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Nick Hornby
Viking 2009
Duncan is a bit of a pain. He writes a review of each book he reads and posts it on his website. Sorry ... Start again. He's a bit of a pain because he's obsessed with an American singer songwriter, Tucker Crowe, who hasn't released a record or performed for over twenty years. He hosts a web community for likeminded souls who pore continually over the lyrics of his last release, a tortured account of his relationship with the eponymous Juliet. Duncan's ended up in the grim east coast (English east coast that is) town of Gooleness, where he pursues his obsession and neglects his girlfriend. Then one day a demo version of Juliet is released: Juliet Naked. Duncan writes an adulatory review; his girlfriend contributes a more negative riposte. And then Tucker gets in touch... Nick Hornby's latest novel is about how men get obsessed, and about how tortured art doesn't always equal tortured artist. It's a speculation about what really happens when someone does a Salinger and withdraws from the world, and an exploration of the difference between the image a fan has of his or her hero and the reality of that person's life. It's funny and thought provoking; as with all Hornby's writing it looks effortless but clearly isn't. However, as in other recent novels of his, the story isn't really believable, and, in the end, nor are the characters. To me it reads more like a fable than a realistic novel, no matter how recognisable the characters are. It's engrossing nevertheless (I got through it in two days) and very enjoyable. It's also, I think, more profound than it first appears. It presents the age old conflict of Life and Art from a fresh and accessible perspective, if that's not too pretentious: "The truth about autobiographical songs ... was that you had to make the present become the past ... The truth about life was that nothing ever ended until you died, and even then you just left a whole bunch of unresolved narratives behind you."
17 February 2010
http://www.nicksbooks.com/index.php/archives/category/news/
See also: Slam; The Complete Polysyllabic Spree; 31 Songs
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