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A review by watchingpreacher
Master of Reality by John Darnielle
5.0
This was a hard one to read, for many reasons. It reminds me of my own life, my own writings, my own love for music. It showed me a possible future where I am deeply unhappy, where I fail in every aspect, where I become a shell of myself and, if I look back, I'll see a version of myself that I recognise, but who won't recognise me.
It has one of the most beautiful dedications I have ever read, and it's worth buying and reading just for that reason alone. Especially if you're a fan of the Mountain Goats, the band Darnielle writes and is the vocalist for (in the band's earlier stuff, he IS the band, recording songs with guitar and his voice on a boombox he owned), and the music has had some kind of resonance for you at all.
Here Darnielle writes simply, straightforwardly, poetically in all its simplicity. He perfectly encapsulates the teenager that rant and rave, and only wants to convert someone to his view of the world, of his music, of his life. It started out good enough, but it's in the second part this really crushes you. Just like the best of his songs, this short novel is full of pain and suffering and hope and death and an understanding of the world that might not fit with the majority, and in the second part it's like a beast that's been put to sleep finally wakes up, only to look back and not have a single clue how it came to be here, in this moment, this place.
But it's not about that. It's about Master of Reality, the Black Sabbath-album, and what it means for a teenager when he's no longer allowed to listen to it. It's about what music means to us, to some, all those who don't feel right, who feels out of place, alien. It's about how we all live in the same world, but we see it differently, and how those differences can get you into trouble. It's about power, over others, over yourself, over society. And it's about knowing when to say fuck you all. Go to hell.
It has one of the most beautiful dedications I have ever read, and it's worth buying and reading just for that reason alone. Especially if you're a fan of the Mountain Goats, the band Darnielle writes and is the vocalist for (in the band's earlier stuff, he IS the band, recording songs with guitar and his voice on a boombox he owned), and the music has had some kind of resonance for you at all.
Here Darnielle writes simply, straightforwardly, poetically in all its simplicity. He perfectly encapsulates the teenager that rant and rave, and only wants to convert someone to his view of the world, of his music, of his life. It started out good enough, but it's in the second part this really crushes you. Just like the best of his songs, this short novel is full of pain and suffering and hope and death and an understanding of the world that might not fit with the majority, and in the second part it's like a beast that's been put to sleep finally wakes up, only to look back and not have a single clue how it came to be here, in this moment, this place.
But it's not about that. It's about Master of Reality, the Black Sabbath-album, and what it means for a teenager when he's no longer allowed to listen to it. It's about what music means to us, to some, all those who don't feel right, who feels out of place, alien. It's about how we all live in the same world, but we see it differently, and how those differences can get you into trouble. It's about power, over others, over yourself, over society. And it's about knowing when to say fuck you all. Go to hell.