Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

I honestly don't think I've ever read a book that David Levithan has had a hand in and genuinely loved. it. I generally find them reasonably entertaining, perhaps a bit too moody, and altogether forgettable. You would think I'd have learned my lesson by now, and yet I persist in reading his stuff. Here we have another fine example from the team that gave us Dash and Lily's Book of Dares. This time Rachel Cohn wrote Norah, and David Levithan wrote Nick. As I should have expected the book was nothing special. It kept me engaged while I was reading it, and has now been relegated to a box in the corner of my mind where I tend to store memories associated with visits to the DMV.

Nick and Norah is about two super-moody teenagers who have both been through rough breakups recently and find themselves partaking in a contrived five-minute relationship of total convenience, which of course stretches way past five minutes. The point of view switches from Nick to Norah and back again with each successive chapter, and while it's initially interesting seeing both perspectives the effect ultimately led to a sense of seasickness. I constantly felt that I needed to find my bearings within the minds of the narrators, and as a result I had a tough time finding any lasting engagement with them.

The plot itself is fairly straightforward, though I won't say much for the sake of avoiding spoilers. It was all very conventional young adult romance stuff, though, and nothing revolutionary. There were a few moments of real depth, particularly associated with Norah's past and her efforts to overcome it. The supporting characters ultimately provided the most depth and sincerity within the story, and I rejoiced any time Nick's gay friends showed up. Nothing makes for a good time in a work of young adult lit quite like gay friends! Unfortunately the supporting characters are just that: supporting. Their presence isn't consistent enough to pull the book out of the moody haze in which it primarily exists.

The novel's level of writing is fine for the genre. It's nothing extraordinary, but it also isn't distracting. The words are simply there to allow the story to exist. The words do their job without any fuss, and don't draw attention to themselves. My biggest complain with the book, however, is in fact a matter of language. The narrators are extremely foul-mouthed, and it seemed inappropriate and out of place. In a book for adults, wherein adults are having actual adult problems, I'm fine with some coarse language. But when it's a book about a couple of teenagers who are just worried about high school drama and romance, I don't think such crudeness is justified. It's as if the authors wanted to lend a sense of gravitas, but weren't able to create a story to justify it. Therefore they just threw in a bunch of profanity whenever they felt that the book needed to seem more mature. It didn't work for me, and I found it to be in bad taste.

Nick and Norah is a decently pleasant novel to read, but isn't one that will change my life. It was fun while it lasted, but now that it's over I'm kind of glad to be done with it. I suppose in that sense it's the perfect book for young adults, because that's exactly how I felt about adolescence as well. I'll tell you one thing, I sure wouldn't want to experience it again!

Score: 6/10
Read this book if: You have nothing better to do, and just want to kill a few hours with a book that won't leave much of an impression once you're done with it.
Don't read this book if: You have access to anything better.

P.S. For those who have seen the film, the two works are totally different. I'm guessing that the person who wrote the screenplay read the back of the cover, thought it was a fun idea, and ran with it. I thought the film, like the book, was fun in a sort of vacant way, but the two have almost nothing in common in terms of either plot of characterization.