High Fidelity and Its Excellent Storytelling-2nd Draft

 Leah Stofko

Mr. Coon

A.P. English 

2 September 2011

High Fidelity and Its Stellar Storytelling

       It is rather uncommon that a book on a school summer reading list has a review from The New Yorker the front cover that says,"'[i]t is rare that a book so hilarious is also so sharp about sex and manliness, memory and music.'" How can a book that deals with such promiscuous topics make its way onto my A.P. English list? There must be some level of noblesse, I thought. But how can an author construct a serious novel with such licentious fundamentals? And so, my curiosity got the best of me, and I found myself making my way to the register with this anomalous book in hand. 

      Notwithstanding my being on the idyllic beaches of Spain with countless opportunities and my new-found foreign friends, I was irrationally engaged in completing Nick Hornby's High Fidelity. The novel delves into the plethora of romantic situations, heartbreaks and disappointments, and other important facets of our daily lives that are so intoxicating as to transport me from Cádiz, Spain to the streets of London, the setting of the novel. Hornby, with his stylistic nuances, successfully employs the literary mechanisms that are essential to great storytelling. Rob, the novel's narrator, uses impeccable word choice with his informal witticisms and satirical remarks, constructs a captivating and complex plot with appropriate character development, and investigates the intricacies of human nature that are stimulating and intriguing. The confluence of these literary devices ultimately constitutes a modern literary masterpiece that embodies the essence of excellent storytelling. 

         Throughout the novel, Rob does not season his story with intricate sentences and words, but his language is consistently informal and clear. He cleverly weaves f-bombs and wisecracks into the fabric of his story. This contemporary flair adds to the novel by creating an element of stream of consciousness; rather than meticulously fabricating a sentence based on the perfect word choice and remaining politically correct, Rob focuses more on what he has to say, rather than how he says it. His lack of care in word selection is not a sign of a dilettante storyteller, but it is inherently valuable because his informal approach adds a layer of authenticity. His word choice allows the audience to feel as though there is no facade they need to break down, but rather his words and story are directly representative of his thoughts. This connection between the teller and the audience is fundamentally imperative in the development of a story because it creates a sense of unity between the two. As an example of his word choice, Rob recounts the following on his lonely birthday that is spent watching movies and eating kettle chips: "Sounds like the sort of birthday a brand-new thirty-six-year-old should have. (Actually, it is the only of birthday a brand-new thirty-six-year old could have--the sort of thirty-six year-old-with no wife, family, girlfriend, or money, anyway. Kettle Chips! F-off!" Further, on a more basic level, his casual language and perpetual swearing heighten the humor in the story, once again enhancing Rob's storytelling. His humor is often the product of his informal self-disparaging ridicule; for example, his informal word-choice and humor are evidenced by Rob's reaction to a phone call from his ex-girlfriend's current boyfriend. After the boyfriend asks about the relationship he and Rob should have, Rob replies with the sly rejoinder of “'dunno'” and sarcastically recounts that “... [he] then I put the phone down—not on a smart, crushing one-liner, or after a raging torrent of abuse, but on a 'dunno.' That's taught him a lesson he won't forget.” However, it is not solely his stellar word choice and hilarious remarks that earn him appraisal, but the well-crafted story line solidifies his proficiency as a storyteller. 

            The structure and development of the plot both unveil Rob's expertise as a narrator. He has fashioned the plot so that the audience is given a holistic history of Rob and his previous, fruitless relationships before diving into his current love situation. This rather depressing background information is vital because the audience sympathizes and roots for him from the beginning. This personal investment from the audience automatically makes the story more of an emotional experience, which is a key component of excellent storytelling. As the story evolves, it becomes obvious that Rob's story has taken a banal topic such as romance and has added an original and spunky twist. He does not romanticize love in any way, but rather, shows it as a direct result of societal expectations and exhaustion of being lonely. For example, Laura, his ex-girlfriend, after deciding to rekindle their relationship, says the following: “' I am too tired not to go out with you […] Everything's too hard. Maybe another time I would have had the guts to be on my own, but not now I haven't.'” Her explantation for wanting to reunite is the least romantic reasoning, and yet, Rob seems to accept her decision. Rob's admission to Laura's indirectly insulting remark clearly exposes a key nuance that only really High Fidelityhas successfully honed in on: the inexplicable emotions and actions pertaining to love that humans feel and commit. Throughout the book, Rob admits that he does not necessarily know why he acts so irrationally in regards to his love affairs, and this aspect of the story really hits home with the audience and heightens its relevance. In addition, while the notion of love serves as his main subject, he adds to the complexity of the story by encompassing a wide gamut of sub-plots pertaining to mid-life crises, failing businesses, and friendships. The variety of topics leaves no room for the story to be slow nor boring.

           Although it is easy to discredit the story as a serious literary work due to its casual language, the underlying ideas are thought-provoking and serious; this novel ultimately becomes more dynamic and impressive with the amalgam of casual prose and thoughtful meanings. Rob often intertwines passages that say a lot about humanity as a whole with his playful jargon. For example, Rob explores the relationship between the two men who work for him, Barry and Dick, after Dick finally has a date. Rob thinks, "and why does it bother Barry so much that Dick is seeing someone? Because he doesn't want a smile from a man with buckteeth and an anorak in the cinema queue, that's why; he's worried about how his life is turning out, and he's lonely, and lonely people are the bitterest of them all." This passage evokes emotion among the audience as Rob is actually honing in on key topics about society: insecurity and loneliness. However, Rob's themes are not necessarily explicitly expounded in passages such as the previous one, but are often implied products of his actions, For example, Rob often draws upon his previous relationships and his past-life and connects them to his current life, and he prescribes his current behaviors as the consequences of the previous events in his life. Rob is directly demonstrating that the essence of who humans are is simply the gathering of past experiences. Scenarios such as this one clearly leaves the audience thinking deeper about humanity, a sign that this book does, in fact, have depth and is though-provoking. 

             And so, after reading this novel, I realized exactly why it was on my AP reading list. That New Yorker review on the front cover was right; the book masters the impossible as it effortlessly combines humorous and intellectual elements into the enticing plot.