7.8 /10 1 Votes
Language English Pages 253 pp OCLC 32237794 Adaptations High Fidelity (2000) Genres Novel, Fiction | 3.9/5 Goodreads Publication date 1995 ISBN 0-575-05748-3 Originally published 1995 Publisher Victor Gollancz Ltd Country United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback) Similar Nick Hornby books, Novels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
High Fidelity is a novel by British author Nick Hornby first published in 1995. It has sold over a million copies and was later adapted into a feature film in 2000 and a Broadway musical in 2006. In 2003, the novel was listed on the BBC's survey The Big Read.
Plot summary
Rob Fleming is a London record shop owner in his mid-thirties whose girlfriend, Laura, has just left him. At his record shop, called Championship Vinyl, Rob and his employees, Dick and Barry, spend their free moments discussing mix-tape aesthetics and constructing desert-island, "top-five" lists of anything that demonstrates their knowledge of music.
Rob, recalling his five most memorable breakups, sets about getting in touch with the former girlfriends. Eventually, Rob's re-examination of his failed relationships and the death of Laura's father bring the two back together. Their relationship is cemented by the launch of a new purposefulness to Rob's life in the revival of his disc jockey career.
Also, realising that his fear of commitment (a result of his fear of death of those around him) and his tendency to act on emotion are responsible for his continuing desires to pursue new women, Rob makes a symbolic commitment to Laura.