Product Description: Cloaked in mystique, Joy Division's extraordinary vocalist Ian Curtis tragically took his own life in 1980, leaving just two haunting albums and a depleted band that would famously evolve into New Order. 25 years later, the enigma of Ian Curtis has deepened to an unprecedented level. Devotees make regular pilgramages to both his hometown of Macclesfield and to Manchester, where the story of Joy Division and Factory Records has left a profound mark on the city. Examines his life, his work, his relationships and the cultural environment in which he lived and died.
Build a bridge and get over it This biography is written in the style of an oral history. People do not speak in perfectly grammatical, always interesting or even easy to understand ways. If you want to read a biography written in an impeccable literary style, this isn't it. If you want to read a detailed life of Ian Curtis, this is probably as close as you will ever get. All you armchair editors out there should just calm down.
Interesting, Confusing, Interesting... I found myself plowing through this book because it is filled with interesting facts about the post-punk scene in the Manchester area of England...the days when aspiring artists could walk into record label offices and be "found" instead of "made". However, it is a difficult read due the challenge of distinguishing who is sharing their point of view and when. The cast of characters (real life characters) is diverse and ever changing, so it is hard to follow who is sharing their story and in what `person' the story is being told. Ian's wife wrote her own portrayal of events (which I haven't read yet), but this book is missing her perspective. Even if Deborah Curtis didn't have a close relationship with Ian at the time of his demise, her input is clearly missing and it would have helped with some of the emotional gaps. We do get a lot of information from Annik Honore, the woman who participated in Ian's emotional love affair, but they had sporadic contact, over less than a year's time, so it's hard to tell how well Annik knew Ian. Did anyone `know' him for that matter? I came away from this book feeling like no one knew this man. So, the enigma lives on. I still recommend this book, but I'm still left wondering.
Could have used a good editor I have to agree that the book is a real pain to read because the writing is so lousy. I'm glad to finally have such a detailed account not only of the story of Joy Division but the whole Manchester scene in general. The information is good, but I just can't deal with the sub-standard writing.
An unfortunate strike against an otherwise interesting book.
New Infro, Poorly written 3 stars for new info contained in the book, but damn, the book was annoying to read because of grammatical errors and sloppy writing. What ever happened to editors who are supposed to catch this stuff?
reviews from Amazon.UK here are the reviews found at Amazon.UK where the book is in circulation. Can't wait for this one.
5 stars. This book takes you from the minutae of a child's life to an absolute monster of a tradegy.The the strength of this book lies in the publication of the letters between Curtis and Honore and Mr.Middles identification of the many variables of epilepsy,fame,marital breakdown,love,art and business that broke a young and very talented guy. A great book. Oh,and the depiction of Martin Hannet as somekind of MadHatter is brilliant...a real genius.
5 stars
This is an excellent biography featuring a lot of new information notably from Ian's family and from those who knew him intimately towards the end of his short life. Featuring photos from the Curtis family album, information about his childhood - right through to extracts from letters between Ian Curtis and Annik Honore.
Highly recommended and equally as important as Deborah Curtis's "Touching From A Distance".
If you want to know the real story of Ian Curtis - the one behind the myth - this book is for you.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
