48 pages • 1 hour read
Nick HornbyHigh Fidelity
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1995A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 30-35Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 30 Summary
Rob lists his top five jobs, which include music journalist, music producer, musician, film director, and architect. The last entry, he admits, is not particularly exciting and is only on the list because he feels the need to form a complete top five. When he shows the list to Laura, she points out that he would rather work in a music store than be an architect. Rob agrees, and since the other entries are impractical, Laura suggests that he basically works his dream job already. When Rob asks Barry and Dick about their own dream jobs list, they offer up equally impractical solutions.
Chapter 31 Summary
Rob and Laura visit Rob’s parents. Although he is unsure about the exact ramifications, Rob feels as though the visit is “sort of official, like we’re announcing something” (295). He appreciates that Laura’s presence averts the typical arguments that Rob has with his parents over inconsequential matters.
Chapter 32 Summary
Rob looks at posters for upcoming concerts. While he used to know the name of every band, however obscure, he is losing touch with the cultural zeitgeist. As he examines the posters, he notices an advert for the club night where he used to DJ. The poster even mentions him by name, claiming that he will be DJing an upcoming evening. He suspects that Laura is behind this strange occurrence. When he confronts her, she describes it as a late birthday present. While Rob is inwardly excited and nervous, he protests and criticizes Laura’s plan.
Rob discovers that Barry’s band will play during a break between his DJ sets. He tries to bribe Barry so he backs out, but Barry is too excited by the prospect of playing to an audience. The band is no longer called Barrytown, he informs Rob. Their new name is Sonic Death Monkey. Rob is horrified. Everyone else seems relaxed and excited by the evening. Amid all his protests, Rob is comforted by the idea that Laura is encouraging him to find a new purpose in his life.
Chapter 33 Summary
Amid the preparations for his return to DJing, Rob gives an interview to a female journalist named Caroline. He is immediately attracted to her and flirts awkwardly during their conversation. When she asks him for his top five songs of all time, Rob turns into a chattering mess. His years of carefully curating top five lists suddenly mean nothing, and he struggles to give a cohesive answer. He spends the rest of the interview adjusting and rearranging his list. Rob ends the interview by offering to make Caroline a mixtape. He knows that doing so "will feel like a betrayal” (312) of Laura.
Later, Laura mocks Rob for the top five list he submitted. He tries to contact Caroline to make further adjustments. When he finally gets through to her, he asks her on a date. In the days leading up to the date, Rob begins to have second thoughts. He starts to think that what he has with Laura is preferable to what he might have with Caroline. He wonders whether he should simply mail his mixtape to Caroline, rather than meet her for a date.
Chapter 34 Summary
Rob waits in a bar for Laura. She arrives later and sits opposite him. They make small talk at first, then Rob says that he is “going to talk to you about whether you want to get married or not” (317). Laura makes fun of him, noting that he was making mixtapes for mysterious women a few days ago and now he wants to get married. Rob tries to explain his thought process. His encounter with Caroline has completely changed his perspective. Now, he sees commitment to one woman as being far preferable than jumping from one half-hearted relationship to the next while claiming to value his freedom. Laura declines his offer but thanks him for asking.
Chapter 35 Summary
The club night begins well. Rob relishes his role as the DJ, and the dance floor is packed with people. Then, the music stops, and Rob is forced to reluctantly introduce the band. Barry enters the stage with the band and announces that they are no longer called Sonic Death Monkey. Their temporary new name is Backbeat. When the band begins to play, Rob is shocked. Not only can they play well, but Barry is a fine singer. The crowd is delighted. After, Barry admits that his band loved playing cover versions and says that they are now debating whether to play similar songs at weddings. The rest of the evening is “like the end of a film” (322). Dick dances with his girlfriend Anna, Marie dances with T-Bone who stares admiringly at Caroline, and Laura dances with Lisa. As Laura smiles at Rob from the dance floor, he imagines making her a mixtape of songs she would enjoy.
Chapters 30-35 Analysis
The closing chapters of High Fidelity present Rob with one final temptation. He is interviewed by Caroline for a piece in a local newspaper advertising his upcoming DJ appearance. Caroline is physically and professionally different from Laura. She works tangentially to the music industry and shares Rob’s tastes. At the same time, she appears in the context of the reunion between Rob and Laura. Rob’s DJ appearance is at an event organized by Laura as part of Rob’s process of reclaiming agency over his life. Laura’s benevolent actions directly leads to Rob’s potential infidelity. Cheating on Laura with Caroline would be more than a betrayal of their relationship; it would also be a symbolic rejection of the desire to change and grow. Rob is tempted by Caroline on a physical level and by what she represents. The last temptation of Rob is to reject all the progress he has made over the course of the novel and return to his old, comfortable, but unhappy existence.
Rob does not immediately reassure the reader that he has rejected the possibility of temptation. Chapter 33 ends with Rob making a mixtape for Caroline, though Rob admits to having doubts about whether he should meet her for a drink. Chapter 34 begins in a bar, where Rob tells the reader that he is waiting for a woman. The narration is deliberately vague, introducing the possibility that Rob has caved to temptation and he is waiting for Caroline. This dramatic tension is broken a short time later when Laura arrives. Rob proposes to Laura to show his growth and maturity. While Rob admits to his mistake, he chooses to see the positive side of his rejection. He understands that the desire to commit to one woman is a new development and an example of personal growth. Rather than seeing the negativity of being turned down by Laura, he sees the positivity of being in a mature, sincere enough position to make the proposal. Rob is now willing to commit to Laura and confident in his new, positive outlook on life.
The closing chapters illustrate how Rob uses mixtapes to communicate his feelings. Rob has spent so many years as a music obsessive that he wants to share his passion with others. He achieves this by making mixtapes, particularly for women. The mixtapes allow him to communicate his emotions and feelings through music, while also showing off the depth of his knowledge. Rob offers to make a tape for Caroline just as he offered to make a tape for Laura when they first met. When he sits down to make a mixtape for Caroline, he is betraying his love for Laura and plotting a possible act of infidelity. However, the final chapter makes clear that Rob has changed. As he plays his music, he decides to make another mixtape for Laura. This time, he will choose music that she appreciates. He no longer wants to impose his taste on Laura or turn her into a fellow music obsessive. Instead, he begins to value her own happiness. Rob’s plan for a new kind of mixtape shows how much he has changed from the self-centered narcissist of earlier in the book. Now, he values Laura in her own right, rather than as a reflection of his own self-worth.
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By Nick Hornby
