Today I sat down and read High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. Yes, yes, the same book that was made into a movie starring John Cusack. I don't remember the movie particularly well, except for the part where he rearranges his record collection "autobiographically" and the part where Jack Black comes into the record store and stomps (figuratively) all over the mild-mannered guy and his taste in Belle and Sebastian.
The book, I imagine, will prove much more memorable, for many reasons, not the least of which is because I had the following conversation with teh Stax0r (who loaned it to me) about it:
Her: "Are you enjoying it?"
Me: "Yeah, it's great! I love it."
Her: "Do you know why?"
Me (formulating some statement having to do with music and possibly a tendency to overthink things): "..."
Her (cutting me off before I can start): "Because it's about a wuss who sits around feeling sorry for himself all the time."
Wow, thanks! She said it good-naturedly, but still, what a vote of confidence, huh? That, in fact, hit me close enough to home in that "kidding on the square" way that I can't even muster an appropriate segue into something else here.
I had one of those weird coincidences that I might blow out of proportion if I were the kind of person to seriously suspect that the noises the "amber" gain channel on my amp has been making lately are dead people trying to communicate, which I'm not. Like I said, I didn't remember the movie well. Not remembering who plays the Laura character, I was imagining her in my head as being Maura Tierney. Having seen Scotland, PA, I blinked a couple of extra times when Rob refers to her at one point as "Lady MacBeth."
All in all, this has been an odd book report, but I would nonetheless recommend this book to anyone who can be both self-critically aware and post-modernly ironic about their own tendency to be self-pitying.
----
P.S. Generally when I use the term "post-modern," I'm being "self-mocking on the square," which, when you think about it, is kind of post-modern.
The book, I imagine, will prove much more memorable, for many reasons, not the least of which is because I had the following conversation with teh Stax0r (who loaned it to me) about it:
Her: "Are you enjoying it?"
Me: "Yeah, it's great! I love it."
Her: "Do you know why?"
Me (formulating some statement having to do with music and possibly a tendency to overthink things): "..."
Her (cutting me off before I can start): "Because it's about a wuss who sits around feeling sorry for himself all the time."
Wow, thanks! She said it good-naturedly, but still, what a vote of confidence, huh? That, in fact, hit me close enough to home in that "kidding on the square" way that I can't even muster an appropriate segue into something else here.
I had one of those weird coincidences that I might blow out of proportion if I were the kind of person to seriously suspect that the noises the "amber" gain channel on my amp has been making lately are dead people trying to communicate, which I'm not. Like I said, I didn't remember the movie well. Not remembering who plays the Laura character, I was imagining her in my head as being Maura Tierney. Having seen Scotland, PA, I blinked a couple of extra times when Rob refers to her at one point as "Lady MacBeth."
All in all, this has been an odd book report, but I would nonetheless recommend this book to anyone who can be both self-critically aware and post-modernly ironic about their own tendency to be self-pitying.
----
P.S. Generally when I use the term "post-modern," I'm being "self-mocking on the square," which, when you think about it, is kind of post-modern.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
al:
Maybe it's dad's mom, being so angry that you're squandering your life being a musician that's she's trying to come back through to strangle you. Or bore you to death with a lecture about it.
ms_bliss:
hey, thanks for commenting on my entry. talk about venting! i was obviously in the mood to vent. anywho, can i add you as a friend? your journal seems interesting.