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oldsouls_lovebooks's review against another edition
2.0
This photo diary is exactly as goodreads’ 2 star rating suggests: it was ok. I feel bad giving it 2 stars, though, and contemplated leaving it blank because it’s just one of those books that’s entirely subjective and personal to the creator. A Book of Days is merely a collection of photos Patti Smith took along with some photos she didn’t for each day of the year. Most of the photos aren’t great (they’re not meant to be) and the few sentences underneath each photo also offer nothing but Smith’s own random musings that, along with the personal photos, very much represent the casual, free spirited, spiritual, and well-traveled “artsy” person that she is. I’m sure there is a certain milieu on Instagram that this book appeals to and for which it was published but I’m unfortunately not one of them. There’s just not enough here for me and what is is largely forgettable. But I know it’s not forgettable to her, which is why, again, I feel somewhat uncomfortable rating it. It’s something that Patti Smith published so those who are interested could have a physical copy of casual photos with casual musings on life. It’s not meant to be anything other than what it is, so let’s end on a positive note. What I did get out of this was a lot of authors and works I wasn’t previously aware of that I now want to read, because if there’s one thing you can say about Patti Smith it’s that she LOVES art and artists, poets and novelists; particularly of the French variety. I suppose this collection also has reminded me that I really need to start taking photos like I keep saying I will, but never get around to. I’m not and never will have the money or celebrity to travel like she does let alone leave my home state, but that’s not the photos I’m inspired to take. As much as this collection makes me want to visit the grave sites of people I admire and places my history buff heart craves to see (if I can I will), more than anything I’ve thought about taking photos of my home area to document how it’s changed since my childhood. Unfortunately, old buildings that I wanted to take photos of have already been and are currently being demolished, but better late than never I suppose. So thank you, Patti Smith, for reminding to take the damn camera out of the bag and put it to good use.
kb_208's review against another edition
4.0
A really nice book of photos taken by Patti Smith during the lock down time of the pandemic. Each photo is accompanied by a short writing telling about the photo and the memories that each one has in her life.
I actually saw Patti Smith on her book/music tour this year. She gave everyone in the audience a copy of the book. Pretty awesome. During the show she told stories about the pictures in her book and then would play a few acoustic songs with her bassist. It was a really nice show. The book is very chill and even inspiring at times. Helping you to really look inward at what memories are truly important in your own life.
I actually saw Patti Smith on her book/music tour this year. She gave everyone in the audience a copy of the book. Pretty awesome. During the show she told stories about the pictures in her book and then would play a few acoustic songs with her bassist. It was a really nice show. The book is very chill and even inspiring at times. Helping you to really look inward at what memories are truly important in your own life.
lilycooper's review against another edition
5.0
i have yet to find a book that’s not good by patti smith
lenawadera's review against another edition
Kocham Patti Smith, ale ta pozycja nadaje się raczej tylko do przejrzenia jako ot, ulotną ciekawostkę.
dar_muzz's review against another edition
5.0
I started reading Book of Days on January 1 and it became my companion for the year. On the first of each month, I read a month's worth of entries, and once a week, I re-read them, so I've actually read the book 4 times. Patti (I feel like we're on a first-name basis now) provides one of her photos for each day of the year, accompanied by a couple of descriptive lines - carried over from her Instagram page. If you know Patti, much of her life and art revolve around remembrance and commemoration. Her lyrics and other writings are often triggered by thinking of someone's birthday or the anniversary of their death or a visit to their grave. She also collects keepsakes to feel closer to people she's known and/or admired: Sam Shepard's pocketknife, an Alexander McQueen T-shirt from Michael Stipe, Margot Fonteyn's slippers, a letter written by Emily Dickinson, Rimbaud's house! She also photographs the personal belongings of artists and writers in museums and galleries. All this interspersed with some pics of her family and her elderly cat.
It was fascinating to see into Patti's mind and history in this way, to see her influences and all the people, things and memories she surrounds herself with. I am not sure how I will get through 2024 without another such book, but the best part is, it makes me want to create my own page-or-post-a-day about my own idiosyncratic loves.
It was fascinating to see into Patti's mind and history in this way, to see her influences and all the people, things and memories she surrounds herself with. I am not sure how I will get through 2024 without another such book, but the best part is, it makes me want to create my own page-or-post-a-day about my own idiosyncratic loves.
hillsax's review against another edition
2.0
Patti, I love you, but how much did Meta pay you for this?
brennaweeks's review against another edition
fast-paced
1.0
Perhaps after years, I am still chasing the ghost of “Just Kids” what felt like a true love story that everyone can relate to.
Since then, I tried with “M Train” to just return it to the library with a multitude of unread pages. And now “Book of Days” truly just instagram content in physical form.
As a photographer and as someone who writes (I write, I am not a writer) I was hoping for something more poetic and more photos of which she had actually taken. But this felt as if she was trying too hard in sounding profound in her daily meditations.
Perhaps I have simply outgrown Patti Smith?
kb_208's review against another edition
4.0
A really nice book of photos taken by Patti Smith during the lock down time of the pandemic. Each photo is accompanied by a short writing telling about the photo and the memories that each one has in her life.
I actually saw Patti Smith on her book/music tour this year. She gave everyone in the audience a copy of the book. Pretty awesome. During the show she told stories about the pictures in her book and then would play a few acoustic songs with her bassist. It was a really nice show. The book is very chill and even inspiring at times. Helping you to really look inward at what memories are truly important in your own life.
I actually saw Patti Smith on her book/music tour this year. She gave everyone in the audience a copy of the book. Pretty awesome. During the show she told stories about the pictures in her book and then would play a few acoustic songs with her bassist. It was a really nice show. The book is very chill and even inspiring at times. Helping you to really look inward at what memories are truly important in your own life.
egilmore's review against another edition
2.0
I don’t know.
I get this is Instagram content (simplistic by default), but even so, this book felt hollow. I always cringe at Smith’s pretentiousness when it comes to the French and her absolute deification of Rimbaud. I guess one should respect her unabashed fangirling but her reverence - for many European intellectuals, not just Rimbaud - feels naive, didactic, and unexamined. Really it just feels dated. I did learn some new names from the references that I want to read, and some of the photos were nice.
Is it presumptuous to say I think I’ve outgrown Patti Smith? By that I mean, I’d literally rather read YA fantasy than this stuff, for whatever that’s worth. More aptly, if I’m going to read great writers, I’d rather read them than read about them. I’d rather read Bruno Schulz than read Smith mention him for her own intellectual gratification.
Just Kids moved me when I was young. I think that’s enough for me.
I get this is Instagram content (simplistic by default), but even so, this book felt hollow. I always cringe at Smith’s pretentiousness when it comes to the French and her absolute deification of Rimbaud. I guess one should respect her unabashed fangirling but her reverence - for many European intellectuals, not just Rimbaud - feels naive, didactic, and unexamined. Really it just feels dated. I did learn some new names from the references that I want to read, and some of the photos were nice.
Is it presumptuous to say I think I’ve outgrown Patti Smith? By that I mean, I’d literally rather read YA fantasy than this stuff, for whatever that’s worth. More aptly, if I’m going to read great writers, I’d rather read them than read about them. I’d rather read Bruno Schulz than read Smith mention him for her own intellectual gratification.
Just Kids moved me when I was young. I think that’s enough for me.