Books and Records

Nick Hornby was born in Redhill, Surrey, England, in 1957. He graduated from Cambridge University and taught English to foreign students while reviewing for magazines including Time Out and the Literary Review. His first book, a series of critical essays on American novelists, was published in 1992. Fever Pitch, his memoir of a life devoted to Arsenal football club, was published in 1992. It won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award and was adapted as both a play and a film, the latter starring Colin Firth. In 2012, it was recognised for its Outstanding Contribution to Sports Writing at the British Sports Book Awards. His fiction continues to explore male obsessions, crises and weaknesses. His first novel, High Fidelity (1995), is the story of an obsessive record collector and list-maker, and was adapted as a film in 2000 starring John Cusack. His second novel, About a Boy (1998), focuses on the growing relationship between 30-something Will Freeman and Marcus, a 12-year-old boy. A film version, starring Hugh Grant, premiered in 2002.
“Books and records” is one of Hornby`s short stories, where the topic of music and literature is also foregrounded in the title. At first sight, the name of the story can mislead the reader, as one expects a story about literature and music or something which is connected with it. But the title foregrounds another idea, which is connected with relationships. The story is about a couple, Juliet and Phillip, who began to live together, that`s why they decided to systemize their collections of records and books. But it was a problem, as they couldn`t come to any consensus how to organize it, that`s why they were disappointed in each other. As the result, Juliet understood that she would have another man.
Before the story there is an epigraph, which introduces characters, conflicts and the theme. It also gives he tone to this short story, which ironic and sometimes sarcastic. The story is presented not in chronological way,