I want to be a well-rounded human being with none of these knotty lumps of rage and guilt and self-disgust. What do I want to do when I see them? I don't know. Just talk. Ask them how they are and whether they have forgiven me for messing them around, when I have messed them around, and tell them that I have forgiven them for messing me around, when they have messed me around. Wouldn't that be great? If I saw all of them in turn and there were no hard feelings left, just soft downy feelings, Brie rather than old hard Parmesan, I'd feel clean, and calm, and ready to start again.
Bruce Springsteen's always doing it in his songs. Maybe not always, but he's done it. You know that one "Bobby Jean" off Born in the USA? Anyway, he phones this girl up but she's left town years before and he's pissed off that he didn't know about it, because he wanted to say good-bye, and tell her that he missed her, and to wish her good luck. And then one of those sax solos comes in, and you get goose pimples, if you like sax solos. And Bruce Springsteen. Well, I'd like my life to be like a Bruce Springsteen songs. Just once. I know I'm not born to run, I know that the Seven Sisters' Road is nothing like Thunder Road, but feelings can't be so different, can they? I'd like to phone all those people up and say good luck, and good-bye, and then they'd feel good and I'd feel good. We'd all feel good. That would be good. Great, even.
High Fidelity, 1996
Nick Hornby (1957 - )
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7 comments:
and why you haven't already done that? maybe one is ready to pick up the phone when the mind bears no such acerbic feelings, even if there are some they do not matter a slight.
Why go far when we could start with the near-ones. Ask your own if your are ready to wish him good bye-n-luck?
Maybe he will feel good ..atleast thats the intent.
Maybe you too? or perhaps you dont want to? ahh the paroxysm hasn't ended.irresolute disputes, the hurt, rage, disconcertion still exist & do trumps the desire of talking, forgiving or be forgiven..
-p, I am not really sure what you are talking about.
p, dnt knw if the reasons u mention are the only cause but most of us dont do it well atleast me due to sheer laziness ;)
anonymous-lethargy is a legit excuse but if that's the only reason you give, maybe you don't have to pick up any phone- God bless and good luck.
Aaaah. A lot of quotable stuff from this book. I liked the movie too - it helped that I like John Cusack and Jack Black a lot.
Hornby has twisted The Boss' song a bit. He doesn't call Bobby Jean after many years nor is he pissed off that she left without telling him.
This book is supposed to be the Bridget Jones Diary for the men!
Creative license, Kenny.
Really like this book and worship the movie.
And we don't all do this because it turns out the way Hornsby finally tells it. We don't feel calm and clean. Bruce even makes this clear on more than one occasion.
Dig your blog!
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