OK! I’m back.. I know it has been a little bit since my last
post…. One spilled glass of pepsi, one
new laptop screen, one new laptop keyboard and $230 later…. I’m back online!
This book was very one sided as can be expected. She has
hard feelings of how John treated their son. She sure never had much positive
to say about Yoko, but again, this can be expected. If you asked Yoko Ono her
view on John’s first wife I am sure it would be a similar outcome.
John does not come across as much of a father in this book. Seeing
all the footage and articles on Beatlemania, it’s obvious he may not have been
home as much as he should with his newborn son. When he first divorced Cynthia,
he was there even less. There was a three year period where John had no contact
with Julian. Cynthia blames this on Yoko as well as John. Nobody but John would
have known all of his reasoning, but I’m sure there was more to it than what is
described in this book. I am not trying to say John Lennon is a man who has
done no wrong. He was far from the Saint that people portray him as. When
people die it seems like they are always remembered as perfect. Never the less,
I am a huge fan of John just the same!
This was a fun read. I wouldn’t recommend as your primary
John Lennon history lesson. For that I would recommend the Beatles Anthology
videos. I consider the anthology as close to how it actually happened with the
Beatles as it gets. I have read a lot of books on the Beatles, seen most
documentaries and read endlessly about them in magazines and on the internet.
Most of it seems to lean towards the Anthologies as the most accurate.
Cynthia seems like a good person and I have not read much
about her that speaks otherwise (except Yoko’s opinion). She tried to have a
life with John and it didn’t work out… shit happens… But regardless, this book
was fun! It gave a good view of John is his younger years. It actually gave a
great view of John right up until their divorce. It’s when he left that it
seemed to turn into Cynthia’s opinion rather than actual facts.
Overall I would recommend this for big Beatle fans like
myself who already have a good idea of John’s life.
I read this book too and it is chock full of factual errors that could have easily been verified by the editorial team. Its been a while since I read this, but I remember there was a line or 2 in there about John hanging out with one or 2 members of The Monkees in 1966. The Monkees did not set foot on English soil till 1967 and that has been verified and written in the books as fact.
ReplyDeleteSo yes, its one-sided, and gives one look at a multi-faceted, and very complex man. It was certainly a better read than her book from the 1970's "A Twist Of Lennon".
But the real meat in the book lies in the picture she paints in the pre and early Beatle years.
To go off on a tangent, I recommend watching the bio-drama "Nowhere Boy", which focuses on John's childhood & teen years in Liverpool. It was well done, and fairly accurate, according to the many books on the Beatles and John I have read throughout the years.
No one has anything positive to say about Yoko because there isn't anything good that one can say about Yoko. She knew John wasn't available, that he was married and had a child and she went for it anyway. John was a coward in the way he divorced Cynthia and abandoned Julian and left them with very little money compared to what he had at that time. He did the same thing to his son that happened to him when he was a child. You would think that he wouldn't have wanted that for his own son. Despite all that I think he is an artistic genius and I will always like him. All books are one sided, they are always from the view of the author. I think Cynthia is a reliable source and who cares if John was hanging out with the Monkees in 1966 or 1967. What difference does it make if she got the year wrong. John and Cynthia loved each other very much at one time. The Beatles exposed John to many things that wouldn't have ever happened in his lifetime if he hadn't experienced that success. Yoko would have never factored into the picture. Maybe John would still be alive and married to Cynthia and/or maybe not. Maybe Cynthia would have eventually left him. Who knows.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of what your saying. Seems like a cowardly way to leave his ex and his son and there is no valid excuse that can be given.
DeleteI guess everybody's opinions and recollections can differ. Your right that an event as huge as how he left his family can not be misinterpretted by Cynthia. But I guess some people remember things differently than they actually happened. In this book it seems to be a lot of the smaller events that differ.
I think a good example of this is in the Beatles anthology itself. When Paul is telling the camera that everyone said they were stoned when they met the Queen. Paul says that it never happened. The camera changes to George who says it never haoppened, they never got stoned. Then the camera goes to Ringo who says that they were SOOO STONED. Different people remember things differently.
What I liked about this book is that it was her recollection and not checked to see if it jives with others. But it doesn't mean that everything she remembers is accurate. It's what makes this book so raw.
Thanks so much for your opinion! I love feedback on my posts!