My ex just recommended this book to me, saying the main character reminded her of me. Now I usually avoid million copy-selling fiction like the plague, but I was just too intruiged by this not to read it. Of course I had seen the film, and liked it. Not hugely, but definitely liked it.
He's a lying, cheating, best friend's girlfriend-stealing asshole, suffering from amazing amouts of self-pity, seemingly unwilling to haul himself out of the rut his life has somehow ended up in. He has no friends, is disloyal and mean to the ones he does have, is defensive, sarcastic, self-righteous, sour and bitter.
After getting over the initial disgust of being compared to such a person, I began to really enjoy the book. It's very charmingly written - despite his misdemeanours, he really is a Johnny Everyman. After a couple of pages, I wasn't picturing John Cusack any more, just an average, faceless guy. Medium height, medium build, short hair, nothing remarkable bar an overdose of bitterness and a smattering of charm. He's every boyfriend that has existed in the last twenty years. No girlfriend in the world could read this without seeing at least a little bit of hers in there (and if she doesn't, bloody well hold on to him!). And I'm pretty sure no man in the world could read it without seeing a little bit of himself.
We've all felt comfort and pleasure in monogamous domesticity, while still pining for rampant polygamy. The self pity, the insecurity (especially when dealing with the idea of other men being sexually better or more desirable than us), the sourness, the petulance that we, ourselves, hate but can't stop, the resentment at the superior achievements of others, the list goes on and on.
Still, I'm hoping that the fact that he was funny and occasionally charming is what reminded her of me. And in the book, he gets his girl back in the end. I probably shouldn't read too much into that though.
Anyone got a copy of Fever Pitch?
