, and you'll learn nothing from it, and you'll be less likely to choose a book over Big Brother next time you have a choice.

Some good advice... and I know that starting in July, I'll be picking up a book but only after I have finished watching Big Brother!

2007 10K Reading Challenge:  + 143 pages (Total Pages: 5537 pages) 

The Polysyllabic Spree (#7)

I'm back in catch-up mode with book re-caps.  Full disclosure (not that you could possibly care!), I read this one way back on February 19th and 20th (yes, just two days... but don't be impressed just yet).  While that might not seem that long ago, it was pre-Rocky... and the resulting reading momentum hiccup seem like eons ago. 

I always feel a bit silly at this point, announcing my reading selection.   I am assuming your eyes have were first drawn to the graphic on the left, but nevertheless it was Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree.   I am a fan of Hornby's fiction... most recently A Long Way Down from my 2006 reading romp.  If you are not familiar with Hornby, you may be aware of the some of his works that have been made into movies ... High Fidelity, About A Boy, and Fever Pitch.

This one is a non-fiction... more specifically, a compilation of his monthly columns from the literary magazine The Believer from September 2003 thru November 2004 (a sequel of sorts, Housekeeping vs. the Dirt, was released late last year).

So what's this book about?  Well, let's just say I read a book about a guy reading books.  Pretty funny, huh?  It was pretty amusing to me... and any book addict will be quite entertained by Hornby's literary odyssey.  Each month, Hornby lists "Books Bought" and "Books Read" and the first list is usually quite longer than the second.  I have admitted that my love of buying books probably exceeds my love of reading them.. so I immediately felt a kindred spirit with Hornby when I read this passage in the very first essay:

I don't want anyone writing in to point out that I spend too much money on books, many of which I will never read.  I know that already. I certainly intend to read all of them, more or less.  My intentions are good. Anyway, it's my money. And I'll bet that you do it too.

Likewise, after a "heavy" book I have often saying I need something "quick and easy" (something that I experiencing right now)... Hornby eerily echoed this:

I'm beginning to see our appetite for books is the same as our appetite is for food, that our brain tell us when we need the literary equivalent of salads, or chocolate, or meat and potatoes.

Additionally, if you think a successful author like Hornby has problems "getting" a book every now and then... well he does... and don't we all: 

I just lost my grip on the book. Also, someone gets shot dead in the end, and I wasn't altogether sure why. That's a sure sign you haven't been paying the right kind of attention.  It should always be clear why someone gets shot. If I ever shoot you, I promise you there will be a really good explanation, one you will grasp immediately, should you live.

The collection of essays is filled with witty gems like these... I had a hard time deciding which ones I would share with you.  I should mention that I have not read (or, in some cases, have I even heard of) the books Hornby writes about... and at a quite skinny 127 pages (now see why it took me only 2 days to read!), you don't get a whole lot of bang for your reading buck... but it was a very enjoyable read and quite worth it for me... so much so that I am pretty confident I will buy (and read!) the next installment.

2007 10K Reading Challenge:  + 127 pages (Total Pages: 2105 pages)

A Long Way Down

My reading momentum continues...

The latest notch on my reading list is Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down.  Hornby is probably the king of Brit-Pop-Lit... offering up very palatable and entertaining novels.  Having read two of his previous works (High Fidelity & How To Be Good), he is someone I turn to when I am looking for something with a bit more substance but not serious literature.  If you've haven't read Hornby, you may have seen one of the big-screen adaptation...  the aforementioned High Fidelity along with About A Boy or Fever Pitch... and, although I didn't know it before starting this post, I guess it is no surprise that a movie version of this book is in the works.  Oddly enough, I haven't seen any of these movies!  Go figure?!

You can always count on Hornby being quite funny... so guess the subject matter of this novel... suicide!   Hurray!  Yes, quite a challenge to squeak out laughs on that subject, but Hornby manages to do it.  As the novel starts, we meet a washed-up morning television host as he is ready to take a leap of a popular suicide London rooftop... but before he can do it, he is interrupted not once, not twice... but three times!   The foursome end up talking... which pretty much distracts them from their intention to end it all... and ultimately take the "long way down" ... the stairs down the building.  So you can see the humor, right?!

We follow these four very different principal characters over the next 90 days as they form this odd little "club" as they come to terms what brought them all to the same rooftop.  So, it all gets semi-philosophical and utlimately life-affirming. The movie pitch probably was taken right from one of the blurbs on the back cover... "It's like The Breakfast Club rewritten by Samuel Beckett."

So I guess I'll leave it that.  I know not much of a review... but just a little taste if you are looking for something easy to read, different, and entertaining.