The John Lennon Letters: Edited and with an Introduction by Hunter Davies

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  • The John Lennon Letters by John Lennon
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  • The John Lennon Letters
  • The John Lennon Letters, edited by Hunter Davies - review
  • Edited and with an Introduction by Hunter Davies

    • Hence each is represented by a photo of it accompanied by a transcription of its contents. The photo of the artefact is just as important as what it actually says maybe more so. The photo is saying: A famous person once touched it! It's a book of religious relics rather than some form of autobiography. Or maybe it's just a posh version of a Sotheby's catalogue. Am I being too harsh? Let me get one thing straight: I love the Beatles.

    I haven't named any kids after them but I still really love them. They were the first group that I was ever properly aware of. In my early teens I would sometimes stay in and listen to the radio all day in the hope that I would catch a song by them that I'd never heard before and be able to tape it on my radio-cassette player. When I bought a new turntable last week, I took along my copy of Abbey Road to do a listening test. It was essential to me that that record would sound good on whatever I bought. But the whole point of the Beatles is that they were ordinary.

    Four working-class boys from Liverpool who showed that not only could they create art that stood comparison with that produced by "the establishment" — they could create art that pissed all over it. From the ranks of the supposedly uncouth, unwashed barbarians came the greatest creative force of the 20th century. It wasn't meant to be that way. It wasn't officially sanctioned.

    Hunter Davies and Albert Goldman on each others Beatles biographies Part 2.

    But it happened — and that gave countless others from similar backgrounds the nerve to try it themselves. Their effect on music and society at large is incalculable. I am so the target-audience for this book that it hurts — but something feels wrong. Britpop I can scarcely believe that I typed that word of my own free will perhaps comes in useful for once at this point. People of my generation felt this obscure pang — this feeling that we'd somehow missed out on something amazing.

    So we tried to make it happen again — but exactly the same.

    There can be no argument that Lennon was one of the most iconic and culturally significant figures of the 20th century, a status based on 23 albums made with the Beatles, Yoko Ono and solo. Since his untimely death in , public fascination has led to an industry of posthumous releases and pseudo-forensic examination of everything he ever touched, rather like poring over the bones of a saint in search of religious revelation. As we get further from the creative source, each new addition to the growing heap of branded Lennon memorabilia has the effect of diminishing rather than expanding our sense of the artist.

    Typically for products endorsed by Yoko Ono, this book has a luxurious sheen that would complement any coffee table, but its contents reveal that the bottom of the barrel has been well and truly scraped clean. No piece of paper bearing evidence of his hand is deemed too trivial to include, so that chapters covering the more reclusive years up to his death are filled with hastily scribbled lists of jobs left for various domestic personnel, subsequently numbered, titled and pretentiously annotated by Davies.

    The contrast between the serious presentation and triteness of the content only serves to make the subject look silly. George Harrison and Beatles memorabilia for sale. Are these the worst songs by The Beatles? There are actual letters, many addressed to family members and close friends, written fast and unselfconsciously in a light-hearted style, full of surreal nonsense frequently pertaining to insignificant matters lost in the mists of time, so that all that is left are non sequiturs, baffling.

    He is frequently defensive, aggressive, paranoid, bossy, sarcastic and self-justifying, particularly in work-related scribbles reacting to perceived criticism or imagined slights against Yoko.

    The John Lennon Letters by John Lennon

    This groundbreaking collection of almost letters and postcards has been edited and annotated by Hunter Davies, whose authorized biography The Beatles was published to great acclaim. With unparalleled knowledge of Lennon and his contemporaries, Davies reads between the lines of the artist's words, contextualizing them in Lennon's life and using them to reveal the man himself.

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    A collection of fragments offers a vivid portrait of John Lennon

    To ask other readers questions about The John Lennon Letters , please sign up. Be the first to ask a question about The John Lennon Letters. Lists with This Book. I have just finished a truly exceptional audiobook which I feel privileged to have read. When I started listening to this audiobook I didn't think I would learn much through listening to his letters but I was so wrong.

    I always thought that John Lennon was a truly nice guy and I made this assumption just by listening to his music which told me so much. However the letters revealed I have just finished a truly exceptional audiobook which I feel privileged to have read. However the letters revealed just what I thought and also much about his life,thoughts and feelings.

    I can vaguely remember seeing both John and Yoko in a huge bed in a hotel on the local news but it's a very long time ago. My favourite song was and still is Imagine, the words are so beautiful and meaningful. The world was left a much sadder place without John Lennon and he will always be remembered for the music and lyrics he left behind. View all 3 comments.

    Dec 06, Ed Wagemann rated it really liked it. In May of I turned 41, making me older than John Lennon was when he died. That was a weird feeling. Generally the longer a Rock star lives, the less iconic they are. View all 4 comments. Sep 27, sasasa rated it really liked it Shelves: A lot of fun but seems really incomplete.

    No way of knowing what's missing but it just seems really spotty, because given what's included it seems like he would have written a lot more, since he clearly enjoyed doing so. I'm totally baffled by some of the typos and tons of "? Where have all the copy editors gone, is what I'd like to know. I got this yesterday and have read most of it, and it's been a lot of fun.

    Most of it isn't terribly deep, but there are a few that shed some light on bits of this or that. Among the most entertaining bits are his lists of to-dos for his assistants. I want him to stay alive a little longer, even just in the context of this book. Aug 08, Petra rated it really liked it.

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    Anyway, this book can be read as a John Lennon biography as it was written by the writer of The Beatles' official biography, and a friend of John it goes through all the phases of his life, with letters as documentation, and gives a lot of insight into the Beatles disintegration, his family life in all its forms , and his very brief phase of activism. Great present Good condition and more content than I expected Verified purchase: This is a gorgeous app built with love and care. The world lost a good man. Nomad by Alan Partridge. But it happened — and that gave countless others from similar backgrounds the nerve to try it themselves.

    Once again, my sadness at John Lennon's murder comes to the surface. The world lost a good man. These letters, notes and postcards show a warm, kind, passionate man who believed in the goodness of people, of working together for a common goal and the power of Love and Peace. He reached out to people unknown to himself and gave them words of friendship and humour, just because they wrote to h Once again, my sadness at John Lennon's murder comes to the surface.

    He reached out to people unknown to himself and gave them words of friendship and humour, just because they wrote to him. Imagine a star today taking the time to hand-write a reply to a random fan. And John Lennon did it over and over again. He wasn't a perfect man but he was a thinking man who tried to find his way to a better reality.

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    With each year, he became more grounded, aware, and dare I say it, wise. The early letters from The Beatles era weren't stellar. He was definitely young and perhaps overwhelmed at what was happening with all the fame and concerts. These letters didn't show a man of wisdom but the seeds must have been there. But once John Lennon meets Yoko Ono his direction changed. He started to think deeper and in more significant ways about the world, what's important to all and to himself personally.

    He grew and broadened. These letters are wonderful. Sadly, the letters stopped. They stopped at a time in John's life that gives me pain, really. He was at that almost perfect place where he had matured and grown to a place where he could now comfortably be himself and be happy.

    The John Lennon Letters

    He still had so much to live and to give the world. So, why not 5 stars? Before each letter he puts the letter in context history, time, background info and gives a summary of the letter to come. This summary is sometimes longer than the letter itself and tells all. Leave some surprise, Mr. Also, Hunter Davies knew The Beatles personally. He partied and dined with them at times. And he let us know that, again and again. View all 7 comments. Dec 25, R. Scot Johns rated it liked it Shelves: Fascinating, if spotty insight into Lennon's life, marred by sketchy commentary and innumerable transcription errors for which I've sent in several corrections to the editor.

    Only some two dozen of the "letters" included in this collection are worth the time to read fewer than half are even letters, most being quickly jotted notes , as shining any light on Lennon's thoughts or mental state questionable at most times for entirely understandable reasons. Most are laundry lists and postcar Fascinating, if spotty insight into Lennon's life, marred by sketchy commentary and innumerable transcription errors for which I've sent in several corrections to the editor.

    Most are laundry lists and postcards containing nothing more than a quick hello. More than half are indecipherable, due not as much to poor penmanship and worse typing than their unintelligible content, which consists in the main of personal inside jokes and a litany of bad literary puns often in pseudo dialect with phonetic spelling. To make matters worse, while each entry is given a more or less useful introduction by the compiler for the sake of context, only a very few merit a follow-up comment as to what resulted from the correspondence, rendering that context incomplete - even those who know John's story well will need to refer to outside sources.

    Of those meriting post-comment content, John Sinclair's release from prison on possession of two joints after Lennon's impromptu concert benefit is already well documented, although the outcome of a press release sent to world leaders asking clemency for Michael X accused of murder is less well known, as it was not successful. The majority, however, are simply a snapshot in time with no outcome. John's music was his voice, focused into concentrated thoughts and vivid images, but on paper he was just as often a jabbering maniac. Half a dozen only of these nearly missives are enlightening, informative, or argued rationally enough even to make sense.

    Of these a few are deeply philosophical, a few honestly emotional, a couple riotously funny though not as many as their author must have thought - the rest are little more than trash bin remnants. Jun 21, Fromwordstoworlds rated it really liked it. The reaction of John Lennon to most things, whether joy or anger, fear or loathing, fun or fury, was to write it down. He responded with words, not just music.

    It was entirely natural for him to put pen to paper whenever he had an idea, a thought, or a desire to communicate. Hunter David says in the first paragraph of his Introduction to the book. This collection, which consists not only of letters but also includes postcards, notes, shopping lists, doodles and scraps, telegrams reflect John Lenno The reaction of John Lennon to most things, whether joy or anger, fear or loathing, fun or fury, was to write it down.

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    Hunter David spent years of contacting people all over the world to provide him copies or original versions of the letters and then arranging and explaining them. I loved the style and the subtle humour. There is brief information on his early years, on the relation Lennon had with his relatives, the love-letters he sent to his first wife, Cynthia Powell. Most of his correspondence covers the beginning of the Beatles, the Beatlemania and all the years that followed until his death.

    The John Lennon Letters, edited by Hunter Davies - review

    See full review on blog: Mar 16, Sannie rated it liked it Shelves: It goes without saying that you have to be a big John Lennon fan in order to get through this book. It's quite easy reading and gives you some nice insight into how he corresponded with family, friends, peers, the other Beatles, colleagues, and fans. The letters are mostly chronological and vary from being legible in John's own hand to being neatly typed but still poorly spelled.

    Al It goes without saying that you have to be a big John Lennon fan in order to get through this book. Although John's witty remarks are there and his correspondence shows a different side that is not evident in his own published works, reading the letters is a bit disjointed and disconnected. It makes for very easy reading because they're all very brief; but again, this goes back to being a hardcore John Lennon fan which I think I would consider myself.

    Edited and with an Introduction by Hunter Davies

    Editorial Reviews. Review. "[Davies] has done a sensitive and scrupulous job collecting and annotating Lennon's letters, and the book is beautifully designed. John Lennon was one of the greatest songwriters the world has ever known. The John Lennon Letters: Edited and with an Introduction by Hunter Davies by.

    The John Lennon Letters is nevertheless an interesting read, but not necessarily something I would read and pore over multiple times.