The Polysyllabic Spree ~Nick Hornby
–2004, Believer Books
–143 pages
–4.25/5 stars
There are times when I am in the mood for something that I know will make me feel very good. Sometimes that ‘something’ is one of those large candy bars. You know the kind, the fancy ones that cost a bit more. Rich dark chocolate with real berries and possibly the tiniest bits of nut mixed liberally throughout (insert your own favorite here). These candy bars are generally scored in such a way that you can break off a little piece at a time and just savor it over the course of several days. And often that is exactly what I do. But then there are times when one bite leads to another which leads to another…and before I know it I am surprised to find myself licking my fingers and looking for the shavings that might be left over in the wrapper. And sometimes it is no surprise at all because I realize that eating the entire thing in one sitting was exactly what I wanted to do in the first place.
To all outward appearances, this day at work was a particularly nonchalant, calm and pleasant day. The reality is that the quiet simply left more time for inner doubt and turmoil to threaten to drown me. Thus I found myself stopping by Barnes and Noble for my first session of retail therapy in a long, long time. One of the books I came home with was Nick Hornby’s The Polysyllabic Spree. After reading Nymeth’s review and, later, Chris’ review, I knew this was one that I would enjoy. While this book is a series of 14 bite sized essays, I knew on the drive home that my intention was to eat my way through the entire book tonight. I needed something to get lost in (besides my hour reprieve for Fringe), and this book proved to be a satisfactory distraction while being enriching at the same time.
“Books are, let’s face it, better than everything else.”
~Nick Hornby
One of my earliest thoughts while reading this book was that I was jealous that Nick Hornby gets paid to do what so many of us bloggers do every day. Now admittedly he has been at it longer and is much better at it, but that is beside the point (actually, that is the point, but indulge me). When you are measuring your career against that of another, knowing that someone out there is able to write about books for at least part of their living gives you both a warm and envious feeling. Enjoying a book like The Polysyllabic Spree allows us to raise a glass in admiration to this fellow book lover while also resting securely in the knowledge that we book lovers, and hoarders, are not alone.
The Polysyllabic Spree is a reprint of Hornby’s monthly articles for The Believer from November 2003 through November 2004. At the beginning of each, Hornby lists both the books he has purchased that month (though he admits to being less than honest several times in an effort to make it look like he had more self control than he actually did) and the books that he has read. He then proceeds to discuss these. If that description alone doesn’t make you feel like Nick Hornby is a kindred spirit, I am a little worried about you. Whether mentally or physically, many of us keep stock of these very same things. I just started recording the books I buy or am given each month of the year at the beginning of 2008 and it was with much nodding of the head and internal dialogue that I acknowledged, “yep, I’ve been there” to much of Hornby’s writing about acquiring books.
By and large Nick Hornby’s list of acquisitions and books read do not match what I would normally be reading. However, the range of what he purchased and read certainly mimics my own and many of your tendencies to allow books to beget other books and whims to cause us to purchase, and sometimes even read ( 😉 ) a wide variety of books. I found myself on more than one occasion seeing a book that Hornby purchased and then waiting anxiously with each month’s essay to see if he had finally gotten around to reading it. I will admit, he does not always do so, and like so many of us his purchases far outstrip his capacity to read these books month to month. What is so comforting about this is that Hornby acknowledges this and does so in a way that certainly can make you feel guilt free about the mountains of as-yet-unread books.
A quote he reprints from his reading of Gabriel Zaid’s So Many Books certainly struck a cord with me:
“…the truly cultured are capable of owning thousands of unread books without losing their composure or their desire for more.”
Nick Hornby responds:
“That’s me! And you, probably! That’s us!”
and then goes on to admit that some books he purchased have went straight to their “permanent home on the shelves, rather than onto any sort of temporary pending pile”.
I love it!
That is just the smallest taste of what these essays are about. Throughout each month I found myself interested in either books Hornby was mentioning or others that his writings brought to mind. My mental ‘to read’ list grew mightily reading this book. One of the things I enjoyed was the occasional insertion of an excerpt from a book that became a particular favorite of Hornby’s. Such an excellent way to sample some of the work that he made sound so interesting that I may never have given any chance to. Hats off to whomever greenlit this idea!
The Polysyllabic Spree was, for me, a real treat. This is my first experience reading Nick Hornby’s work, but I have enjoyed the film versions of High Fidelity and About a Boy. I cannot help but feel a sense of camaraderie for a guy who not only loves Dickens but also mentions P.G. Wodehouse favorably on several occasions. In his article recounting his reading of David Copperfield and subsequent article discussing the aftermath of the novel, I could not help feeling his kinship to all of us who love to read. He describes that feeling of joyful sadness after finishing a really good book and the sense of malaise that can sometimes come upon one afterwards, especially in trying to find the next fiction book to get lost in. We have all been there, haven’t we? Hornby writes without pretension in a style that makes you feel like you belong.
If you are looking to try out Nick Hornby, I think this is a perfect way to do so. And certainly if you are a person who enjoys reading essays about books, and about reading, you won’t be disappointed in spending a little time with The Polysyllabic Spree. This book was just what I needed, and it is possibly just what you need as well. So, I’m going to give my copy away (after I scour through it one more time and write down the books he mentioned that piqued my interest!). If you would like to be included in the drawing, please leave a comment here by 11:59 p.m. CST on Friday, April 10th! If, for some reason you don’t want to be included, please let me know that as well, but don’t let that stop you from sharing your thoughts.
I know I say this every time I enter a contest, but I would really like to win this one! It’s one I’ve had on my wish list for a while now, but one that hasn’t made it into my hands yet. Excellent review! I only want to read it more now after reading your description of it. 🙂
You read the Spree! Awesome. It was a fantastic book, wasn’t it? You know there are two more just like this one…Shakespeare Wrote for Money and Housekeeping Vs. The Dirt. I have Shakespeare…sitting here waiting for me to be read.
I noticed you mentioned Fringe…I really liked that show when it started but for some reason, it lost it’s hook on me and I haven’t seen the last few episodes. Don’t know what caused my sudden lack of interest. But maybe I need to get back to it!
Oh…and we totally all want to know what else you came home with!
This one sounds great … put me in for the drawing! I need some validation that what I’m doing is “normal”. 😉
Sounds like a treat. Please count me in 🙂
Count me in! And thanks for reminding me of So Many Books by Zaid 🙂
well it sounds like you enjoyed yourself! And I’m sure you “need” to add to your wish list and tbr pile by going thru the book once more!
yay! I’m so glad you loved it, Carl! And I predict that you might like the other two volumes even better…he starts reading more graphic novels and it’s even more fun 😀
(Oh, and no need to enter me 😛 )
Lu: No need to apologize, we all have a ton of books we want and it is always great to win one instead of having to purchase it!
Chris: I’ve been a fan of Fringe the entire way through, but Jeff can attest to the fact that he drifted away from it and then came back. Last night’s episode was the first after a 7 week hiatus. That last episode before the hiatus was THE BOMB! Trust me. You need to go back and watch it. Really fun book lover reference in there that you would enjoy as well. It really is a fun show. Fringe and House are the only shows I watch faithfully and I love em both.
And as for other things…well, one was a gift and I also picked up The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, which I borrowed from the library last year but wanted to own and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott which I also borrowed from the library but only got to it and read chapter one before it was due back. And I picked up the Jedediah Berry mystery, The Manual of Detection which I am saving for my annual anniversary trip next month. I almost walked out with Norwegian Wood too but decided I wanted to finish Hardboiled Wonderland before picking up another Murakami book.
Kristin: 🙂
Mee: You’re in!
Aegron: You are welcome. That sounded like a book I would enjoy reading as well.
Deslily: Of course I need to! Ha! 🙂
Nymeth: I’ll be checking out those others as well. I thought it was fun that he read some Y: The Last Man and others that he wrote about in this book.
I’ve been wanting to read some Nick Hornby for a long time! So…please count me in!
So glad to hear that you liked this book! I think it’s almost impossible for someone who likes to read to not like this book. It really is that great. His next one, “The Housekeeping vs. the Dirt” is even better. I have his final one sitting on my shelf, waiting for that day when I need a sure-fire “feel good” read. =)
No need to enter me in the contest either! 🙂
No need to enter me in the contest; I’m just glad that Hornby has acquired another fan/addict. He really is quite something–as is your review!
You crack me up! I knew there was no way you were going to go into B&N the other day and not get something for yourself although your haul exceeded even my expectations. The above reviewed book does sound like something right up my alley and I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Chris – I hear you on Fringe. I too drifted away and in January I drifted back and found the show seemed to have gotten more interesting. I was able to get caught up on all the episodes I missed on hulu.com. What a great website. I don’t love it but it’s gotten much better and I do love the dad/scientist character. He always cracks me up at some point each episode.
Carl – Sorry I didn’t watch last night’s. I forgot it was on. I did record it and I will try and watch it soon so we can discuss. You know how I hate to watch shows live. 🙂
I don’t think I would have ever picked this up on my own. I am just not an “essay” kind of girl, but as he says “That’s me! And you, probably! That’s us!”
I’ve heard really good things about The Bloody Chamber! I’ll have to check that one out. Ok, you’ve hooked me again :p I’m going backwards to catch up on Fringe…
Chris: Glad to hear it. And you will really enjoy The Bloody Chamber. There are a couple of really great stories in there and none of them is a dud.
Me: I wouldn’t have even known of the book’s existence without the great reviews from fellow bloggers, so I know exactly what you mean. I do enjoy a good essay, though.
Jeff: Hope you managed to catch the end of Fringe on your DVR. Not sure why American Idol ran over thus causing Fringe to run over. Annoying! I have to say that I do really love the show. That’s not to say that it won’t go the way of Alias and start getting crappy again, but up to this point I’ve really been impressed with the show and like the characters. But like we always say, without Walter the show just wouldn’t be interesting at all.
And hey, you bastard! If you knew I was going to give into pressure to buy books, why didn’t you stop me?!!? 😉 Where is the friendship? Where is the concern for your fellow man? I see how you are! Bet you’d let me walk into a burning building too, wouldn’t you? 🙂
ds: Thanks, I certainly enjoyed discovering his work.
JS: I’m hoping to pick up the Shakespeare book soon and check it out. It looks like more of the same goodness!
Robin: I’m counting you in!
Has anyone read “Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader” by Anne Fadiman? I saw it in the store and it sounded wonderful, but I was wondering if anyone knew from experience if it was indeed wonderful or not.
I really want to read this! I am just waiting for it to come in for me at the library… Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later, but I have already been waiting a couple months!
I absolutely adored this book! He had me absolutely hooked from the introduction…but I think it was the fact that some of his books went straight to their “permanent home on the shelves, rather than onto any sort of temporary pending pile” that assured I would love him forever. Those are always my most guilt-inducing purchases, but there’s no stopping them.
I’m currently trying the one little chunk at a time approach with Shakespeare Wrote for Money…as sadly it’s the last of them for me. But it is truly hard not to gobble it right down!
Burning building huh? Aren’t you a funny guy 🙂 Well for starter’s then don’t ask has anyone read Ex Libris… because you don’t need to add anymore onto your ” permanent home ” shelf!!! LOL!
I’ve just finished reading this, and I believe you’ve written my post for me! LOL!!! You even used one of the quotes i was going to use!! Well done, Carl, this was an excellent post, and I am so happy that *Nick* was able to cheer you up from being too gloomy today. Yay Nick! So, I don’t need a copy, I have my own filled with bookmarks. Guess I’d better do my post shortly!
I’m a librarian… this sounds like a great pick-me-up for those evenings when I think no one really understands how to read anymore. 🙂 If I don’t win, I’ll have to get a copy all by myself!
You are so generous! Don’t count me in for the giveaway as I already have this book. I’m so glad you enjoyed The Polysyllabic Spree. It’s one of my favorite reads. I recommended this to one of my teachers a few weeks ago. You wrote another great post, Carl!
This sounds really fun. I like meta books and I can totally see myself enjoying this. So count me in for the draw.
I have to say I am still in denial about buying more books than reading. The belief that I will one day catch up with my TBR pile is not dead yet. Though right now I definitely buy more than I read… Better get back to reading!
G’day – don’t want to be in the draw thanks because I read this last year – just wanted to add that it is a book well worth reading 🙂
Hey Sally! I’m glad you think so highly of it as well and I couldn’t agree with you more.
Maria: I doubt that you are alone in your denial. I’m sure that if I took the time to really think about it I probably believe that at some point I will ‘catch up’ in my reading. All evidence points to the contrary. It would be one thing if I was only buying books, but other than this latest splurge, I have really been good about cutting back on book purchases…but then there is the library! If I wasn’t regularly looking to the library to also feed book whims I might make more progress on the tbr pile.
Vasilly: Thanks. Good recommendation!
Fate: I think you’ll enjoy it. If I compared my own reading to his I would certainly consider him more high brow than I am, yet he certainly writes in a way that shows that he doesn’t consider himself as such and that is very refreshing. He is so like many of us who follow our whims. For me, my whims for learning about specific people or historical events, etc are often satiated by internet readings and documentaries as opposed to reading and in that we differ.
Susan: Ha! Feel free to crib off mine, I don’t care! I would love to read your review of it though.
Jeff: Oh, now you’re offering advice! Its a little too late to throw out the life preserver to the man who has already drowned! 😉 You’ll be happy to know that I placed a hold on Ex Libris at the library, though, in addition to a couple of Anne Lamott books that looked great and that I was tempted to buy. So maybe you were able to be Frodo to my Sam after all and were able to pull me up into the boat!
Debi: Don’t tell Jeff, but I stayed under water a bit longer yesterday (the library holds were this morning) and picked up the Shakespeare book. I doubt I’ll be able to be as good as you, though. I’ve already finished half of it! Just too addicting. I’ll be the same way with Bird by Bird even though Qugrainne has encouraged me to savor it.
Kailana: Don’t you hate it when you go to reserve something at the library and you are at the end of a long list? The perfect thing is to go in and place holds on a bunch of books and have them all staggered out. I have the opposite problem right now, having 7 things on hold that there is no wait for. Of course 2 of them are sound recordings, so that helps a bit.
You know, I wanted to love this book, I really did. I usually like Nick Hornby, at least enough to finish the book. But this was one of those rare occasions for me where I kinda liked the book, but not enough to finish it. Maybe it was the essay format — I didn’t care what happened next, since… nothing happened next. Just more books. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! I usually really enjoy “books about books.” But for some reason, I just couldn’t get into it, which i count as a personal failing, no fault of a book that everyone else seems to love. So, I will leave the drawing to someone else who will love the book!
Frodo and Sam. Now I like that reference. Very cool. I’ve always wanted to be a character in LOTR.
I will have you know I was a good boy today and searched the library system and found one branch that had a copy of The Polsyllabic Spree. I have already checked it out this afternoon. I intend to crack into it tonight and will share my thoughts with you on it soon. 🙂
Daphne: I wouldn’t consider that a personal failing. I can easily look at this book and say that it was what I needed at this specific time which made a huge difference on how much I enjoyed this and how much I am enjoying Shakespeare Wrote For Money. Having mentioned on more than one occasion now that the books he reads are not generally akin to what I read it actually surprises me that I liked what he had to say so much. But I think it is because the experience he has with books is one that I think translates across a wide spectrum of people. I’ve wanted to love books and shows that others do and have at times just not enjoyed them as much. It is easy to be somewhat self-deprecating about it (something that Hornby talks about it either Spree or Shakespeare, can’t recall) but the reality is your tastes are uniquely your own and there is no reason to feel bad if it isn’t what you wanted it to be.
Jeff: And the above paragraph is really there as a possible conversation you and I might have in person. You may really get into this and you may not at all. I suspect you’ll see some things you agree with and will enjoy his obsession with football (since we have the same obsession with the NFL). But we’ll see.
Ok. It’s 10:32 pm and I hope to get a chance to crack into reading it very soon. We’ll talk tomorrow. How about lunch? Call me in the morning. I’m off work during the day but am working my night job.
Yes, I have read Anne Fadiman’s Ex Libris–even own it. In hard cover, no less! And turned down some corners (i never do that to a hard cover. Ever.) So yes, I recommend it, but she is not a “common” reader. Not by a long shot. Interesting, erudite, occasionally intimidating (imagine being at her father’s dinner table). Addicted to books, bookstores, and language. Her writing is intrinsically female, in the way that Hornby’s is intrisically male, if that makes sense. Is that helpful? (now i have to reread her. Bother!)
DS: Yes, it is helpful, thanks! Her book should be in at my library by Monday so I look forward to giving it a read.
he definitely is a kindred spirit, isn’t he?! and i just love love reading about books. reading about reading.
i know very well that warmth/envy one feels towards someone who is doing something that you can do or already do for no money. its a very weird feeling. because it is exactly that – warmth and green greey envy.
JP: Yes he is! It is strange if you think about it, ‘reading about reading’, but in reality it is really quite natural and oh, so wonderful!
‘warmth and green grey envy’…exactly!!!
I’m in complete agreement with you both about loving to read about reading. I love reading well written book reviews as well. What Hornby does though is more than a typical review. He let’s you tap in to his true emotion about the books. He gives you a window into his life at the time he is reading which can mean so much to a reading experience. He also relays everything in such a conversational tone that makes it all sound so natural.
I went out right away and checked this book from my library system and devoured it in two days. Carl says everything so well in his review is all I can say is ” ditto “. I’m working on the Shakespeare Wrote for Money book now and I will have to track down the middle of this trilogy because my library doesn’t have it. I really want to check out his novels Fever Pitch, About a Boy and Slam as well.
Thanks for the review Carl. I wouldn’t have found a new wonderful author without you. I seem to say that often don’t I? 🙂
Happy Easter !!!!!!
Well said Mr. S! He does do much more than just a typical review and it is a style that is certainly tempting to emulate. This certainly isn’t the first time I’ve thought about the idea of tracking where reading inspiration comes from, but it had been awhile and it is all I’ve thought about since reading Polysyllabic Spree. Over the past several days I’ve had several ‘aha!’ moments about books that I have checked out of the library or bought and where the ideas for reading these things (or at least planning to read these things) came from. I’d love to do a better job of being more cognizant of this kind of book journey.
I had Fever Pitch placed on hold yesterday at the library. I think I may read that one before trying High Fidelity, but we’ll see. Just finished the Murakami memoir and really enjoyed it and will be reviewing it soon. Not sure where to turn now, but the current overwhelming desire to just read, read, read is quite fun!
Happy Easter to you the family and to everyone else as well.
I like that idea of the ‘aha’ moments. I need to try and keep track of those as well. I think of my current Hornby book I’m to take a break from him before going into Fever Pitch or About a Boy. I’ve been meaning to read some more Scalzi and I have wanted to read The Sword Edged Blonde for the OUT plus some more Star Trek so I think the reading whims are blowing me again but I know they will lead be back to Hornby again one day plus I’m a thrid of the was through Shakespeare for Money and I hope to finish it off very soon before letting the reading whims take me away full sail. I want to be able to put it in the the Books Read for April pile not abandoned. 🙂
I’m definitely looking forward to you reading The Sword Edged Blonde!
I’ve obviously missed the deadline on this contest, but this book sounds cool. And as a matter of fact, I’m planning on going to the bookstore tomorrow. A family member gave me a check for books to buy myself for my birthday. So off to cash check and buy books. I’ll see if I can pick up The Polysyllabic Spree.
And Carl, you’re right. This sounds like a book I could “use” right now. I’ve read two really long books recently and I need something short and fun (instead of long and fun–well, for the most part) to read.
Blacklin: ooo..money for books! That is a fantastic birthday present! Happy birthday! This is definitely a fun, quick read, and Shakespeare Wrote for Money was even more fun!