It is a strange paradox that while the grief of football fans(and it is real grief) is private - we each have an individual relationship with our clubs, and I think that we are secretly convinced that none of the other fans understands quite why we have been harder hit than anyone else - we are forced to mourn in public, surrounded by people whose hurt is expressed in forms different from our own.
Nick HornbyIn other words, it's one of those books you thrust on your partner with an incredulous cry of "This is me!
Nick HornbyThatโs the thing with the young these days, isnโt it? They watch too many happy endings. Everything has to be wrapped up, with a smile and a tear and a wave. Everyone has learned, found love, seen the error of their ways, discovered the joys of monogamy, or fatherhood, or filial duty, or life itself. In my day, people got shot at the end of films, after learning only that life is hollow, dismal, brutish, and short.
Nick Hornbymy friends don't seem to be friends at all but people whose phone numbers I haven't lost.
Nick HornbyWe can't be as good as we'd want to, so the question then becomes, how do we cope with our own badness?
Nick HornbyWhy is failure the first thing I think of when I find myself in this sort of situation? Why can't I just enjoy myself? But if you have to ask the question, then you know you're lost: self-consciousness is a man's worst enemy. Already I'm wondering whether she's as aware of my erection as I am.
Nick Hornby