Customer Reviews

Carry That Weight: The Story of the Beatles

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ernst provides a fascinating read that blends fact and fiction seamlessly enough to convince the casual Beatle fan that he or she is looking in on the Fab Four through a hole in the wall (maybe even the one where the rain gets in:) Being well above average in my Beatles knowledge (though by no means an expert), I am amazed at the factual details in the book, and the magical mystery tour into fiction that will leave readers scratching their heads to figure out which is which. This is especially true when it comes time for William Campbell to take over.

On the other hand, there are a few discrepancies, and several omissions which are sure to disappoint the more knowledgeable fans. Reading this book, the casual fan will think that the Fab Four recorded "Love Me Do" and achieved instant fame -- there is no mention of previous recording attempts (and the numerous rejections) leading up to this event. There is a wealth of Sgt. Pepper in the book, but little or nothing on Magical Mystery Tour, the "White album" or Abbey Road, which is surprising considering the wealth of clues available for material in this book. The number of typos and printing errors is also very distracting and annoying. Although these are surely no fault of the author, it did leave me asking myself "didn't anybody proofread this thing?!"

All in all, though, Ernst provides a fascinating viewpoint from a refreshingly new angle; sure is a lot more fun than reading the typical mundane third-person bio.

As a devout (second generation) Beatles fan I have read all of the Beatles books I have been able to get my hands on. Upon reading "Carry That Weight: The Story of the Beatles" I am struck with the realization that I have only enjoyed two kinds of Beatles books. On the one hand, there are the books giving a run-down on what the Beatles were doing at any given moment in their lives as Beatles. The author of this genre portrayed the Beatles as an historic set of facts. I was never able to believe any one could really know where this group was at any given moment, they were too powerful. On the other hand there are the biographies that seem very much based on all those written before it, the author claiming to have been with the Beatles (first hand) or with the group vicariously through old accounts of the Beatles in the media. In either case there is not much more than a report of "Beatle facts" which never really explained the quality of the music. "Carry That Weight does explain it -- for me. Neither the first hand nor the media-based books rang true. The author of "Carry That Weight" takes all of the credible facts from these biographies, I suppose, what with his interviews from London and EMI, his personal experience and actually writes a story, that is a first. And the story he writes seems stunningly real. Being a Beatles scholar myself, his dialog fits the facts as I know them. I have not read such a refreshing approach in all the attempts on the Fab four so far. The most intriguing part may be that this new treatment of the death of Paul also fits the facts and that is chilling. As a long-time Paul McCartney fan, the last thing I want is for Paul to be an imposter. I became angry at the very thought. After reading the book, not only do I find it rather sexy that Paul was killed and replaced, I believe it. The book takes all the facts of the "rumor" and makes it all quite plausible. Now I am quite willing to accept that Paul is Billy Shears, and it is something to be celebrated rather than scorned. That is just my opinion of course.

I knew as soon as I was into the first few chapters of this book it would become controversial. The story line alone is enough to drive a true-blue McCartney fan insane given the idea of having been duped all these years by William Campbell, who is the 60s replacement (and lost twin) for the dead Beatle. The writing breaks all the rules, thus driving an eighth-grade English teacher mad, but for me it just added to the intriguing texture of the book. The writing style may be good portrayal of the the pace and the life of the band during Beatlemainia and what it must have felt like to them. The story is highly political and that is new in the approach to Beatle history. It makes clear that the Beatles were staunch anti-Vietnam war protestors, thus making a bunch of old patriots angry I would think And John is highly critical of the American political process, which explains why his FBI files are now of keen interest to fans. It even suggests John and Brian may have been killed by a government conspiracy (British or American), maybe to cover up for the interests participating in the replacement of Paul and all the money made because of it. One thing the book is not is inaccurate in its everyday life description of them, though it is promoted as fiction. It follows much of what is known about the facts of Beatle life, giving great insight as to what it must have been like. It follows the theory behind the rumor of the death and replacement of Paul without use of the clues given in the Beatles own music. It goes much beyond a cheap attempt at cashing in on the popularity of the Beatles as most, maybe all, previous books on them have been, and takes a pretty decent first-time stab at creativity with the whole phenomenon.

Although this is not what a Beatles fan would like to hear, it is possible. This being the first story, therefore fictional, accounting of the lives of the Beatles during their time of high pressure, it is sure to confuse a few folks. They are not portrayed as a band of goody two-shoes. It is not much like the prior works on them. A strong Beatle fan can see the facts are there, and the book stays true to very detailed background on them. The way facts are woven into the story is subtle though and easily missed. The factor that threw me is the realistic treatment of the death of Paul. It makes one sit up and take notice. I give the work a thumbs up!

Aside from the obvious inaccuracies (such as Stu Suttcliffe and John starting the Quarrymen and Stu introducing Paul to John), this book is a hurried and poorly told story of the Beatles. The premise that Paul died in a automobile accident and his twin brother Billy (separated at birth in the Biltz)may have been an interesting plot line, however the story is told so rushed and fragmented that the reader either wants to put the book down or just skip to the end. In fact, the writing style in the book could truly be called helter skelter. There are plenty of decent books about the Beatles without enduring this disaster. Carry that weight wasn't worth the price or the wait.

I have heard of the great "Paul Is Dead" rumor. After reading this book I don't believe it is a rumor anymore!!! It is pretty tight and believable in its presentation as a story of the Beatle experience (from a Beatle standpoint) and his death and replacement.

Did the publisher PAY for the attached reviews to be posted? This is undoubtedly the worst book on the Beatles ever, if not the worst book ever! It's bad enough that the premise is implausible- that a greedy Brian Epstein replaced Paul being killed to keep the money machine going- but it's far worse to not even have an inkling of the voice of these characters that people have come to know so well.

Now I'm no fanatic, though I have read a lot on the Beatles, but I get insulted when obvious details are screwed up for no reason. It makes me read it saying no, no, that's wrong and didn't have to be. (The jacket says 'carefully researched facts' and written 'in part to set the record straight.') Any fan will see the bungled facts.

If that wasn't bad enough, the book has Paul being the hard edged one, and John the conciliatory one! Can ANYone imagine, upon being forced to get into a cage to avoid the fans, John saying, "The city and its fathers have put their arse on the line. They will lose big time if we do not get in the friggin cage to the concert." John Lennon, defender of bureaucratic pocket liners, please. How about Ringo saying, "If the communists had made the inroad the Democrats did when they were a legitimate American political party Vietnam might be fought to rid the world of Republicans now." Give me a break.

On top of all that, the book is absolutely riddled with typos, poor grammer, incorrect punctuation and god knows what else (Jimi Hendricks??)

On top of THAT, don't you hate stories where the author uses bits of lyrics as dialog? Especially Lennon using Paul's lyric, saying it's been a long and winding road?

Everyone involved in this book gets well deserved obscurity- from the author who wrote with no apparent purpose and poorly enough to call attention to his failures, to the editor who didn't even use a spell check, to the publisher who wrote idiotic and misleading copy to the jacket designer that a 14 year old could have published with Microsoft Word.

This is a well written and fascinating novel of a step by step, blow by blow account of the Beatles' daily lives as well as a good general overview of the band's inception and break up. I liked the way the author gave great detail to the myth about Paul's "death" and his equally mythical "twin" who filled in for him.

Although there are a few grammatical issues, this book is sure to delight most Beatles fans with its sharp, trenchant writing style. The individualized treatment each Beatle receives makes this novel well worth the read.