Reviews

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen

guido_the_nature_guide's review against another edition

3.0

Take any musician’s (or probably any artist’s) autobiography with a grain of salt, and cut them a little slack. Except for Bob Dylan (!) these are not Nobel laureates. Bruce Springsteen has a reasonable vocabulary and his prose is not usually leaden. He does have a tendency to switch back and forth from present or present progressive to past tense a lot, and he loves ellipses…and…ALL CAPS EXCLAMATIONS. Holy…comic book…Batman…BIF BAM POW! Still, his prose is readable, if not poetic.
On the other hand, especially once the narrative moves past childhood, the book often reads like a psychoanalysis therapy session. There is certainly a place, perhaps a need, for some introspection in an autobiography, but Springsteen’s navel gazing is thick, heavy, and repetitive. This is often coupled with his cosmic ruminations on the nature of music, love, life and death. Again, some of this is appropriate, but in this case he drowns out or omits much of his and his band’s story. He is also loathe to say anything negative about anyone – Bruce, in your entire 67 years, nobody ever pissed you off except your father?
All in all, a worthwhile read. I enjoyed Springsteen’s reminiscences more than Dylan’s (how many famous-people-I-have-met can I list on each page), but give the edge to Keith Richards’. Who woulda thunk?

swilliams's review against another edition

4.75

you can move on, with a heart stronger in the places it’s been broken, create new love. you can hammer pain and trauma into a righteous sword and use it in defence of life, love, human grace and god’s blessings. but nobody gets a do-over. nobody gets to go back and there’s only one road out. ahead, into the dark.

bruce springsteen’s storytelling capabilities have always shone through in his songwriting, so i was optimistic when reading his memoir … and he did NOT disappoint !!! this is an open, honest, introspective, and amusing account of his life. his discussions about fatherhood, catholicism, his need to run, depression, and what it means to be american were genuinely incredibly interesting and insightful. i laughed and cried.

i also loved how he wrote … a mix of lovely prose and then almost comical block capital letter words. just a really well made memoir all around !

lesserjoke's review against another edition

3.0

Bruce Springsteen's autobiography is as well-written as you would expect from a world-famous singer-songwriter, but his choice of topic doesn't always live up to his considerable talents. The book alternates between a straightforward presentation of facts and a more soul-searching memoir style, and for a casual fan like myself, the latter was far more interesting than the former. The sections where the writer engages with his family history of mental health problems are gripping and emotionally honest, but the endless recounting of musicians he's played with, songs he's written, and shows he's played aren't really that compelling on the page without a reader bringing an existing knowledge and appreciation of Springsteen's music to the task. There are some memoirs that captivate you no matter how well you know the subject, but Born to Run is definitely one for the fans.

bearmohawk's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

mjeaton's review

adventurous emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

francisca69's review against another edition

4.0

Luisterboek ingesproken door Bruce zelf. Af en toe moest ik mijn best doen om z’n soms knauwerige Amerikaans te verstaan, maar het was alsof hij naast me wandelde en mij zijn levensverhaal vertelde. Hij heeft zeven jaar over het schrijven van het boek gedaan, heeft er dus echt de tijd voor genomen, en het is een prima lopend, maar niet altijd even chronologisch, verhaal geworden. Omdat ik het boek via Netxtory luisterde en zag dat het ook als e-book in de app stond heb ik dat ook nog even snel gedownload om te kijken of er wellicht nog wat foto’s waren...en ja daarin werd ik niet teleurgesteld, leuke foto’s van Bruce van vroeger. Ik had nu best of both worlds want bij het luisterboek waren af en toe ook muziekfragmenten te horen. Het was een flink luisterboek, 18 uur op normale snelheid, maar ik heb ervan genoten meer over de man te weten te komen.

missiecoats's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.75

I've been listening to Bruces music since I was in the womb. My children now listen to his music. I appreciate that he never stopped making music. So I was very excited to read this book. Highly recommend the audio version to listen to Bruce tell the story. Well worth the read. 

meowserly's review against another edition

3.0

Some parts were incredibly fascinating and good, some were just OK, but overall it was interesting. I also listened to the book and it was read by The Boss himself, which was really great.

bjor6n's review against another edition

3.0

From "the backseat of Tom Waits's Cadillac" with "the tiring shoes of the voice of reason", Bruce writes of "natural burnout of the relationship", being "a conceptual optimist but a personal pessimist", "the weight of our unsorted baggage", and wanting "to kill what loved [him] because [he] couldn't stand being loved." I may not have been a conscious fan of Bruce prior to reading the book, but I certainly appreciate his life and work now.

koylosreads's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

thank you, bruce