You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
If there were any justice in the world I would have given this book five stars. As it is, I am very careful about what I give perfect scores to, so even though this made me cry and gulp for breath when I wasn't even crying, and type out parts of it because I couldn't not do anything with them, I have to give it four because I feel like the Platonic ideal of the first section of the book is even better realised.
I'm fairly sure I'm going to start listening to Black Sabbath now.
I'm fairly sure I'm going to start listening to Black Sabbath now.
I wish I had read this a long time ago. I wish I had read it when it was published back in 2008. So many times as I was reading it I kept wondering what someone else would have thought of it, I kept wanting to recommend it to him, but I missed my chance. This book is so wonderful and so sad and made me wish a million times that I could have had the chance to share it.
As I'm currently enrolled in a online course called, "Youth Matters" in which I'm supposedly learning the theories behind youth work and how to be an effective and good youth worker, I find this book more helpful to my understand than the class. The class actually makes me feel a lot like I did back in my own high school, discouraged, invisible an outsider who somehow misses something that is obvious to everyone else.
It was sometimes hard to read this book, but I could never turn away from it either, because it was so familiar to me. Which as a 'well-adjusted' kid who never got in trouble, never went against expectations, might be hard to understand, but I understood and I think others would too, and I wish I could recommend it to so many people. Mainly one person, I kept wondering if it is only my wishful thinking that I might have understood them in any way at all, but I do think this book would have been interesting to them and I wish they'd had it.
As I'm currently enrolled in a online course called, "Youth Matters" in which I'm supposedly learning the theories behind youth work and how to be an effective and good youth worker, I find this book more helpful to my understand than the class. The class actually makes me feel a lot like I did back in my own high school, discouraged, invisible an outsider who somehow misses something that is obvious to everyone else.
It was sometimes hard to read this book, but I could never turn away from it either, because it was so familiar to me. Which as a 'well-adjusted' kid who never got in trouble, never went against expectations, might be hard to understand, but I understood and I think others would too, and I wish I could recommend it to so many people. Mainly one person, I kept wondering if it is only my wishful thinking that I might have understood them in any way at all, but I do think this book would have been interesting to them and I wish they'd had it.
I’d been meaning to read this short novella, an entry in the 33⅓ series of short books about albums, for some time. While I’d not personally been into Black Sabbath myself, I am a pretty big fan of the Mountain Goats and of the writing of John Darnielle, so I was interested to see how Darnielle wrote about music that was influential to him. So, in the days leading up to the Mountain Goats playing First Avenue to showcase their new album, which features a song devoted to Ozzy Osbourne, I decided to finally read the book, and I’m very glad I did.
The story told by Master of Reality was remarkably heartfelt and affecting, even for someone who had not really listened to the music of Black Sabbath before, let alone this specific album, Master of Reality. I popped it on Spotify while reading, of course. While I’m pretty interested in popular music lore and history, I think Darnielle does something a lot more unique here than just discussing or analysing a specific piece of music. Here, Darnielle weaves his discussion of Master of Reality through the voice of Roger Painter, involuntarily committed to a psychiatric center for youth in 1985, in the journal he is required to write for his treatment and in the letters he sent ten years later to his former counselor. Darnielle really captures the voice of Roger, both in his teenage and twenty something incarnations, and it’s pretty impressive how seamlessly John Darnielle weaves this story around an analysis of the Master of Reality album. I’m sure just about anyone can point to some piece of pop culture that really exemplifies a certain period of their life and, through Roger’s eyes, I felt the Darnielle really evokes some real and thoughtful ideas about life and music. I could not help thinking about other people in my life and how this book may have spoken to them too.
Content warning: Teenage Roger uses some homophobic and ableist slurs, as would be all too common for a teenager of the ‘80s
on
The story told by Master of Reality was remarkably heartfelt and affecting, even for someone who had not really listened to the music of Black Sabbath before, let alone this specific album, Master of Reality. I popped it on Spotify while reading, of course. While I’m pretty interested in popular music lore and history, I think Darnielle does something a lot more unique here than just discussing or analysing a specific piece of music. Here, Darnielle weaves his discussion of Master of Reality through the voice of Roger Painter, involuntarily committed to a psychiatric center for youth in 1985, in the journal he is required to write for his treatment and in the letters he sent ten years later to his former counselor. Darnielle really captures the voice of Roger, both in his teenage and twenty something incarnations, and it’s pretty impressive how seamlessly John Darnielle weaves this story around an analysis of the Master of Reality album. I’m sure just about anyone can point to some piece of pop culture that really exemplifies a certain period of their life and, through Roger’s eyes, I felt the Darnielle really evokes some real and thoughtful ideas about life and music. I could not help thinking about other people in my life and how this book may have spoken to them too.
Content warning:
on
Absolutely destroyed and healed me. John Darnielle shares a deep, unrivaled love for Black Sabbath while also depicting the pain and abuse that can come from mental institutions. Touched a very raw place for me and left me grateful that he refused to slide into the "mature" attitude of apologizing for the hospital's mistreatment. There is a raw pain here that cannot be felt any better way.
I picked this up per a friend's recommendation as we were talking about John Darnielle's latest book ans whether I should read it. My friend said this book was amazing, and I have to agree. The voice of the narrator is so authentic, sad, and funny, sincere in only the way that teenagers can be. I found myself wishing I had the Black Sabbath albums to listen along as he directed his reader to do, so I could more fully understand and appreciate his love of Ozzy and Sabbath, but I was too engrossed to stop reading long enough to download it to my walkman.
"Master of Reality" es un ensayo centrado enteramente alrededor del disco homónimo de Black Sabbath.
No he escuchado a Black Sabbath en mi vida.
También es un libro de John Darnielle, así que a diferencia del resto de entregas de esta colección, dedicada enteramente a reseñar discos icónicos, toma la forma del diario de un adolescente encerrado en un hospital psiquiátrico, tratando de hacerle entender a sus celadores personales lo que esa música significa para él, casi como describiendo los colores a alguien ciego, con la vaga esperanza de que le devuelvan los cassettes que le fueron requisados el día de su internado.
Hablé hace poco por estos lares de la importancia que ha tenido en mi vida la obra de Darnielle como compositor. Aún no había leído este libro, y de algún modo me ha hablado en primera persona tanto o más que su música. Tenía ciertas sospechas de que lograría identificarme con su prosa, especialmente considerando en qué se centra, pero teniendo en cuenta que no sé absolutamente nada de Black Sabbath, no vi venir lo fuerte que me golpearía también su forma de plantear la experiencia de escuchar música y describir cómo es conectar emocionalmente con ella y por qué tal cosa es especial para nosotros.
Lo que intento decir, supongo, es que en este libro Darnielle define a Black Sabbath como yo definiría a Darnielle.
No he escuchado a Black Sabbath en mi vida.
También es un libro de John Darnielle, así que a diferencia del resto de entregas de esta colección, dedicada enteramente a reseñar discos icónicos, toma la forma del diario de un adolescente encerrado en un hospital psiquiátrico, tratando de hacerle entender a sus celadores personales lo que esa música significa para él, casi como describiendo los colores a alguien ciego, con la vaga esperanza de que le devuelvan los cassettes que le fueron requisados el día de su internado.
Hablé hace poco por estos lares de la importancia que ha tenido en mi vida la obra de Darnielle como compositor. Aún no había leído este libro, y de algún modo me ha hablado en primera persona tanto o más que su música. Tenía ciertas sospechas de que lograría identificarme con su prosa, especialmente considerando en qué se centra, pero teniendo en cuenta que no sé absolutamente nada de Black Sabbath, no vi venir lo fuerte que me golpearía también su forma de plantear la experiencia de escuchar música y describir cómo es conectar emocionalmente con ella y por qué tal cosa es especial para nosotros.
Lo que intento decir, supongo, es que en este libro Darnielle define a Black Sabbath como yo definiría a Darnielle.
