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pinkstar's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
justbooks46's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
blaineduncan's review
5.0
Less memoir and more spiritual meditation, Bono’s writing is full of circular writing, which makes a lot more sense in context, especially in the final chapters. He lays out the book by forty songs, and each chapter is full of fascinating insight, though never the “here’s how to write a song” bit no one expects from him anyway. There are legitimately touching moments — the loss of his mother and the return to that fact, the distance between Bono and his father, his love for his band mates — all of which make the book a great read. You’ll be able to overlook some of his self-importance as he knows, and addresses, that is one of his flaws.
joannakatz4's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
This is like a time capsule of growing up Gen X in the western world. Favorite parts are about religion, music, brotherhood with bandmates and bond with Ali. Tedious parts are all the celebrity encounters and forays into ngo politics. So this could be edited big time without the birthdays with Sinatra and rap sessions with Clinton or Warren Buffett. Lots of lyrical lines. I’m not even that big a U2 fan but the self-examination and spiritual search held my interest to the end.
xlaraxk's review
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
- Bono seems to be one of the most self-aware celebrities and I especially appreciate his reflections on the "white messiah complex" (as he calls white saviourism)
- The audiobook is great - intimate, heartfelt and supported through songs and other snippets cut in
- If you are a fan of the music or interested in music history of the 70s/80s , im sure this is an interesting read for you
- Sometimes there were some rather strange interludes on his sex life
- The book felt a bit too long towards the end. He seemingly goes on and on about the injustices of the world and praises the super rich (e.g. Warren Buffet) for "helping to fight extreme poverty". Its ironic to praise these kinds of people when they and the capitalist enterprises they engage in are the reason why money is not devided equally. This whole thing is especially ironic since Bono (pretty wealthy himself) has been accused of tax evasion. So it kinda seems hypocritical - you don't become this wealthy by accident
bargainsleuth's review
4.0
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I’m a fan of U2, I’ve been listening to them since 1985 or 1986. But I’m not a SUPER FAN. I know the basics about the group and Bono: the band has been together since high school, that Bono has been with his wife just as long, that he’s Catholic, and that’s about it. I’m a casual fan. All this information should be new. Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story is U2 front man Bono’s memoir of his life and of his songs. The title is a nod to the book’s forty chapters, which are each named after a U2 song and explores the concepts of the songs with stories from his life.
The audiobook is amazing! Not only do you have a very good narrator of his own life, Bono also sings snippets of songs based upon the chapters. Sometimes it is acapella, sometimes it is some of the actual song with music playing in the background. It definitely added to my enjoyment of the book.
Bono has always been very sure of himself, his music, and his causes. You could say that he’s one of the most self-aware celebrities out there, and Surrender is a revelatory experience for the fan. We all know Bono can write and turning his memories and thoughts into book form is masterful.
Bono talks candidly about his family, especially when his mother died when he was only 14. His father was, typically for the time, not openly demonstrative or open with his feelings. Bono has a much older brother, and they were as close as you can be with an age gap. (The parallels with my life hit me-losing my dad at age 14, a big age gap between me and my siblings). Bono also had his second family, his band, growing up.
One of the things I liked about the book is that Bono is a man of Catholic faith, and he mentions it from time to time, mentions parables from the Bible, even has a few prayers included. Yet, I didn’t feel like he was forcing me to accept his beliefs. I don’t know if that’s because I’m already Catholic, but he definitely does not give the hard sell on religion. It’s simply a fact of his life and incorporates it in his narrative wherever it fits. I wasn’t surprised by this as Bono’s music is contemplative to say the least.
Another great thing about listening to the audiobook is that Bono can do some seriously good impersonations of people. They were all good, but his Bill Clinton was really close. Despite his public image of the serious activist, Bono also displays his wicked sense of humor, too.
Bono has met many well-known people, especially statesman, the queen, the pope, you name it, Bono has met them. He shares the stories not as a way to humble-brag, but as a way of humanizing them. And it’s usually in the context of some sort of political or humanitarian efforts on the part of Bono, so critics of all the name-dropping are clearly missing the point.
Just like his music, Bono’s prose is true poetry. I have to say that I came away from this book admiring him even more than going in, just a casual fan of U2’s music who agreed with Bono on many of his causes. He uses his fame for a higher purpose, and I can’t fault him for that.
I’m a fan of U2, I’ve been listening to them since 1985 or 1986. But I’m not a SUPER FAN. I know the basics about the group and Bono: the band has been together since high school, that Bono has been with his wife just as long, that he’s Catholic, and that’s about it. I’m a casual fan. All this information should be new. Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story is U2 front man Bono’s memoir of his life and of his songs. The title is a nod to the book’s forty chapters, which are each named after a U2 song and explores the concepts of the songs with stories from his life.
The audiobook is amazing! Not only do you have a very good narrator of his own life, Bono also sings snippets of songs based upon the chapters. Sometimes it is acapella, sometimes it is some of the actual song with music playing in the background. It definitely added to my enjoyment of the book.
Bono has always been very sure of himself, his music, and his causes. You could say that he’s one of the most self-aware celebrities out there, and Surrender is a revelatory experience for the fan. We all know Bono can write and turning his memories and thoughts into book form is masterful.
Bono talks candidly about his family, especially when his mother died when he was only 14. His father was, typically for the time, not openly demonstrative or open with his feelings. Bono has a much older brother, and they were as close as you can be with an age gap. (The parallels with my life hit me-losing my dad at age 14, a big age gap between me and my siblings). Bono also had his second family, his band, growing up.
One of the things I liked about the book is that Bono is a man of Catholic faith, and he mentions it from time to time, mentions parables from the Bible, even has a few prayers included. Yet, I didn’t feel like he was forcing me to accept his beliefs. I don’t know if that’s because I’m already Catholic, but he definitely does not give the hard sell on religion. It’s simply a fact of his life and incorporates it in his narrative wherever it fits. I wasn’t surprised by this as Bono’s music is contemplative to say the least.
Another great thing about listening to the audiobook is that Bono can do some seriously good impersonations of people. They were all good, but his Bill Clinton was really close. Despite his public image of the serious activist, Bono also displays his wicked sense of humor, too.
Bono has met many well-known people, especially statesman, the queen, the pope, you name it, Bono has met them. He shares the stories not as a way to humble-brag, but as a way of humanizing them. And it’s usually in the context of some sort of political or humanitarian efforts on the part of Bono, so critics of all the name-dropping are clearly missing the point.
Just like his music, Bono’s prose is true poetry. I have to say that I came away from this book admiring him even more than going in, just a casual fan of U2’s music who agreed with Bono on many of his causes. He uses his fame for a higher purpose, and I can’t fault him for that.
highnoon619's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0