Fever Pitch Nick Hornby 9780241953082 Books
Download As PDF : Fever Pitch Nick Hornby 9780241953082 Books
Fever Pitch by Hornby, Nick (2010) Paperback [Paperback] [Jan 01, 1009] Hornby, Nick B00OVMOF1I
Fever Pitch Nick Hornby 9780241953082 Books
When author Nick Hornby admits to his audience that before a North London derby on March 4, 1987 that he’d seen a psychiatrist, at that point you’re in no way surprised, particularly if you’re a committed football club supporter, yourself. But after drawing so many parallels with Hornby throughout his life as an Arsenal fan, you, yourself, begin to wonder how far off the shrink is in your own life. By many accounts Fever Pitch is just a collection of the writer’s memoirs about his experiences at the football. At times you can put yourself in his shoes and feel for the Gunners’ misfortunes regardless of your own allegiance. In others, you feel inclined to laugh whether it’s at the coming of age events Hornby endures at Highbury and beyond or his overall mood and sentiment toward peripheral aspects of his life and how they interact with his primary existence, being an Arsenal fan. Either way, you get the feeling he’s laughing along with you.Nevertheless, Fever Pitch is much more than the ramblings of a mad man. Hornby, conditioned by a life where he constantly struggles to find his place (all inclusively traced from boyhood to his thirties), engagingly illustrates an accurate account of Arsenal’s history from the sixties to early nineties as well as a telling reflection of the encapsulated socioeconomic eras. The rise and fall of England’s World Cup triumph, Arsenal’s double in ’71, the coming and going of hooliganism’s height in the eighties, the Hillsborough tragedy, and the last minute league championship heroics at Anfield in ‘89 are all topics he covers, but then so are the divorce of his parents, Technicolor, waves of musical influence, the blight of finding fulfilling work, girlfriends and ex-girlfriends, the National Front, terrace racism, the results of the Taylor Report and more. That being said, he warns the reader at the beginning that they will be required to entertain the conclusions he draws relating to literature, theatre, art, and so on. As the pages turn, you grow up with Nick Hornby.
Hornby frequently apologizes throughout, as if to say: I know you don’t really understand, but you’re not the first and I accept that. The trouble is, if you’re as football-crazed as we are at The Away End, you do understand, almost effortlessly. For an American, depending on your age, a life like Hornby’s in almost all instances isn’t one you had the enjoyment and simultaneous torture of living out. However, as a suburban boy Hornby is tasked with convincing others and himself more so that he belongs to Arsenal, a club from the city. This is much in the way many Americans view the clubs to which they devout their transplanted hearts to in London, Manchester, Barcelona, or Milan. Read Fever Pitch for the humor, for the culture, and for the unanticipated emotional relation you can make you with your own journey as a football fan. It would make a great history lesson of eras past unbeknownst to new and/or young fans of the beautiful game.
Product details
|
Tags : Fever Pitch [Nick Hornby] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Fever Pitch by Hornby, Nick (2010) Paperback [Paperback] [Jan 01, 1009] Hornby, Nick B00OVMOF1I,Nick Hornby,Fever Pitch,Penguin,0241953081
People also read other books :
- General Hermann Balck An Interview January 1979 eBook Ray Merriam
- Death Comes Calling eBook Kristine Adler Gemma Stephens
- Foxbane Kirov Series Battle Book I The Desert War Kiriv Series Battle Books 1 eBook John Schettler
- The Fat Kid Mark A Roeder 9781540585561 Books
- The Princess and the Clown Oliver Story U R Missing Book 2 edition by Bridget Burnett Heidi Sampson Religion Spirituality eBooks
Fever Pitch Nick Hornby 9780241953082 Books Reviews
One of the things that I've come to understand when trying to review books (as well as many other things in life) is that sometimes I won't connect with a book that otherwise might be a good book. This is one of those times. I'm not saying that this is a bad book, but I struggled to complete it. The book is essentially an autobiography of the author, Nick Hornby, as told through the lens of his obsession with the Arsenal football team. I think the reason it didn't connect with me is that while Hornby seems like a nice fellow and has quite a few high profile works to his credit, I wasn't interested in reading his autobiography. That left the football content which was well done, but as an emerging fan of English football, there just wasn't enough original insight into football to hold my interest.
I did learn quite a bit about the history and psychology of the Arsenal football club and that was the most interesting portion of the book for me. I now understand much better why Arsenal developed a reputation over the years as being "boring" and I thought the portion of the book where Hornby described the club's flirtation with "Total Football" to be interesting. There just wasn't enough of that sort of content in the book to hold my interest. If you are an Arsenal fan, I think this would be an excellent book to learn more about the history of the club as seen through a fan's eyes who watched it unfold over the years.
What is interesting to me about this book, and frankly just about all books about sports nuts, is there comes a day when a person decides to follow a team. It's not like you were born supporting Arsenal, Man United, etc. Sometime during your life you have to choose to follow a team. Most young boys pick the team their Dad follows, but not always. What comes from it after that is completely up to the individual.
So what sets apart Fever Pitch from other books? Nick Hornby gives the fanatic part of being a fan its true definition. He decides to support Arsenal. But that is not enough, he is completely and totally obsessed with Arsenal. This book offers many funny anecdotes of how this obsession takes over his life. One of the things Mr. Hornby doesn't shy away from is how this affects other areas of his life. How he misses out on many of the social aspects of family, friends, and eventually even girlfriends. There is a dark side to always having to know every detail of every player and every game.
I found myself reading this book and having sympathy for him. He can't seem to help himself. He probably needs therapy to help him through life. This is the beauty of this book. It completely immerses you in his world. You hear the stories of his youth, the mistakes he has made in life, all wrapped within the context of his obsession. There is probably enough material here for any obsession to be covered. From drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc. They all have the same affect on life and in their most addictive forms truly portray Mr. Hornby's fixation on Arsenal.
Pros
o learn the inside story of Arsenal from a fan's perspective over half a lifetime
o excellent story-telling - brings reader into his world completely
o builds sympathy for all the characters involved
Cons
o kinda gets a little creepy with this - perhaps this is a positive, because it certainly affected me as a reader
Overall - I recommend this book. Especially to any American fans of soccer. It gives you an excellent detailed story of how some of the English fans follow their team.
When author Nick Hornby admits to his audience that before a North London derby on March 4, 1987 that he’d seen a psychiatrist, at that point you’re in no way surprised, particularly if you’re a committed football club supporter, yourself. But after drawing so many parallels with Hornby throughout his life as an Arsenal fan, you, yourself, begin to wonder how far off the shrink is in your own life. By many accounts Fever Pitch is just a collection of the writer’s memoirs about his experiences at the football. At times you can put yourself in his shoes and feel for the Gunners’ misfortunes regardless of your own allegiance. In others, you feel inclined to laugh whether it’s at the coming of age events Hornby endures at Highbury and beyond or his overall mood and sentiment toward peripheral aspects of his life and how they interact with his primary existence, being an Arsenal fan. Either way, you get the feeling he’s laughing along with you.
Nevertheless, Fever Pitch is much more than the ramblings of a mad man. Hornby, conditioned by a life where he constantly struggles to find his place (all inclusively traced from boyhood to his thirties), engagingly illustrates an accurate account of Arsenal’s history from the sixties to early nineties as well as a telling reflection of the encapsulated socioeconomic eras. The rise and fall of England’s World Cup triumph, Arsenal’s double in ’71, the coming and going of hooliganism’s height in the eighties, the Hillsborough tragedy, and the last minute league championship heroics at Anfield in ‘89 are all topics he covers, but then so are the divorce of his parents, Technicolor, waves of musical influence, the blight of finding fulfilling work, girlfriends and ex-girlfriends, the National Front, terrace racism, the results of the Taylor Report and more. That being said, he warns the reader at the beginning that they will be required to entertain the conclusions he draws relating to literature, theatre, art, and so on. As the pages turn, you grow up with Nick Hornby.
Hornby frequently apologizes throughout, as if to say I know you don’t really understand, but you’re not the first and I accept that. The trouble is, if you’re as football-crazed as we are at The Away End, you do understand, almost effortlessly. For an American, depending on your age, a life like Hornby’s in almost all instances isn’t one you had the enjoyment and simultaneous torture of living out. However, as a suburban boy Hornby is tasked with convincing others and himself more so that he belongs to Arsenal, a club from the city. This is much in the way many Americans view the clubs to which they devout their transplanted hearts to in London, Manchester, Barcelona, or Milan. Read Fever Pitch for the humor, for the culture, and for the unanticipated emotional relation you can make you with your own journey as a football fan. It would make a great history lesson of eras past unbeknownst to new and/or young fans of the beautiful game.
0 Response to "[JEY]⋙ Libro Fever Pitch Nick Hornby 9780241953082 Books"
Post a Comment