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- Selections from the monthly Believer Magazine column by this best selling author - Hornby's "diary of an avid reader"In his monthly column "Stuff I've Been Reading," Hornby lists the books he's purchased that month, and briefly discusses the books he's actually read.NIck Hornby's Polysyllabic Spree Includes selected passages from the novels, biographies, collections of poetry, and comics discussed in the column.Tags
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nessreader Both reader's diaries of what and why they read over about a year. Both readers are middleclass english boys; both are engaging commentators even about the books you'll never want to read yourself. Both reject some Canonical Novels, then say why.
sturlington Both are fun and inspiring books by people who love to read for people who love to read.
Member Reviews
It's rare that I buy a book, start reading it right away, barely put it down and finish it within 24 hours. But that's precisely what I did with Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree. Given that the book is structured around Hornby's attempt to catalogue all the books he buys and reads, and to maintain a sense of balance between the two, I feel reassured by the fast turnaround time I made. While it might seem like a boring premise to read about what another person has read, Hornby pulls it off masterfully. This slim volume is packed with observations about what it means to read and to write, to love books of all sorts, and to write about writing and reading. I've come out not only with a desire to become a more diligent reader, but also an show more interest in particular authors and titles. I finally see what all the fuss is about with Dickens, and I'm committing to pick up David Copperfield in the near future. A must read for you unrepentant bibliophiles! show less
Good short essays on reading and acquiring books over the course of a year, although I wish Hornby had been permitted more freedom of review, rather than having to be positive and/or not naming books he didn't like.
This is a collection of essays on reading and other book-related topics, taken from Hornby's monthly column in the magazine "The Believer", from 2003/2004.
Each selection begins with two lists: Books bought and Books read. (Guess which list is longer.) Hornby is my kind of reader. He makes no apologies for buying books he admittedly will probably never read. ""Look at this month's list...What are the chances of getting through that lot? I've started the Chekhov, but the Amis and the Dylan Thomas have been put straight into their permanent home on the shelves, rather than onto any sort of temporary pending pile." He loves Tony Hoagland: "the sort of poet you dream of finding but almost never do. His work is relaxed, deceptively easy on show more the eye and ear, and it has jokes and unexpected little bursts of melancholic resonance. Plus, I pretty much understand all of it..." He thinks he's going to love hefty biographies, and then gets bogged down a third of the way in by the author's unrelenting thoroughness: "Please, biographers. Please, please, please. Have mercy: Select for us."
He enjoys poking fun at his bosses, in one chapter referring to them as "the twelve terrifyingly beatific young men and women who run the Believer, later as "the ninety-nine young and menacingly serene people who run the Believer, and still later as "the eighty-four chillingly ecstatic young men and women who..." At all times, apparently, they wear white robes and issue edicts difficult to obey, such as the one declaring that the Believer should contain only "acid-free literary criticism". This resulted in one month during which Hornby abandoned an Unnamed Literary Novel and an Unnamed Work of Non-Fiction, as he knew he would not be able to write honestly about either without bringing down the wrath of the Committee (comprised of "twelve rather eerie young men and women" in white robes). show less
Each selection begins with two lists: Books bought and Books read. (Guess which list is longer.) Hornby is my kind of reader. He makes no apologies for buying books he admittedly will probably never read. ""Look at this month's list...What are the chances of getting through that lot? I've started the Chekhov, but the Amis and the Dylan Thomas have been put straight into their permanent home on the shelves, rather than onto any sort of temporary pending pile." He loves Tony Hoagland: "the sort of poet you dream of finding but almost never do. His work is relaxed, deceptively easy on show more the eye and ear, and it has jokes and unexpected little bursts of melancholic resonance. Plus, I pretty much understand all of it..." He thinks he's going to love hefty biographies, and then gets bogged down a third of the way in by the author's unrelenting thoroughness: "Please, biographers. Please, please, please. Have mercy: Select for us."
He enjoys poking fun at his bosses, in one chapter referring to them as "the twelve terrifyingly beatific young men and women who run the Believer, later as "the ninety-nine young and menacingly serene people who run the Believer, and still later as "the eighty-four chillingly ecstatic young men and women who..." At all times, apparently, they wear white robes and issue edicts difficult to obey, such as the one declaring that the Believer should contain only "acid-free literary criticism". This resulted in one month during which Hornby abandoned an Unnamed Literary Novel and an Unnamed Work of Non-Fiction, as he knew he would not be able to write honestly about either without bringing down the wrath of the Committee (comprised of "twelve rather eerie young men and women" in white robes). show less
Hornby spent fourteen months writing these semi-autobiographical articles/memoirs for an American magazine about the books he was buying and reading and his thoughts on all of them and more.
he rambles a good deal but makes his points about his reading habits, reactions of mind, and other sporadic ideas on the subjects covered in the books and authors he’s reading. the book is funny and insightful and sometimes aims a jab or two at his employers and himself.
in the rambling parts, he seems to sway back and forth and then leap out in a random direction suddenly like a child playing superheroes. this i found to be a bit dull or, at least, clinical but mostly his book does a great job of piquing interest in otherwise unheard of authors and show more books and ideas. it was certainly nice to know that as a fellow chronic reader and reviewer, he shared some of my same thoughts and feelings of the process. i even learned a few things in the course of reading this collection of reviews. for instance, one book about poverty and lower socioeconomic women having lots of children gave me a new understanding of that situation. Hornby juxtaposed his own experience in college with that of the main characters in this book and sparked something of a realization in me. thank you, Nick.
use this book wisely: watch the mind of a successful author and reviewer work through many kinds of books and authors and their subjects and then possibly go out and read some of them. show less
he rambles a good deal but makes his points about his reading habits, reactions of mind, and other sporadic ideas on the subjects covered in the books and authors he’s reading. the book is funny and insightful and sometimes aims a jab or two at his employers and himself.
in the rambling parts, he seems to sway back and forth and then leap out in a random direction suddenly like a child playing superheroes. this i found to be a bit dull or, at least, clinical but mostly his book does a great job of piquing interest in otherwise unheard of authors and show more books and ideas. it was certainly nice to know that as a fellow chronic reader and reviewer, he shared some of my same thoughts and feelings of the process. i even learned a few things in the course of reading this collection of reviews. for instance, one book about poverty and lower socioeconomic women having lots of children gave me a new understanding of that situation. Hornby juxtaposed his own experience in college with that of the main characters in this book and sparked something of a realization in me. thank you, Nick.
use this book wisely: watch the mind of a successful author and reviewer work through many kinds of books and authors and their subjects and then possibly go out and read some of them. show less
This collection of Hornby’s essays from the magazine The Believer, was beyond delightful. He writes about what books he bought each month and which ones he read. In anyone else’s hands that concept could be as dull as dirt, but Hornby makes you feel like you’ve just asked your friend, “So what have you been reading lately?”
He read a wide range of subjects in fiction, nonfiction, classics, etc. so there’s something for everyone. The funny thing was, it really wasn’t about the books themselves, it’s more about his personal reading experience. You can love his columns without ever picking up one of the books he mentions (though I evitably will).
It’s his humor and cheek that made this book so great. The way he describes show more reading is spot on and I couldn’t help laughing as I recognized myself in so many of his observations. Here are a few great ones…
“I don't reread books often; I'm too conscious of both my ignorance and my mortality.”
“When reading is going well, one book leads to another and to another, a paper trail of theme and meaning; and how, when it's going badly, when books don't stick or take, when your mood and the mood of the book are fighting like cats, you'd rather do anything but attempt the next paragraph or to reread the last one for the tenth time.”
“What you must do is work unceasingly, day and night, read constantly, study, exercise willpower... Every hour is precious.” show less
He read a wide range of subjects in fiction, nonfiction, classics, etc. so there’s something for everyone. The funny thing was, it really wasn’t about the books themselves, it’s more about his personal reading experience. You can love his columns without ever picking up one of the books he mentions (though I evitably will).
It’s his humor and cheek that made this book so great. The way he describes show more reading is spot on and I couldn’t help laughing as I recognized myself in so many of his observations. Here are a few great ones…
“I don't reread books often; I'm too conscious of both my ignorance and my mortality.”
“When reading is going well, one book leads to another and to another, a paper trail of theme and meaning; and how, when it's going badly, when books don't stick or take, when your mood and the mood of the book are fighting like cats, you'd rather do anything but attempt the next paragraph or to reread the last one for the tenth time.”
“What you must do is work unceasingly, day and night, read constantly, study, exercise willpower... Every hour is precious.” show less
The best reason to buy Believer magazine has long been Nick Hornby's column. Each month he lists the books he has bought and the books he has read (a good exercise for all of us who tend to buy more books than we can possibly read) and then writes about those read.
To most people literary criticism is not a comic art form, but it is to this British novelist, who dissects books of all kinds briefly with both wit and insight. The first fourteen columns he wrote for Believer, dating from September 2003 to November 2004, were collected in the slim book “The Polysyllabic Spree,” printed by the magazine.
The challenge for those of us who write about books is to write about them in such a way that people who might never have an interest in a show more book will nevertheless read and enjoy a review of that book. Hornby actually accomplishes it, at least most of the time. An example is the column in which he writes about “On and Off the Field,” a book about cricket by Ed Smith. Hornby acknowledges that most readers of his column are Americans who care nothing about cricket, but since he loves the game and the book, he writes about it first one month saying, "you have to wade through the cricket to get to the Chekhov and the Roddy Doyle." You still may not have an urge to either read Smith's book or sit through a cricket match, but you will love what Hornby has to say about both.
Hornby has diverse reading tastes, as his inclusion of both a book about cricket and Anton Chekhov's “A Life in Letters” might suggest. He reads older books by the likes of Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, Wilkie Collins and John Buchan, as well as contemporary ones. Sometimes he goes on a binge, such as a month devoted to J.D. Salinger or another to Dennis Lehane. Mostly he seems to just pick up books at random, some recent purchases and some he has had on his shelves for awhile.
What confuses me is that as a writer of a popular book review column, publishers must send him loads of books they would like for him to comment on, yet there is little mention of this. Each month he just lists those books he has purchased. sometimes even explaining where and how he purchased them. So what happens to all those unsolicited books that come in the mail? show less
To most people literary criticism is not a comic art form, but it is to this British novelist, who dissects books of all kinds briefly with both wit and insight. The first fourteen columns he wrote for Believer, dating from September 2003 to November 2004, were collected in the slim book “The Polysyllabic Spree,” printed by the magazine.
The challenge for those of us who write about books is to write about them in such a way that people who might never have an interest in a show more book will nevertheless read and enjoy a review of that book. Hornby actually accomplishes it, at least most of the time. An example is the column in which he writes about “On and Off the Field,” a book about cricket by Ed Smith. Hornby acknowledges that most readers of his column are Americans who care nothing about cricket, but since he loves the game and the book, he writes about it first one month saying, "you have to wade through the cricket to get to the Chekhov and the Roddy Doyle." You still may not have an urge to either read Smith's book or sit through a cricket match, but you will love what Hornby has to say about both.
Hornby has diverse reading tastes, as his inclusion of both a book about cricket and Anton Chekhov's “A Life in Letters” might suggest. He reads older books by the likes of Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, Wilkie Collins and John Buchan, as well as contemporary ones. Sometimes he goes on a binge, such as a month devoted to J.D. Salinger or another to Dennis Lehane. Mostly he seems to just pick up books at random, some recent purchases and some he has had on his shelves for awhile.
What confuses me is that as a writer of a popular book review column, publishers must send him loads of books they would like for him to comment on, yet there is little mention of this. Each month he just lists those books he has purchased. sometimes even explaining where and how he purchased them. So what happens to all those unsolicited books that come in the mail? show less
You wouldn’t think that a series of essays in which Nick Hornby describes which books he bought each month and which books he actually read would be so entertaining, but it was. Hornby peppers his essays with humor and brings his own life into the context to help explain what he’s reading, so there is an underlying narrative to them. I especially enjoyed his descriptions of the “Polysyllabic Spree,” the mysterious editorial board of the The Believer, the magazine where these essays were originally published. Reading this made me want to give up writing my own humble book reviews, which could never measure up (obviously, that feeling didn’t last).
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ThingScore 75
Taken in their intended periodic doses, these essays would be simultaneously entertaining and enriching – no small feat, that. Collected, they're still breezy and thought-provoking, but read at once they show Hornby struggling with great seriousness between an Arsenal match, The Fortress of Solitude, and going down to the pub: a dilemma welcomed by, say, Kentucky coal miners or single show more mothers working retail. show less
added by stephmo
Hornby is just humble enough that you cannot hate or resent him, yet authoritative enough that you still retain some reason to respect and be interested in his opinion on books. That in itself is not a feat many writers could pull off so elegantly, if at all.
added by stephmo
This is not a collection of book reviews, but a reading diary of sharp and thoughtful musings on literature that ultimately asks: Why do we read, anyway?
added by stephmo
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Author Information
61+ Works 68,718 Members
Nick Hornby was born in Redhill, Surrey, England on April 17, 1957. He graduated from Cambridge University where he studied English. His books High Fidelity; Fever Pitch, which won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award in 1992; About a Boy and An Education were all made into movies. His other books include Slam; A Long Way Down; How to Be show more Good; Songbook; Shakespeare Wrote for Money; and The Polysyllabic Spree. He has received numerous awards including the American Academy of Arts and Letters' E. M. Forster Award in 1999 and the Orange Word International Writers' London Award in 2003. In addition to his books, his works have appeared in Esquire, Elle, GQ, Time, and Cosmopolitan. In 2015 his title, Funny Girl made The New York Times Bestseller List. (Publisher Provided) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- The Complete Polysyllabic Spree
- Original publication date
- 2004-11-30
- People/Characters
- Nick Hornby
- Dedication
- To Dave and Vendela
- First words
- So this is supposed to be about the how, and when, and why, and what of reading -- about the way that, when reading is going well, one book leads to another and to another, a paper trail of theme and meaning and how, when it'... (show all)s going badly, when books don't stick or take, when your mood and the mood of the book are fighting like cats, you'd rather do anything but attempt the next paragraph, or reread the last one for the tenth time.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)That's the beauty of this column, even if I do say so myself.
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 820
- Disambiguation notice
- Do not combine this work with ‘The Complete Polysyllabic Spree’, which is a British edition that also contains ‘Housekeeping vs The Dirt’.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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