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Written by Sian Rafferty
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Sunday, 24 January 2010 23:45 |
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‘NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST’ is basically the ultimate 183 page ‘he said/she said’ tale of boy meets girl. Written by two individual writers - Rachel Cohn and David Levithan - each individually ‘voice’ their respective characters: Norah and Nick, and one crazy night-ride through the underground teen-scene of New York.
Nick is totally in love with Tris. While he knows how to pour out his feelings for her in songs, he has never quite cottoned onto the fact that she is just too hot for him - until she kicks him to the curb. Norah, Tris’ sometimes friend, falls for Nick through the poetry of his hand-me-down mixed CD’s without ever meeting him in person. That is, until one chance meeting at a gig sets them off on a yellow brick road through the clubs of New York - all on one fateful night.
The most amazing thing about this book is how relatable the characters are to the audience (ideally the mid-teen to early twenties crowd). Nick is so clueless - and makes the easy mistake of confusing like, mixed with a healthy dose of lust, and what he believes is as-true-as-it-comes Love. He’s totally lovable as the guy who believes his heart will never be whole again. Come on - everyone can relate to that. And Norah is like a shining beacon for the average teen girl. Damaged by the careless comments of a previous boyfriend, which have slowly taken root in her brain as dark insecurities - Norah is basically a poster child for the self esteem issues that every girl faces at some point. |
The genius of the two characters has to come from the fact that you are getting two sides to a story; one from Venus and one from Mars, with two entirely separate points of view. In this way, it’s more like reading the script of an actual relationship, rather than just a one-dimensional story. Each side has its own voice and insecurities, rooted in the neuroses of the individual characters.
Special mention has to go the character of Tris in the book. In the movie she is catty, and pretty much all around hated for her peppy, try-hard ways - and the because she dumps Nick for someone hotter. However, in the book she is still all of those things, yet oddly acts as a sort of go-to girl for wisdom in both Nick and Norah’s case - and in a way, totally enables both to move on from their current ruts.
‘Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist’ is in every way the modern-day fairytale, with damsels in distress and knights in shining armour. Think ‘Romeo and Juliet’ set to a modern soundtrack where the only thing keeping these star-crossed lovers apart is not family divisions, but internal demons - and also minus all the poison and daggers and general messiness at the end. Maybe think Taylor Swift’s version of the story rather than the original...
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