Book Review: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Photo taken from Goodreads

Book Info

Title:  Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist 
Author:  Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Publisher:  Knopf Books for Young Readers

Language: English

Format:  Paperback 

Pages:  183 pages

ISBN-10:  0375835334

ISBN-13:  978-0375835339

Source:  Purchased, Fully Booked

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Summary

From Goodreads:

"It all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who’s just walked in to his band’s show. With a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York City—and smack in the middle of all the joy, anxiety, confusion, and excitement of a first date."

Review

It is confirmed – I have definitely read all of Rachel Cohn’s and David Levithan’s work backwards, beginning with Dash and Lily, then Naomi and Ely, and now, Nick and Norah.

I have watched the movie version and I totally loved it, but this book was a very different adventure.  Not because this book was bad – it wasn’t.  The movie could not even compare.

Flashback to when I was eight years old and just watched The Little Mermaid in the movies:  My mother said, “Everything becomes different in movies.”  She couldn’t have been more spot-on.  Aside from changing storylines, the experience of reading about it instead of watching it has always been more significant to me.  If anything, it’s my imagination that is at work – not that of the director’s, or the scriptwriter’s or even the costume designer’s.  I am the one who decides how Nick and Norah looks like, and although Michael Cera came a bit close to the Nick in my head, but Norah was way, way off Kat Dennings. 

And so because this is the last book (for now) that I would be reading from this dynamic writing duo, I felt that I owed it to them to do a different style of book review for this book.  And because Levithan’s books make me play music in my head as I read, I thought making a playlist for the different aspects I loved about this book would be cool. 

Here goes:

The Fight is Over by Urbandub. 

Breakup Song

Nick and Tris, Norah and Tal.  Tris broke up with Nick and he could not move on; meanwhile, Norah is in a controlling relationship with Tal, which has left her cold and a teeny bit disillusioned.  The relationship of these two pairs of ‘ex-lovers’ were shown quite effectively without too much storytelling.  Yes, Nick’s parts obviously focus around the breakup with Tris but it is not hard to grasp the gravity of the situation for him, and elicited just the right amount of sympathy without seeming to be too trying hard or pathetic.  As for Norah and Tal, the story of their relationship is much less ‘out there’ than Nick’s, but it is also very easy to understand without too much ‘garnishing’ that try to force emotions from readers, but only succeed in making them irritated because of too much uncomfortable and unnecessary details. 

Don’t Call It Love by Vinyl Pinups

The Kiss

When Nick asked Norah if she’d be his five-minute girlfriend, Norah answered by giving him a kiss.  And that’s when they both realized that something is bound to happen between them.  However, none of them knew yet what they were in for, and were still in denial about what is happening.  That’s why I think this song fit that moment perfectly, not just for its slow sound, but also for the lyrics.  That Kiss between Nick and Norah was excellently described; it felt like we were actually watching it instead of just reading about it, but better.

Help I’m Alive by Metric

For the Characters

The characters are very human and believable, and quite likable.  Even Tal and Tris, with their impossibly possible irritating traits like constantly interrupting a potentially sweet moment for Nick and Norah, were actually very funny and endearing, especially Norah’s revelation of Tris as an occasional good friend.  Have you noticed that Nick and Norah have names that start with ‘N’ while they’re exes’ names both begin with a ‘T’?  I wonder if it has some significance.  I also like how some characters only had small parts in the story and yet drew a huge impact, from me, at least.  I especially liked Norah’s Dad for being ‘such a dad,’ and because even if he was mentioned just briefly, it was for me, one of the best parts of the book. 

Give A Little More by Maroon 5

For the Writing

In my opinion, although this is a great story on its own, the next two books written by Cohn and Levithan read a bit better and had more solid writing to back up their stories.  I guess as time passes and with more practice, we really do get better at things we do, considering that Dash and Lily is my favorite among the three books they wrote together.  But that is not to say that this book is not good.  I liked the plot, the storyline, and the dialogue.  And judging this book by its own merit, I could still say that this is up there with those other really cool stories for the YA genre.  The voices were distinct and quirky, very solid.  It was intelligently written and had a great lyrical, smooth tone.  The story, told through two points of view, flowed seamlessly and effortlessly, and did not sound redundant.  Some books that do multiple points of view tended to repeat a single scene through their heads which can sometimes be confusing and tiring because you get to read about one scene several times, with the views rotated among the characters but nonetheless still the same.  In this book, a scene is examined by both Nick and Norah only if it is important enough.  If not, it would only be mentioned in passing just so the connection between their stories does not get broken. 

Hey Hey You by Vinyl Pinups

For the Whole Book, Part 1

This is the song that played through my head throughout the story.  Obviously, the song mostly referred to how Nick and Norah met, but the upbeat tempo also made me think of their two personalities.  I know that Nick is very hardcore punk, and Norah is such a music snob they’re sure to be offended by how little I know about music, but as I said, if I like the beat, I listen to it.  And I like the beat of this song in the same way that I liked their catchy story. 

I Want To Hold Your Hand by The Beatles

For the Whole Book, Part 2

So it turns out, I actually have a little music taste.  But that’s because this song was mentioned in the book and when Dev mentioned this to Nick, it automatically started playing in my head, and I thought, Yeah, this is a great song for this book.  This is exactly what Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is all about.  Nick needed to hold someone’s hand to help him get through his breakup with Tris.  Norah needed someone to hold hands with in order to get her through life.

And then, it was mentioned there that every pop song sang today could be traced to ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’, and somehow, this book by Cohn and Levithan is sort of a pioneer of its own type of fiction:  The light, easy, compelling, and fun love story between two young people in search of their own place in the world.  Not just once did I see a book that remotely resembles the theme of Nick and Norah, and I daresay this book is one of the inspirations for those other stories. 

Rating

If you have any questions on this particular rating, please refer to my ratings system here.

Notice 

All opinions expressed in this book review are my own and not influenced by any party in any way.

Please contact me for questions, comments, and suggestions. 

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

(Photo taken from Goodreads)

Title:  Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Author:  John Green and David Levithan
Publisher:  Dutton
Language: English
ISBN-10:  0525421580

ISBN-13:  978-0525421580

Music In My Head:  Two Headed Boy by Neutral Milk Hotel

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Rating:

I finished this book in one go.  I normally have a lot to do during the holidays but once I decided I'm reading this, I let nothing and no one distract me, which is fairly easy because really, when has a David Levithan or a John Green book ever been a drag?  And considering this is a collaboration between the two awesome authors mentioned above, this book is overflowing with awesomeness some of it drips on me!  And because this is partly a David Levithan work, my head automatically plays music and for once, it decides to use one of the songs mentioned in the book, Neutral Milk Hotel's Two Headed Boy, which is Will Grayson #1's least favorite song, but hits the story spot on.  Perfect.

Imagine having another person with your name, not just your first name but your last name too.  Now, suppose you met that person someplace.  I bet some have, and isn't it the strangest feeling?  I have never known anyone named Nina Bermudez - it's my brother who has a namesake, who turns out to be his classmate so imagine the weirdness and the awkward moments when their professor kept confusing them with each other - I do have a fictional character namesake, Nina Bermudez from The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson, but you already know that given that I've mentioned it about 18,546 times on this blog already.  But sometimes, when someone I know reads that book, he/she never fails to tell me about it and say that it felt weird reading about someone in a book that has my name, and they immediately compare me to that character, easily trying to base the character on my personality in high school (which is interestingly, almost the same with what's in the book.  Almost ).  In Will Grayson, Will Grayson,  two 'superficially different' (I'll get to that later) teenagers with the same name meet by accident, and their lives intertwine when Tiny Cooper, Will Grayson #1's (from here on, I shall refer to Will Grayson #1 as WG1 and Will Grayson #2 as WG2) best friend becomes WG2's boyfriend.  A quirky, touching, and cool story about love, friendship, accepting and becoming the real you, and a fabulous school play that brings it full circle.  

If I thought, just by reading the teasers that this would be a predictable story, I couldn't have been more wrong.  First, I did not expect the depth of Tiny's influence on both Will Graysons and how it would affect their outlook in life.  Next, I did not expect the conflict and especially the ending.  I totally had no idea how the book would turn out, but I did predict that I would love everything about it.

In Dash and Lily's Book of Dares, I knew that David Levithan was writing Dash, and Rachel Cohn was writing Lily.  Doing a little research, I found that John Green wrote the chapters for the straight Will Grayson (WG1) and Levithan wrote for the gay Will Grayson (WG2).  Naturally, now why didn't I think of that?  They even split the thinking of a name for their main character, with Levithan coming up with the first name and Green with the last name.  In describing their writing process, they each wrote three chapters for their characters on their own without really agreeing on a definite plot, read it aloud to each other, and then try to imagine the nuances and appropriate reactions of each character when they eventually meet.  Each character stands out clearly, not just because WG2's chapters are written lowercase, reflecting the character's feelings of smallness, marginalization, and hopelessness.  For WG1, the chapters are written in normal type and gives off that smart-guy-who-is-not-aware-of-his-own-coolness-and-pretends-he-does-not-care vibe, which is how WG1 would actually be described.  But even if they are written by two different authors, the story is very clean, seamless, and united  Each chapter flows through the next as smoothly as if I poured oil onto the pages to help the words slide through.  You get this book knowing it's a collaboration, but you finish reading it thinking this is written by just one writer.  There are no contradicting statements, each scene, dialogue, and character consistent and faithful to its initial presentation.  

So now you're probably thinking about the 'superficially different' statement I said about WG1 and WG2.  I think that on the surface, they are different:  1.   WG1 is straight, WG2 is gay;  2.  WG1 has a somewhat easy relationship with his parents, WG2 doesn't; 3.  WG1 may be socially awkward, but sociable nonetheless, while WG2 is a loner and only has one 'real' friend and that does not even work out; 4.  WG1 is sort of smart and upbeat, WG2 is clinically depressed and takes prescribed medications.  So how different can they get, right?  But I can't help noticing the parallel between these two Will Graysons:  They are both trying not to care, not to say too much, and both are afraid and hiding inside themselves - ultimately, they are both hiding, period.  The first two statements are demonstrations of that fact.  I would love to delve deeper into this parallel thing, but that would mean I have to put spoilers and that can't happen.  

I love the supporting characters and how they hold the story together.  They each inspire some emotion from the reader.  I  hated and pitied Maura, got annoyed and then a little 'sweetly cuted-out' by Jane (although I didn't really like her that much), and admired-got-annoyed-fell-in-love with Tiny.  I thought WG1's parents were pretty cool, especially his dad, and I really wanted to give WG2's mom a hug and tell her that everything would be all right.  They could each have their own story lines and plots, especially Tiny.  I would give Tiny a whole novel, come to that.  But I did love the musical he wrote about his life and I wish it could become a reality.  After a little research, I found that the title of his musical, Tiny Dancer and later, Hold Me Closer, are actually parts of a song title by Ironik.  Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer) is a 2008 song by Ironik that uses samples of Elton John's song, Tiny Dancer.  And guess what, some Nerdfighters from John Green's website, www.nerdfighters.com are working on making Hold Me Closer a reality, and you may visit here if you want to help.  

I think everything in this story is very smart, poignant, and touching, and although this is technically a young adult novel, adults will definitely enjoy reading this as the issues presented here are as mature and as adult as you can get.  I mean, you can go all paranoid and self-conscious about your appearance, your coolness vibe, and your popularity status when you're in high school, but understanding who you really are and accepting yourself is a timeless issue, which makes this book light but meaningful, poking fun at people's pretensions of indifference but shedding light on deciding to face yourself and self-acceptance.  A humorous, quirky, but serious story that every teenager or any-ager needs to read.