Customer Reviews

In His Own Write & A Spaniard In The Works: Writings & Drawings by John Lennon

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

 

 

I first read, or tried to read, "In His Own Write" when I was 14, at boarding school in England. Tears rolled down my cheeks! It was impossible to read the stories out loud to any hapless listener without collapsing into hysteria. The book was already out of print then, 1973. An instant collector's item! Greatly coveted! Years later I came across paperbacks of both books, sadly, in the wake of JL's tragic death. They took pride of place in my library. I lost them, or somebody stole them, a few years ago and I miss them more than any other book that's similarly walked from my home, now in the USA. I cannot recommend these works highly enough to anyone who appreciates offbeat humour. 5 stars really aren't enough for material SO brilliant and SO unique. The man and his work were, quite simply, pure genius.

Lennons two books, first published in the mid 1960's, at the time of the Beatles hayday should be read as part of the whole Beatlemania phenomena. Lennon was trapped in the Beatles, a world he both loved and hated, and one of the ways to express his artistic flair outside of the music was to write books. His books were sharply satirical and humorous, exhibiting an understanding of the world as Lennon saw it. Lennon's writings were primarily influenced by Peter Sellers and the Goons (predecessors of Monty Python), and the stories are sadly hysterical, carrying the same rapier wit and deep universal insight that Lennon expressed a few years later on the lyrics of Sgt. Pepper and the White Album. These 2 volumes really give an insight into the mind of Lennon, the callous and cynical but deeply philosopical and genious-inspired works of a major, influential artist of the 1960's. Lennon wrote and played music in the top supergroup of the 1960's, appeared in films, created obscure artwork, made political and religious statements and wrote classic books. These are those books. Read and reflect on the genius of John Lennon.

Lennon had a true wit and a fondness for word play. It is difficult to read too much of this convoluted cruelty at one sitting, but it makes good browsing, and the pictures by the author are superb. It is also fascinating for the insight it cannot help but occasionally give us into the workings of Lennon's mind, and his opinions of his own life at the time.

ahh! . . . i remember it all so well . . . the surprising discovery of "the literary Beatle", John Winston Lennon "In His Own Write" . . . soon followed by "A Spaniard In The Works"! ha! . . . the crafty sardonic oft caustic rapier wit of this Liverpuddlian just flows from each passage of these two "collections" even more than the Mersey itself flows water.

"amo amas amat . . . amarmalladeie spoon . . .amonk amat a midgiemous . . " well, something like that marked the "Latin Declensions" in my memory-bank for all eternity . . . "Johnny boy . . . you RUINED LATIN for me forever! . . and thanks! ha! :)"

but there are also "sad" and "tear eliciting moments" in John's musings" "arf arf . . poor dog Nigel" . . . who could read this and not feel sympathetic for poor dog nigel . . .? (It makes me wonder if John had ever had and lost a pet dog in a similar manner?) :(

Even if you didn't live through "Beatlemania" (too young perhaps) . . . and even if you didn't ever really know or follow The Beatles (and i surmise that we all know most if not all of their music) . . . you will love this volume of John Lennon's off-beat wacky "jabberwocky" poems and musings and soliloquies! . . . i promise you that you will laugh out loud . . . and have to run and read passages to anyone and everyone who happens to be in your vicinity . . .and THEY will laugh out loud too!

Johnny we hardly knew ye . . . but we knew ye enough to be thankful and happy that you walked with us . . and sang to us . . and prodded us at times to spark our moral/social conscience . . . AND that you made us smile and laugh . . . and your smile will never fade away . . . ever. :)

On a trip to England, I bought this book. I thought it would be really good casue I am a big Lennon fan. I thought. I thought this book had some humor in it and had a few good pictures. And Amazon, I have a copy if anyone orders it.