Nick Hornby //
The hero of High Fidelity is Rob Fleming. A man whose world is based around the record shop he works in (Championship Vinyl), where he compiles top five lists and debates them endlessly with his colleagues Dick and Barry. But Rob's world has just been rocked by being dumped by his girlfriend, Laura. And he's not too happy about it. To try to understand how his relationship with Laura ended so dramatically, he decides to get back in touch with his top five ex-girlfriends. And that's the story of High Fidelity.
Rob is a worrier, a man who shares a total, yet slightly pathetic, fanaticism with Dick and Barry for music and Championship Vinyl. Music's the only thing they really think, or care, about and everything in their lives is inevitably compared to the music they love and their listening experiences. Even Rob's emotions are like the music he loves - they only last for three minutes and are only about a thing.
When Rob eventually steps back and examines his life from a distance, he realises that his emotions make him insecure and lead him to make bad decisions. Laura helps him realise that making decisions can clear things up, and that it's better to make this yourself than wait for someone else to do it for you.
Out of the huge amount of music that's referred to in High Fidelity, Booktunes has compiled a soundtrack of the tunes in the novel that everybody can enjoy, not just record geeks. So download Booktunes 4 and hear the songs that Rob puts into his mixtapes, that add colour to Laura and define Dick and Barry.
text by Erik de Loor / transl. by Will Georgi / photo by Julia Berglund