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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
This was beautifully illustrated. It was also an incredibly easy read.
This was a book belonging to my other half and he had been hassling me to read it for years. It’s a gorgeous graphic novel following the romance between Astrid Kirchherr and Stuart Sutcliffe - the 5th Beatle.
I’m don’t know an enormous amount about the Beatles, so it was interesting to read about the part of their lives spent playing in Hamburg. In the end, reading from start to finish took me about an hour.
Beautiful and heartbreaking.
I’m don’t know an enormous amount about the Beatles, so it was interesting to read about the part of their lives spent playing in Hamburg. In the end, reading from start to finish took me about an hour.
Beautiful and heartbreaking.
“Love me tender, love me true, all my dreams fulfilled. For, my darling, I love you and I always will”.
I am ambivalent towards the Beatles.
It’s not that I don’t like them, I just don’t love them.
Throughout my life I seemed to have attracted Beatles fans as best friends. It’s like they flock to me. Whether it’s my friend who knows every single world to every single song and whose mum once nearly got arrested outside one of their gigs, to the friend who has her picture up in the pub a young Mr Lennon used to drink in (Ye Cracke on Hope Street, if you're interested), to the friend who I have bought, without fail, Beatles related birthday presents for the last four years.
Some of my best memories involve the Beatles; dancing to "Twist and Shout" under the influence of one Appletini too many in my SU, spending the night in a Danish hotel room going through the Beatle’s back catalogue to try and find the song I was trying to think of (I’ve still never remembered which one it was I was trying to think of but my cousin and I did discover we knew all the words to "All You Need is Love"), waiting for the taxi by the Yellow Submarine statue outside John Lennon airport after a holiday with four of my best friends and, of course, singing ‘Hello, Goodbye’ at my housemate when she would ignore me and pretend not to want to play the “Let’s not do our dissertations, let’s just make cakes and watch Disney films!” game.
I would be a fool not to appreciate the unsurpassable effect they have had not just on British music and culture, but on music and culture all across the world. Maybe it’s impossible to be ambivalent towards the Beatles.
But even though I don’t love the Beatles, I am fascinated by them. So when I saw that there was a graphic novel about Astrid Kirchherr’s heartbreakingly short relationship with Stuart Sutcliffe and the Beatles’ early Hamburg days, I knew I wanted to read it immediately.
And, I knew from the cover illustration alone that I was in for a treat.
This book is glorious; both in story and in execution. Mr Bellstorf’s drawings were absolutely stunning and they perfectly captured the era. While I was reading this, I was instantly transported into 1960s Germany with all its smoke, girls in poofy skirts and cool make-up. The black and white tone (which reminded me of wax crayon, randomly) perfectly portrays the bitter-sweet tone of this story. Everyone knows how it’s going to end and yes, those last few panels broke my heart into tiny little pieces, but I loved how Mr Bellstorf didn’t let the harrowing ending overwhelm the entire story. Because Baby’s in Black is full of joy and love and passionate characters and it’s a celebration of a story that was cut too short and the start of one just begun.
But yeah, those last few panels. Wow.
Yes, this story is about those Northern lads, but it’s also a story of a wonderfully strong, fascinating and inspiring woman. And I hope it’s a story that’s never forgotten.
I would recommend this book for Beatles fans.
I know, I know.
I really strained myself coming up with that one didn’t I?
But I would recommend this book for Beatles fans. I would also recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a love story because to me this book is a love story. It’s a love story between two people, it’s a love story between two best friends, it’s a love story between a man and his passion for art, it’s a love story between a woman and her photography and it’s a love story between five boys and music.
Saying that though, I’d pretty much recommend this book to anyone.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley.
I am ambivalent towards the Beatles.
It’s not that I don’t like them, I just don’t love them.
Throughout my life I seemed to have attracted Beatles fans as best friends. It’s like they flock to me. Whether it’s my friend who knows every single world to every single song and whose mum once nearly got arrested outside one of their gigs, to the friend who has her picture up in the pub a young Mr Lennon used to drink in (Ye Cracke on Hope Street, if you're interested), to the friend who I have bought, without fail, Beatles related birthday presents for the last four years.
Some of my best memories involve the Beatles; dancing to "Twist and Shout" under the influence of one Appletini too many in my SU, spending the night in a Danish hotel room going through the Beatle’s back catalogue to try and find the song I was trying to think of (I’ve still never remembered which one it was I was trying to think of but my cousin and I did discover we knew all the words to "All You Need is Love"), waiting for the taxi by the Yellow Submarine statue outside John Lennon airport after a holiday with four of my best friends and, of course, singing ‘Hello, Goodbye’ at my housemate when she would ignore me and pretend not to want to play the “Let’s not do our dissertations, let’s just make cakes and watch Disney films!” game.
I would be a fool not to appreciate the unsurpassable effect they have had not just on British music and culture, but on music and culture all across the world. Maybe it’s impossible to be ambivalent towards the Beatles.
But even though I don’t love the Beatles, I am fascinated by them. So when I saw that there was a graphic novel about Astrid Kirchherr’s heartbreakingly short relationship with Stuart Sutcliffe and the Beatles’ early Hamburg days, I knew I wanted to read it immediately.
And, I knew from the cover illustration alone that I was in for a treat.
This book is glorious; both in story and in execution. Mr Bellstorf’s drawings were absolutely stunning and they perfectly captured the era. While I was reading this, I was instantly transported into 1960s Germany with all its smoke, girls in poofy skirts and cool make-up. The black and white tone (which reminded me of wax crayon, randomly) perfectly portrays the bitter-sweet tone of this story. Everyone knows how it’s going to end and yes, those last few panels broke my heart into tiny little pieces, but I loved how Mr Bellstorf didn’t let the harrowing ending overwhelm the entire story. Because Baby’s in Black is full of joy and love and passionate characters and it’s a celebration of a story that was cut too short and the start of one just begun.
But yeah, those last few panels. Wow.
Yes, this story is about those Northern lads, but it’s also a story of a wonderfully strong, fascinating and inspiring woman. And I hope it’s a story that’s never forgotten.
I would recommend this book for Beatles fans.
I know, I know.
I really strained myself coming up with that one didn’t I?
But I would recommend this book for Beatles fans. I would also recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a love story because to me this book is a love story. It’s a love story between two people, it’s a love story between two best friends, it’s a love story between a man and his passion for art, it’s a love story between a woman and her photography and it’s a love story between five boys and music.
Saying that though, I’d pretty much recommend this book to anyone.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley.
Beautifully illustration that depicts an incredible love story, not just about the Beatles early on in their beginnings in Hamburg. I recommend this to anyone who loves the Beatles, beautiful illustrations with a wonderful story, or for those who are looking to read about an a romance in an unconventional form.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
Thanks to First Second for bringing this over in translation! I saw it in Europe and I was mad I couldn't read it. I liked the 'chibi Beatles' aesthetic and the recreation of the famous photos of Stuart, in particular.
The story of Stu Sutcliffe and Astrid Kirchherr with the early Beatles in Hamburg.
I loved the storyline here. It's such a beautiful piece of the Beatles story, and one that people have limited knowledge about today.
emotional
informative
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
I was pretty excited to pick up this graphic novel about Stuart Sutcliffe "The Fifth Beatle", and his relationship with photographer Astrid Kirchherr. I, like almost every single other person on god's green earth, love The Beatles, and I liked the looks of the artwork. It has a very cute '60s feel, but is also very dark - probably partly in part to Astrid's love of the color black. The darkness also fits the sort of 1960s beatnik Germany setting.
What made the book fall flat for me, unfortunately, was the lack of clarity in the artwork. The male characters are very difficult to distinguish from each other, particularly Sutcliffe and Klause. It's hard to follow when we change settings and zoom forward in time. The writing is simple, and that's fine - but the ending is incredibly abrupt (I think readers need closure from things as well as the people who actually experience said things! haha)
(since it's a true story about a very famous band, I feel a little funny having just been vague about the circumstances of the ending, but I actually didn't know that was how things turned out so I won't spoil it for anyone else who only knows some of the Beatles story.)
Big Beatles fans might really enjoy this book, but I think it is hard to follow, and was a little disappointed.
What made the book fall flat for me, unfortunately, was the lack of clarity in the artwork. The male characters are very difficult to distinguish from each other, particularly Sutcliffe and Klause. It's hard to follow when we change settings and zoom forward in time. The writing is simple, and that's fine - but the ending is incredibly abrupt (I think readers need closure from things as well as the people who actually experience said things! haha)
(since it's a true story about a very famous band, I feel a little funny having just been vague about the circumstances of the ending, but I actually didn't know that was how things turned out so I won't spoil it for anyone else who only knows some of the Beatles story.)
Big Beatles fans might really enjoy this book, but I think it is hard to follow, and was a little disappointed.