constant crises

i finished up the book high fidelity while i was on the plane last night. it's actually rather remarkable that i had never read the novel, considering how i've had many people (who know me pretty well) over the years tell me how much i would enjoy nick hornby's work. so high fidelity was number two on my list of hornby novels, the first being about a boy. first of all, i'll start by saying that the movie version of high fidelity, starring john cusack, has absolutely no chance at providing an accurate reproduction of the novel. there's just too much introspective and masculine mumbling to properly transfer to the hollywood visual medium. the reason that's important is that the book is great, while the movie is, depending on who you ask, good or garbage. i never really put much stock in comments like, "he writes men/women very well," but somehow i found myself saying that while i read high fidelity. hornby has a frank and honest male voice, filled with all of its truthful inadequacies and asshole qualities. it's the kind of narrative that i would hear in my own head if i was, er, more of a jerk and much more bitter. he's not complicated, but he's so perfectly expressive. which brings me to why i find people like nick hornby amazing. whenever i jot something on paper (or in this case: bits), i find it hard to transfer pure honesty and self-reflection into writing. people like nick hornby humble me because i can read what he writes and find myself saying, "man, his writing is exactly how i would feel there." it's inspiring, and maybe that's why i'm gonna start writing here more often again. promise. oh, one more note: when i got to the end of the novel, i finally saw a picture of hornby and was shocked to see a very plain-looking bald english man. not sure what i was expecting, but that wasn't it. i guess i expected someone who knew me so well to share SOMETHING in common with me. ah well...