APRIL'S READ: NICK HORNBY'S JULIET, NAKED

A graduation gift from a v. good friend,  Frauleine. :-)

What do you do if you think you've wasted fifteen years of your life? 

This is a story of two people who have reached the end of the road after quite realising that they have spent more than a decade of their lives by the wasteland instead of wonderland and being brought together by an album of crappy songs.

Simply trying to account someone's days, wondering where they had all gone and what have been missed.

Well, for Tucker Crowe and Annie Platt, that's the rub. 

This book's one that will fit under the Pop Culture shelf. An iPod Lit to be exact. If you happen to know the background of the author, Nick Hornby, you'll probably know the themes of his works: Music. Pop Culture. Messy relationships. So this book goes with all of the contents above. 

Here are some of the notes that I've written as I was reading:

• The mystery of Tucker, his MIA years and Annie's sense of reality.
• Tucker Crowe is a monumental figure of speech till he was resurrected on Chapter 4
• The redeeming and mending power of music.
• The growing catch of how Tucker would prove his identity to someone while for how many years he's been physically detached to his fans and all that. Sadly, he had let other people speak in his behalf without him attesting or denying a single statement-- these things put him in danger.
• Funny logical conversations about someone's death with a kid.
• Annie's question of Tucker's experience sparked or challenged him to prove his existence is the same as telling your boyrfriend, "You don't love me, do you?" Just to let him prove that he loves you. A typical reverse psych. 
• Internet myths and crepes courtesy of WIKIPEDIA. Haha! This, I find funny. 
• Ways on how to get your partner out of your life and many other questionable love disasters

There's actually another main character here, Duncan (Annie's long-time partner and an obsessed Tucker Crowe freak) but I'm such a prejudice that I don't want to focus on him cos he's boring. 

Anyway, the whole plot is about the reality of things that we never want to be or happen. This is life at its complexed measure that we try to untangle. Oh yes, this is the naked truth. 

Score:    

P.S.

One of the sweetest dedications ever:

Erika,
May this book enlighten you as you have enlightened me.
May this book teach you as you have taught me.
May you love this book as you have loved me.

This may not be one of the books that I would like to give you but at least I know you want it.
And that's the point, right?
Let me give you your first Hornby book. Enjoy!

Congratulations and thank you.
Let's not end everything at PICC.
I love you!
-Frau Villanueva"

#and there goes the BIG smile on my siopao face. :-)