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| Riverhead Books |
Nick Hornby
2009
The Summary
"In a dreary seaside town in England, Annie loves Duncan - or she thinks she does, because she always has. Duncan loves Annie, but then, all of a sudden, he doesn't anymore. So Annie stops loving Duncan, and starts getting her own life.
"She sparks an e-mail correspondence with Tucker Crowe, a reclusive Dylanesque singer-songwriter who stopped making music twenty-two years ago, and who is also Duncan's greatest obsession. A surprising connection is forged between two lonely people who are looking for more out of what they've got.
"What happens when a washed-up musician looks for another chance? And miles away, a restless, childless woman looks for a change? Juliet, Naked is a powerfully engrossing, humblingly humorous novel about music, love, loneliness, and the struggle to live up to one's promise."
The Good
Juliet, Naked is an enjoyable novel. It doesn't contain a particularly incredible adventure, it isn't very romantic, but it isn't tragic; rather, I think it falls more into the slice-of-life category than anything. Seeing as how it takes a small cross-section of stories from Annie Duncan and Tucker Crowe, following their lives as their paths inadvertently cross, I think it fits nicely as a slice-of-life piece of fiction.
However, I was incredibly pleased with Nick Hornby's characters. He fleshed out his characters and created intriguing personalities within them, which I enjoyed. You felt for them as they struggled with basic human problems. You hoped for them as they tried to change what they could and be the decent people they hoped to be.
I liked that Tucker Crowe was flawed, that he was struggling with his past decisions and learning to forge a stronger bond with his son, Jackson. I liked that Annie Duncan was taking a serious look at her life and questioning her career choices. I liked that they were constantly changing, constantly making personal realizations and attempting to reconcile who they were with who they wished to be.
I liked that Hornby was able to give his characters of life of their own, give them human qualities that made them recognizable on an almost instinctual level.
The Bad
I recognize the resolution of Juliet, Naked for what it is: a pivotal moment of change, a feeling that a door has opened for her and she has new possibilities standing before her. Call it for what it is: hope. Annie has hope, and you have hope that things will change.
However, I will admit that I was mildly disappointed by how Hornby's novel ended. I mean, I recognize that Juliet, Naked ended on a happy note. I get that, but I just can't get past this sinking feeling that nothing was really resolved for Annie - or Tucker, for that matter - and I find that disappointing.
I remember an earlier line from Juliet, Naked that essentially sums up the entire novel: "The truth about life was the nothing ever ended until you died, and even then you just left a whole bunch of unresolved narratives behind you." That's it, I suppose. It's an ending, one ending, but it's not really the end.
It's life.
The Ugly
Duncan's obsession is a bit strange. Tucker's life is a mess. Annie's caught in a slump and questioning her entire existence. That's life for you, I suppose: it isn't always very nice or very pretty, so brace for some confusion and heartbreak along the way.
C'est la vie, you know.
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