Chronicles, Volume 1
by Bob Dylan
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Book Reviews of Chronicles, Volume 1
Book Review: Poetry in Prose
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't read a lot of biographies, particularly of contemporary figures who I admire. On the other hand, I enjoy autobiographies. Granted, they are limiting in that a person often holds back things about (in this case) himself he'd rather not have out, but biographers also have to make choices about what to put in and what to leave out. Still, it can often be revealing to see what a person does decide to tell about himself. As long as that person is honest.
Is Bob Dylan honest? Well, I'm not enough in the know to tell if he is factually honest though he comes across that way, at least in the broad strokes. On the other hand, he is certainly artistically honest. And what do I mean by "artistically honest"? Well, two things, actually.
First, he is very honest in his analysis of his own work, his artistry. If he judges himself and his work somewhat differently than others have judged him; well, that is his right and revealing in its own way. (In reading interviews with Tom Petty, it is interesting to see how Petty's views of Dylan's work on their tours differ from Dylan's own.) And yet, I would expect that Dylan's views of his work change with time and mood so it's difficult to hold him to any moment's judgement.
More important to a reader is the fact that the prose of this book is beautiful, showing that Dylan's skill as a wordsmith transcends songwriting. That lends this book an artistic truth that goes beyond any factual truth or criticism. The fact is that, whatever poetic licence Dylan has taken with his memories, I'll accept it because it is excellent poetry.
I have been a Bob Dylan fan for a long time now. Reading this book was like listening to Dylan spend an evening telling stories in his own unique style. If there are a few clunky lines and metaphors, it's easy to forgive. Every lyric isn't a winner either. But a heck of a lot of them are. As to whether I'm any closer to him after reading this, I don't know, but I expect I am and I know I enjoyed the journey.
Book Review: Always great to hear the man's words
Summary: 5 Stars
Ever since I heard about this autobiography I began waiting for it.
I thought, and knew, so many other things would have come out, different perspectives of different times, places and facts every Bob Dylan fan already knows.
To my great surprise, this work was astonishing. Much better than a new collection of songs, full of intriguing and vivid images, details that seem to be coming from yesterday while they actually belong to another era. And, once again, Dylan was able to surprise all of us. The way he skips from one decade to the other, to be back from the starting point, keeps the reader always awake. And even the most famous episodes are told from another perspective, with a sophisticated fine writing which is the man's trademark. The way Dylan takes us all for a tour around an early '60s New York City, how his trousers sink in a pool of water and mud as he's approaching Woody Guthrie's basement, a timeless New Orleans that echoes in the making of "Oh Mercy", the jumps through times and decades... all is here, in a fantastic book.
You will discover a young Dylan reading Leopardi and other unknown poets, being interested into Masonic movements, hanging around small libraries in dark basement across a now disappeared Greenwich Village. You'll also be surprised by the way he thinks and manages music, the structure of melodies and what happened that night in Locarno....
But mostly, you'll read very intense lines: what his grandmother told him, how he felt in that big car driving around New York, why he wanted David Crosby around in Princeton...
Once again, what really captures about this book is the way it is written. Using some kind of trance-like images and word-streaming, his descriptions are always accurate and new, impressed on his mind like the day they entered his mind. A writing style that has impressed professional hypnotist like Steven Gilligan, who was extremely fascinated by Dylan's writing.
Not to miss is also the audio version, narrated by Sean Penn. Alas, it is abridged.
Book Review: Chronicling a Moment
Summary: 5 Stars
What do you select for your autobiography? How much do you reveal? Where do you begin? When do you end? As with each of his musical releases, Bob Dylan excites, amuses, frustrates, and stimulates in this streaking comet of personal reflection.
If you are familiar with Mr. Dylan's career and music, then most likely you will expect Chronicles Volume 1 to detail every breath of boyhood life on the Iron Range of Hibbing, Minnesota. You will wait for Volume 2 to detail more. But as with every musical release Dylan never addresses your expectations.
Chronicles Volume 1 details not a life or a period in a life or a particular aspect of a life, but one moment in this artist's life. Just one moment. It's the moment at the cross roads of destiny; the make-or-break moment of a passion, of a career, of a life.
The moment is 1961. A boy leaves his home in the mid-west full of energy, passion, and ambition to make it as a folk singer in New York City. At the cusp of adulthood. risking everything, young Robert Zimmerman forges a new identity, sleeps on friends sofas, plays music in every coffeehouse, nightclub, and bar that will have him, falls in love, and absorbs everything musical.
Chronicles Volume 1 starts here and ends here with flash-forwards, first ten years to an intense transitional period, between manic success and private family life, and then again about twenty-six years to an artistic transition in musical style and a detailed look at how one recording was created.
Dylan smashes your expectations about what he will tell you. He makes you frustrated and amused, but leaves you stimulated and amazed. This is the autobiography of a poet and troubadour, a man whose feet are firmly on the ground and whose head is, well, is somewhere beyond yours and mine.
I recommend this book to everyone who is the least bit curious about Bob Dylan. It's one drawback is that it leaves your thirsting for volume 2. Dylan knows how to leave a stage.
Book Review: You Had Us All Fooled, Mr. Jones!
Summary: 5 Stars
Bob Dylan's "Autobiography", or the choice passages released thus far are a revelation. Instead of this mumbling, off-the-wall, even angry young man, Robert Zimmerman Dylan comes across as a guy you'd definitely want to have a beer with, or swap stories, or even discuss world events with.
Bob, despite the initial Left-wing background, the bohemian stuff and all, just longed for a picket fenced home, roses in the garden, a wife and kids, or, in short, to be like most Americans were in the 1960s and early 1970s. But fame and notoriety had its black side, as everybody hounded the poor man.
Up in relatively remote Woodstock, Mr. Dylan was hounded by the Rock music paparazzi; he was hounded by the fans, he was hounded by the tourists even as he was trying to both recover from that motorcycle accident and enjoy his children. What Dylan experienced there was really "Rainy Day Woman" - everybody must get stoned - or stone poor Bob!
If one also expected Bob to just "hang" with the rest of the folkies and the rockers, Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, the Beatles and the Byrds, who took his acoustic-based songs, electrified them and made them something very special, well, you'd be in for a surprise. Bob also liked Hollywood folks and if wasn't pressed by the public was (and probably is) a great neighbor.
Bob Dylan isn't thought much as an innovator - more as a brilliant composer and thinker - but remember when he strapped on that electric guitar alongside The Band at Newport and revolutionized Folk Music. The purists threw the brickbats, but Folk music was never the same again - it was for better, not worse.
The stories about all of those great songs - "Blowin' in the Wind", "Mr. Tambourine Man", "Like A Rolling Stone", "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and the rest - maybe Mr. Dylan will cover them in this fascinating chronicle; maybe he won't. But his life experience, as surprising as it now seems, is something this reviewer is looking forward to read more of.
Book Review: An Authentic Life
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book in May while on vacation and became intrigued by the person in a way I had never been before. I was in high school in a small town in Minnesota when I first heard of Bob Dylan. I still have several old Dylan LPs and had purchased the three greatest hit CDs, but had never been a truly serious fan. Since May, I have added 12 CDs, including the whole bootleg series, and the two documentaries - Don't Look Back and No Direction Home. I also heard him play at Midway Stadium in St. Paul in July. I have become immersed in Dylan.
Why? I am intrigued by his character and the choices he made and continues to make in his life. I appreciate his passion to perform, his respect for other artists, his perspective on relationships and the society we live in, and his continual reinvention and experimentation - all of which shine through in this book. I can't wait for the next two to be published.
I teach a graduate leadership class on self-identity, values, and personal growth. In the class we explore callings and our responses to the callings in our lives; students write a life story that explores what their life purpose is, how they came to that conclusion, and the extent to which they are staying true to their purpose. Chronicles goes a long way toward clarifying Dylan's life purpose, the people and experiences that shaped it, and the choices he made in his life journey. I plan to use his book to illustrate how one person navigates his life, while staying true to himself.
His lyrics and book clearly reflect values that I hold deeply - a love of learning; a sense of connectedness to others and desire for the common good; and a need to speak the truth. I've listened more deeply to his lyrics than I ever could as a teenager and see more clearly the need to speak out against oppression, corruption, injustice, and war. His songs are classics that carry thoughtful messages about the social issues we face. If only we could listen and do something about it....