Book Review: Juliet, Naked

Juliet, Naked- Nick Hornby

Reviewing Juliet, Naked, Nick Hornby's latest novel, almost seems wrong. The book, named after a fictional defunct rock star's newest album, discusses, as one of its themes, how people overanalyze things. How one song could mean the world to a fan, but is just a few well put together words to the musician. Because of that, my review seems almost pointless, going against the essence of the book. Come to think of it, so does my literature degree. 

Regardless, I'm still going to write about it because, quite simply, I loved this book. Juliet, Naked is about Annie and Duncan, a stagnant couple that's been together for 15 years. Although Duncan might love Annie, he loves Tucker more. Tucker Crowe that is, a reclusive singer-songwriter from the 80's who stopped making music long ago. Duncan devoted his life to analyzing Tucker's work, digging into it's deepest meaning. Annie, not nearly as much as a fan, sits shotgun and is along for the ride, being simply content the entire time. Through a series of consequences Annie and Tucker exchange e-mails and a connection is formed as they both realize their major similarities - they are both incredibly lonely and worried that they wasted their lives away. 

Being a long time fan of Hornby (who doesn't love his first three fiction novels?), my reaction to receiving an advanced copy of his newest novel was much like Duncan's in regards to Tucker's latest album - only lowered a few octaves mostly because I wasn't sure if it would be great. Admittedly, I didn't love A Long Way Down and thought Slam was a great young adult novel, but nothing extremely memorable (a reaction that seems to be universal, as it wasn't even listed as a previous written book). Juliet, Naked was incredibly surprising, though, in a way that made me scream "finally!" 

Juliet, Naked infuses his ever present influence, music, with the ideas of love, loneliness, and the struggle to be something. The characters are drawn carefully as if the wrong wording could break them. Annie is a beautiful character - weak, yet stronger than she realizes, which makes her incredibly believable. She balances her relationship with Duncan, one that flatlined long ago, with the desire to make up for lost time with Tucker. She overanalyzes people and events in a way that brings out answers others wouldn't usually come across. 

Duncan is that person everyone knows - that guy who knows too much about one subject and is too opinionated. He voices his ideas regarding Tucker's music as if what he says is fact. He's singleminded and pretentious, at times. Yet, as a character, he's endearing because he has no clue what he's doing. 

Tucker, in my opinion, was the most interesting of the lot. The 50 plus musician doesn't put off the rock star appearance as many would assume (including myself - thinking he was somewhat like an 80's Russel Brand-this was more than likely because I was reading Brand's autobiographyat the same time). Instead, 20 years after his departure from music, he's a PTSA member, unemployed father of five - each from a different mother. He's full of flaws - a past that has a laundry list of conquests and mistakes. However, Hornby tells him in a way that's permissible - to the point that Tucker is more human than rock star. 

The book shows what happens when you let your life happen without you. It shows how analyzing things, stripping them down until they're, so to say, naked doesn't always work out in life. And how not every story has a happy ending.

The book is incredibly well done. Infused with fake Wikipedia articles, e-mails, and message board messages, Hornby tells a tale of three lost individuals who find one another. And although they don't make one another's lives better instantly, there's that hope that it's not too late. 

Juliet, Naked comes out on September 29th. It's definitely worth a read or two. 

Read Nick Hornby's blog here. Also, if interested, check out his favorite songs and books. 

(Special thanks goes out to Penguin Books for getting me this advanced readers copy the day it came out. And for not minding my crazy excitement. Thank you!)