High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
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, a Broadway musical in 2006 and a TV series in 2020.
It tells the story of Rob Fleming, "the ultimate music fan, a record store owner who's obsessed with pop culture and Top Five lists." He examines his top five worst break-ups to understand his most recent heartbreak. Rob relates music to every aspect of his life. He utilizes music as an escape from his anxieties regarding his failing record store, relationship, and sense of self. Music provides Rob with the inspiration that keeps him going. Music prompts Rob to isolate himself, hold an unrealistic view of people and sabotage his relationships. Rob allows himself to get overcome with a feeling when listening to a song pertaining to that feeling. Many of the songs he mentions as his favorites or with significant meaning, relate to Robs life in that they have a lot to do with loneliness.
“Is it wrong, wanting to be at home with your record collection? It's not like collecting records is like collecting stamps, or beermats, or antique thimbles. There's a whole world in here, a nicer, dirtier, more violent, more peaceful, more colorful, sleazier, more dangerous, more loving world than the world I live in; there is history, and geography, and poetry, and countless other things I should have studied at school, including music.”
