Chap 27-35

Eli Pardue
9/17/08
Brit Lit
Mrs. Pfan

Rob's acceptance of who and where he is in life was brought about by his 'new' relationship with Laura. Because they got back together, hew as able to see what his personal problems and insecurities were, why they attracted people, but also why they drove them away. He was able to speak with Laura (in a civilized manner) about the reasons she left him, why they had grown distant, and why she was attracted to him in the first place. Previous to his reconciliation with Laura, he was only left with his skewed views of himself and those around him. For example, he used to believe that people were to be judged by the things they do, the music they listen to, and the films they watch. The only way he would ever see someone past their outward image was if it was compatible with his outward image. When Laura took him to see her friends, he found that, he was trapped in a situation where he knew nothing about her friends, except who they presented themselves to be, sans outward image. When he looked at their record collection, he was appalled. Yet he realized that he liked these people before he knew anything about their possessions. From this encounter, Rob realized that it was not about what they owned, but who they were. I have no reason to think that Rob's changes are fake. Rob achieved peace because he realized the errors of his bigoted mindset.
I have mixed feelings about the end of the book. It was nice to see Rob find himself at the end of High Fidelity, but the book ended without gusto. It ended with a question mark. Rob is back together with Laura, but we cannot see the future of his relationship with her, which may be the defining factor of whether or not the new Rob sticks. We do not know what will happen with Rob's job at Championship Vinyl. There we simply too many loose ends.

Chap 22-26

Eli Pardue
9/11/08
Brit Lit
Mrs. Pfan

Rob's fear of death seems to have a very profound affect of his infidelity and inability to maintain meaningful relationships with friends and loved ones. He fears loss and change, which, to Rob, is best manifested in death. Death means the absolute physical loss of someone. There is not way to find another person who can perfectly replace the person who died. Because Rob realizes this truth about death, he subconsciously distances himself from everyone in his life. He is not close to his parents, he sabotages his romantic relationships, and he never talks to his friends. I do not think that a fear of death should ever warrant one not living their life to the fullest (cliche attack!). I blame Rob's fear of death for his self-pity, loathing, and his conceited, selfish behavior. In my opinion, it is just another excuse for him to use to cover up his own flaws that he does not have the courage to confront.

Chap 14-21

Eli Pardue
9/9/08
Brit Lit
Mrs. Pfan

When Rob goes back to speak with all of his ex-girlfriends, he is trying to reconcile with them to feel better about his split with Laura. All of his relationships were left in turmoil (at least for him) and he felt that the only way for him to progress past his self-loathing would be to fix the issues he had with his past. In most cases, Rob does not find the answers he is looking for. He starts with Alison, and is promptly informed that he was never in fact her boyfriend at all. She had gone off to Australia and married her first boyfriend. This was not what Rob expected, and he did not reconcile with Alison because she had never considered him a boyfriend in the first place. Next was Penny. Rob took the path of the self-righteous bastard, and put everything wrong with the end of their relationship on her. She took that blame, and turned it around on Rob, telling him that he was the one who packed her in because of his own shallowness, and ended the conversation with a strong handed "fuck you." Women: 2, Rob: 0. After Penny was Jackie, who was happily, monogamously married to Phil, whom she left Rob for. They eat a nice dinner, during which Rob and Penny school Rob in the subject of love. At the end of the night, Rob makes a comment about being a cynic and a romantic, and how marriage and its endless repetitiveness is as welcome to him as garlic is to a vampire. He is disgusted by the way they live, and is consequently glad he did not end up with Jackie. Sarah and Rob are a little more successful. They have a nice time, talk about films and music, and agree that they will do it again soon. More importantly, Sarah admits to Rob that she should never have left him for the other guy who dumped her because he was getting married. This was the kind of 'compliment' that Rob was looking for; something to boost his self confidence by making him feel better than other men. and therefore desirable. Rob: 2, Women: 2. The last one was Charlie. Charlie told Rob that she hated these post-relationship conversations, and so invited him over for a dinner party. Rob found himself extremely out of place. He made one comment all night and remained silent the rest of the time, all the while feeling intimidated and embarrassed by everyone else's attire, conversation, and dimeanor. He left feeling as if he had not grown up with everyone else, which he was (typically) self-righteous about, explaining that he would never want to live like they did. But even so, he was left feeling insignificant because of the way the world around him progressed, and because of the way he felt as if it had left him behind.

Final score
Rob: 2
Women: 3

Top 5 ways to break up with someone

1. End it without saying why.
2. Use a cliche line to cover up for the real reason (i.e. "I'm just not sure what I want right now")
3. Text/Facebook message
4. Leave after she had your child, and become a deadbeat
5. ???

Chap 7-13

Eli Pardue
Brit Lit
Ms. Pfanschmidt

In these chapters, Rob's view of his relationship with Laura is very strained. This is shown in many examples during Rob's relationship with her. He gives us a top four list of terrible things he did when they were together. He slept with another woman while Laura was pregnant, his affair led to her termination of the pregnancy, he borrowed a lot of money rfom her and never paid her back, and he told her that he was unhappy in the relationship and was sort of looking for someone else. He goes on to explain that many of these things were somewhat justified, but they go to show that his relationship was not secure. Laura was making a large sum of money working as a corporate lawyer, while Rob had just lost his job as a DJ, and was struggling with the record store. Laura wanted to help him out by lending him the money. She tricked him into eelling her that he was looking for someone else by ensuring him that it was natural to do so, and that she might be looking for someone new as well. Rob relationship with Marie is different, however. Marie admitted to Rob that she simply needed to be wit hsomeone because of her lonliness. After they slept together, their companionship was as strained as Rob's relationship with Laura. This is party because Rob decided he did not particularly like American women, but also because Marie knows that he still ahs feelings for Laura, and Rob lets it get in the way of his relationship with Marie.

Top 5 Books That Have Been Made Into Movies

1. Lord of the Rings (all)
2. The Godfather
3. Goodfellas
4. High Fidelity
5. Forest Gump