I like the idea of this book - an author sharing his reading choices and reflecting on them - but it's a bit tedious, and Nick Hornby seems to be trying too hard to be witty here.

Az első Hornby-olvasásom volt, vagyis az első sikeres. Egyszer már nekifutottam a Fever Pitch-nek, de az nagyon nem ment. Persze, láttam egy-két könyvéből készült filmet, és annyian szeretitek, hogy mindenképpen akartam adni neki még egy esélyt. Aztán a Budapesti Molyklub júniusi alkalmára a várólistán legrégebben ücsörgő könyv volt a feladat, és engem ez a könyv várt ott, magyarul. (Még valamikor ezer éve vettem, amikor hajlandó voltam eredetileg angolul megjelenteket magyarul olvasni.) Biztos, ami biztos, ránéztem az eredeti adatlapjára, végigcsillagoztam az idézeteket, mert óriásiak, és felfedeztem, hogy csak 2 font a kindle-változat, úgyhogy megvettem (a folytatás is 2 font, azt is – ebből már sejthető, hogy tetszett).

Két nagy baj van vele: az egyik, hogy iszonyúan kedvet csinál egy rakás könyvhöz, amit még nem olvastam, úgyhogy várólista-csökkentés helyett várólista-duplázás lett belőle (jó, nem, de sokkal hosszabb lett). A másik tényleg probléma, de csak a kindle-változatban: az idézett graphic novel olvashatatlan volt, telefonon kellett végül kinagyítani.

Nagyon bírtam a humorát, a folytatást is biztosan el fogom olvasni. Egy amerikai magazinban megjelenő könyvkritikai rovat cikkeit gyűjtötték össze, szóval ha valaki ott már olvasta… nem valószínű, igaz? Mondjuk annyira személyes és szórakoztató, hogy inkább emlékeztetett valamiféle analóg molyra. Tömegközlekedési eszközökön csak akkor ajánlott olvasni, ha nem zavartatjuk magunkat az időnként kitörő elfojthatatlan vigyorgástól (esetleg kuncogástól, hangos felnevetéstől – gondolom, vérmérsékletfüggő).

A Polysyllabic Spree egyébként a The Polyphonic Spree nevű, a wikipédia szerint pszichedelikus pop és szimfonikus rock műfajokban utazó, soktagú rock kórusra utal (bármit is jelentsen mindez), amúgy pedig egy rendkívül szórakoztató visszatérő poén a váltakozó létszámú szigorú vezetőségről, akik miatt a lehúzó kritikákat például csak szerző és cím nélkül írja.

Hornbyval ismerkedéshez abszolút ajánlott, erős önuralommal rendelkezőknek pláne, különben súlyos várólista-növekedést okozhat (és esetleg bankszámla-zsugorodást, mert könyvtárból kevéssé beszerezhetőek az említett könyvek). ( )

The moment I'd finished I bought myself a first edition, and then another, for a friend's birthday. It's that sort of book. I'll tell you how much I liked it: one paragraph in the story 'When She Is Old and I Am Famous' contained the words 'gowns', 'pumps', 'diva hairdos', 'pink chiffon', ' silk roses', 'couture' and 'Vogue', and, after the briefest shudder, I read on anyway.

A really enjoyable collection of Nick Hornby's humorous Stuff I've Been Reading columns from The Believer (an American magazine), which was made even better for me by the fact that the isn't much overlap in our reading tastes, so I only had to add three authors to my wish list. My local library system has several books by Jess Walter and Marilynne Robinson so I can try them both out, but they don't have any of Patrick Hamilton's novels (although they do have several of his plays).

For the June/July 2005 column, Nick Hornby decided he should try something different, and chose "Excession", which I wouldn't recommend as an introduction to the Culture let alone as someone's first ever science fiction book, and unsurprisingly he abandoned the entire ill-conceived experiment altogether when faced with the ship to ship conversation in Chapter 1. But where we do overlap is with "Into the Wild", "Death and the Penguin", which he read reluctantly but ended up liking, saying that the penguin is a masterly creation, and "Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction", which he was only lukewarm about. ( )

While Nick Hornby is best known for his fiction that includes books like High Fidelity and About a Boy, some maybe familiar with his column in The Believer called Stuff I’ve Been Reading. The Complete Polysyllabic Spree is the combination of two U.S. titles from his column, The Polysyllabic Spree and Housekeeping vs. the Dirt. The title is a reference to the Dallas choral rock band The Polyphonic Spree, a group with over twenty members in it. Hornby often describes the works of The Believer in this way; “all dressed in white robes and smiling maniacally, sort of like a literary equivalent of The Polyphonic Spree.”

In fact, The Believer is a literary magazine created by Dave Eggers and part of the McSweeney’s company; it also focuses on other forms of the arts and general culture. It started in 2003 and releases nine issues a year; this book takes Hornsby’s column from September 2003 to mid-2006. Each article follows the same basic format, first listing books he bought that month, and then the books he read. However due to The Believers guidelines all books he hated must be listed as untitled. This is followed by an essay talking about these books and future reading plans, often between 500 to 2000 words.

What I thought was interesting is the fact that Nick Hornby took a very simple formula and worked within the confines of it successfully. As stated in a previous What I Think about When I’m Not Blogging post, this has inspired me to write more personal essays. However I have to say, I was a little disappointed by this book, simply because he kept to the same formula and never grew or evolved as a reader or writer. I like the idea but I would have liked to see some growth or experimentation; I also think if you don’t mention the books you don’t like can’t really give a true representation of your reading life, but I do understand their policy.

I have to also mention that Nick Hornby has a strong aversion to literary fiction and will actively poke at it. The idea that people only read literary fiction to become literary snobs felt a little off colour; I embrace my pretentious nature but I read literary fiction because I love the proses. His reading tastes are very narrow and focus mainly on popular fiction; this type of article would be far more interesting if the writer was interested in exploring all types of literature. I am fascinated by books about books and learning about someone’s reading journey but this was like watching someone run in the same spot. There was no risk-taking and no changes from article to article; to make matters worse I did not add a single book to my TBR as a result of reading this.

This review originally appeared on my blog: http://literary-exploration.com/2014/11/27/the-complete-polysyllabic-spree-by-ni... ( )

"This is not a book of reviews. This is not a book that sneers at other books. This is a book about enjoying books wherever and however you find them. Nick Hornby is first and foremost a reader and he approaches books like the rest of us: hoping to pick up one he can´t put down. The complete polysillabic spree is a diary or sorts, charting his reading life over two years. It is a celebration of why we read -its pleasures, its celebration disappointments and its surprises. And above all, it is for you- the ever hopeful reader."
(edit. promo)

En este libro, Nick Hornby (Alta fidelidad, Fiebre en las gradas) nos presenta una serie de artículos sobre los libros que ha leído ese mes entre los que, de vez en cuando, intercala capítulos de obras que considera interesantes en su momento (hay hasta un poco de cómic con el Persépolis de Satrapi)

Al final no sabes si lo dice de coña o es verdad, pero parece que esta serie de artículos mensuales (aunque se salta algunos meses aduciendo problemas de criterios con los del Polysillabic Spree) salieron publicados en una revista literaria que se llamaría (siempre según él) The Believer. En ellos nos va describiendo un poco lo que ha leído ese mes y el libro es curioso porque no se trata de reseñas sobre las obras, sino de las impresiones que le producen. De hecho, sus lecturas no resultan ser más que meras excusas para que el pavo se ponga a reflexionar y nos suelte sus paranoias (a razón de una mensual, salen unas cuantas cuando abarcas un par de años)

Me gusta mucho la intro que hace para explicar su punto de vista sobre la lectura. Para él, leer debería ser una actividad de ocio, con sus competidores en las otras propuestas de ocio (cine, tele, deportes (es un forofo del fútbol que te cagas)) no en las otras formas de conocimiento, por lo que habría que promover sobre todo los goces que proporciona, más que sus supuestos beneficios culturizadores. Vamos, un poco como le digo yo a la peña: si el libro no te engancha en las primeras cincuenta páginas o así, déjalo porque lo único que vas a conseguir es pillarle más paquete. (lo que el argumenta es "como si cambiaras de canal con el mando si estuvieras viendo la tele")

Y es que siempre se asocia lo literario a un estatus de cultura o de saber que, a veces, perjudica la posibilidad de aproximarse a lo escrito y que oculta la dimensión lúdica de la lectura.

Serás mucho más inteligente si lees obras consideradas canónicas? (y a todo ésto, quién las hace canónicas). Para Hornby, en los grandes libros pasa como con los iPod, se ha invertido un montón de inteligencia en su creación, pero la inteligencia no es transferible.

Detalle: El autor descubre en esta época de su vida a Marah en un conciertillo de taberna y flipa tanto con ellos que se pone a leer las obras de Patrick Hamilton (el autor de "20,000 strets under the sky" por si el título os suena de algo) ( )