You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
For as much as I've read about the Beatles' time in Hamburg, nothing has shed light on Stuart and Astrid as clearly as this book has. I loved the black and white as well as seeing the world mostly through Astrid's experiences and getting to know Stuart as an artist more than anything. Well done!
Love the Beatles, Love Astrid & Stu - this Graphic novel was an easy & enjoyable read.
[This was written originally for an 'article' I submitted to rookiemag.com, but it was not used.]
This story follows the relationship Astrid Kirchherr and Stuart Sutcliffe, the best friend of John Lennon and the “fifth Beatle”. It starts off with Astrid having an ominous dream about something that doesn’t fit, but finally does. She’s woken by her friend Klaus who’s just come from a club after experiencing a phenomenon unlike anything he’s ever seen: Rock and Roll, but more specifically the band performing it. It’s post-war Germany and The Beatles are in Hamburg taking speed and drinking beer to get through 7 hour gigs at dingy clubs and living on barely anything. Stuart befriends and falls for Astrid and she reciprocates those feelings. Their relationship flourishes despite a language barrier and is tragically cut short when Stuart dies from a brain haemorrhage. I really enjoyed reading about this ‘mysterious’ fifth Beatle that I had heard but never bothered to read up about. Also the publishers of this book have published a slew of other amazing graphic novels that you should really take a look at [http://www.selfmadehero.com/books.php]!
https://hercommonplaceblog.wordpress.com/
This story follows the relationship Astrid Kirchherr and Stuart Sutcliffe, the best friend of John Lennon and the “fifth Beatle”. It starts off with Astrid having an ominous dream about something that doesn’t fit, but finally does. She’s woken by her friend Klaus who’s just come from a club after experiencing a phenomenon unlike anything he’s ever seen: Rock and Roll, but more specifically the band performing it. It’s post-war Germany and The Beatles are in Hamburg taking speed and drinking beer to get through 7 hour gigs at dingy clubs and living on barely anything. Stuart befriends and falls for Astrid and she reciprocates those feelings. Their relationship flourishes despite a language barrier and is tragically cut short when Stuart dies from a brain haemorrhage. I really enjoyed reading about this ‘mysterious’ fifth Beatle that I had heard but never bothered to read up about. Also the publishers of this book have published a slew of other amazing graphic novels that you should really take a look at [http://www.selfmadehero.com/books.php]!
https://hercommonplaceblog.wordpress.com/
Wonderful graphic novel in black and white depicting the Beatles in their early years in Germany, specifically Stuart's relationship with Astrid Kirchherr.
I'm not a huge Beatles fan, but I was intrigued to try this. I liked the art style. For a story so closely tied to music, it seemed too quiet and stagnant somehow.
I opened this little book knowing almost nothing about the history of the Beatles. Unfortunately, not much was clarified. The story centers around Stuart, "the fifth Beatle," and his German friends Astrid and Klaus. The four members of the Beatles appear visually interchangeable and are hardly in the book at all. Although I enjoyed the simple, fitting artwork, I came away from the story with more confusion (did this really happen? how did they go from hating those haircuts to embracing them after Stuart's death? etc) than connection.
Beautiful art, great story--but it fell pretty flat for me.
I have very limited knowledge of The Beatles, and I didn't even know about Astrid Kirchherr before reading this book. Basically, for that purpose, it was a nice sort of introduction to people I knew little of. I will say it sparked my interest enough for me to want to explore The Beatles - if not for their music, then for their iconic presence. Aside from the story, I love the idea of a memoir in a graphic novel format. And I really like Arne Bellstorf's art style, it's quite inspirational to me in itself. However, I suppose I felt like it wasn't the perfect art style to tell this story. What I really feel was lacking was emotions, I could never tell what Astrid or any other character for that matter, felt in the moment. Because of the lack of emotion captured in the art, it also didn't have an impact on me. I didn't feel emotionally attached, and even the end just swept over me. To sum it up, I enjoyed reading this for the art and the story, but it didn't grab me or effect me in any deeper way.
Artfully told tale. You should be familiar with the story to fully get what is going on, but nice graphics and pacing.