In the pit of my stomach

I'm sorry, is that gross? 

I'm just trying to say that I just deleted my old blog, and it left a very icky feeling in the pit of my stomach.  Like I was killing something that maybe didn't want to be killed--even though everything from that blog has been transferred here.  It just makes me uneasy.  What if I missed something?

I feel uneasy now, and in retrospect, should not have done that an hour before bed.  I do not think I will sleep well.  And especially considering that I am reading Nick Hornby's new book (which admittedly does not have the easy magnetism of say, High Fidelity or About a Boy, but is okay, in a Nick-Hornby-Is-Still-A-Genius-To-Me kind of a way.  Also, completely on another note, Chuck Klosterman has a new book coming out, and I *Heart* Chuck Klosterman forever and always.  If you haven't read Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, I demand that you do so immediately.  And then, when you love that, you can read Fargo Rock City, which is good, but not quite as good, in a Chuck-Klosterman-Is-Still-A-Genius kind of way.  In fact, Klosterman is the ONLY reason to have a subscription to Spin magazine these days, in the same way that if it wasn't so fucking expensive, Nick Hornby's delightful column is the only reason to have a subscription to the Believer.  [Another aside--I don't get Eggers.  He has a column in Spin too, and I really don't get it, and let's not even start on A Heartbreaking Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah.]  In fact, Nick Hornby's columns are collected in the most delightful read I've had in ages--I picked it up and didn't put it down until I had finished it, which is rare and time-consuming, but it latched on to my hand and that was that.  [The Polysyllabic Spree, in case you wanted the title.  Also, the title alone is delightful, in a pop-culture music sort of a way.]  Okay, where the fuck am I?) which is about suicide in a really roundabout way.  Still, suicide isn't exactly the easiest thing to read about, and I'm thinking it's pretty gutsy of Hornby to tackle the subject with a modicum of humor and his typically British sense of ennui.  I don't know if I'll feel that way when I finish the book, but right now, it's good enough that I want to keep reading, and just thought-provoking enough that I won't stop thinking about it (and suicide as a social solution). 

Perhaps "In the pit of my stomach" wasn't the best title for this post.

Comments

I just started my first Nick Hornby, "How to Be Good," and I'm really having trouble getting into it, because I really don't like the main character so far. However, I will stick with it, because it's for the summer meeting of my book group. These days, the only reason I will persevere with a book I'm not enjoying is if it's "required" reading. Was the movie "High Fidelity" based on Hornby's book? I did like that, although I was lukewarm about Hugh Grant and "About a Boy." S.N.

[Manogirl]

Yes, High Fidelity (the movie) was loosely based on the book. But so completely loosely that it's really easy to like both without the book getting in the way. In fact, I guess I felt the same way about About a Boy.

I've always thought that Hornby did a great job of making sure his books didn't end up as crappy movies--by sanctioning completely different films. If that makes sense.

I suppose all I can say, really, is that High Fidelity is one of the truest pictures of working in a music store that I've ever seen. From someone who worked in one. Remember when they laughed at the guy who came in for the Stevie Wonder song? Yeah, I'm not saying we laughed at Stevie Wonder fans, but oh, we laughed. And made lists, and argued about what was better. Maybe I like it so much (the book and the movie) because of how true I think it is.

And anyway, I'm a sucker for John Cusack. (And Hugh Grant, btw, which might explain my adoration of About a Boy (the movie).

[jwer]

High Fidelity is two of my all-time faves; both book and movie. I liked About a Boy marginally better as a book, and I've only seen the Colin Firth Fever Pitch. Which was good if obscure-ish.

Meanwhile, I don't get Eggers either. I really didn't like Might magazine at all, and while I was frequently happy with McSweeney's, it was almost never because of him. I read AHWOSG, and laughed plenty of times, but mostly just wanted to strangle him for being such a smug dick. Ah well.

Just for the record: I finished How to be Good this morning, and now have to say it's one of the best books I've read in a long time! It was true to relationships and life in general the way you thought High Fidelity was true to what it's like to work in a music store. It was depressing and hilarious at the same time. Hornby's now on my list! S.N.