Saturday, 14 May 2011

So, totally unoriginal then...

The book: High Fidelity, Nick Hornby's first novel

The review: "This is real life laid bare, a fine-tuned, socio-cultural tragi-comedy that finds echoes in everything from J.D. Salinger's Holden Caulfield to Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole, from Roddy Doyle's Barrytown to Irvine Welsh's Leith."

The reviewer: Craig McLean, Scotland on Sunday

The verdict: In addition, the other 4 pages of review quotes at the front of the book name-check between them H.G. Wells, George Orwell, Kingsley Amis, David Lodge, Salinger (again), Kelman, Paddy Clarke, Martin Amis and Julian Barnes, the film The Commitments, and the former Arsenal striker Ian Wright. Which makes it a tour de force of derivativeness if nothing else.

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