Monday, February 22, 2010

Review-Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

From Goodreads.com:
From the beloved New York Times- bestselling author, a quintessential Nick Hornby tale of music, superfandom, and the truths and lies we tell ourselves about life and love.
Annie loves Duncan-or thinks she does. Duncan loves Annie, but then, all of a sudden, he doesn't. Duncan really loves Tucker Crowe, a reclusive Dylanish singer-songwriter who stopped making music ten years ago. Annie stops loving Duncan, and starts getting her own life.

In doing so, she initiates an e-mail correspondence with Tucker, and a connection is forged between two lonely people who are looking for more out of what they've got. Tucker's been languishing (and he's unnervingly aware of it), living in rural Pennsylvania with what he sees as his one hope for redemption amid a life of emotional and artistic ruin-his young son, Jackson. But then there's also the new material he's about to release to the world: an acoustic, stripped-down version of his greatest album, Juliet-entitled, Juliet, Naked.

What happens when a washed-up musician looks for another chance? And miles away, a restless, childless woman looks for a change? Juliet, Naked is a powerfully engrossing, humblingly humorous novel about music, love, loneliness, and the struggle to live up to one's promise.


I have a confession. I've never read any of Hornby's books. I've seen the movies based on his books, but never actually read one of his books. I'm glad I choose Juliet, Naked for my first foray into Hornby's work.
Duncan and Annie kind of just wound up together. And for 15 years they stay together until one day everything changes and Annie decided she's had enough of Duncan.
I loved the alternating voice of Annie and Tucker. Both were coming out of a hibernation, looking for something to prove they weren't wasting their lives any more. At the beginning they are both a little sad, but they come to terms with what led to their hibernations. And ultimately they find new lives, a change from what they had done for so long. I found both Annie and Tucker to be very honest and broken characters. I enjoyed getting to know them and listening to their story, hearing the healing process begin for both of them. Recommended.
Other reviews can be found at My Books, My Life, Stacked, and Becky's Book Reviews.

4 comments:

  1. If it is confession time then I have one too, never read one either

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  2. I love the way you described these two people...this one is on my list!

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  3. Glad you enjoyed this one. I loved the audio. Thanks for linking to my review.

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  4. I've been disappointed with Nick Hornby's lst couple of novels but this does sound good. Time, I think, to give the man the benefit of the doubt!

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