Customer Reviews

The Love There That's Sleeping: The Art And Spirituality of George Harrison

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

 

 

This book is like a sunrise in George Harrison literature and the Beatle Literati are quite pleased with this one. It is a brilliant look at how spirituality and art married well and how George Harrison's work showed this to be a match made in heaven.

This author celebrates George's art, core values, beliefs, religious views as how each had an affect on the art he created. I am glad to see more information provided in re George's view of Catholicism in adult life, indeed, a beautiful statue of Mother Mary graced his home at Friar Park. While this author suggests that George abandoned it and viewed the church as being corrupt, I don't quite get the sense that George jettisoned Catholicism out of his core values for good. While as a young man, George explained his disillusionment with people using church as a place to showcase new clothes and his questions about Jesus being God's only child, he still retains some seeds of Catholicism in the beliefs he would later embrace.

While he does take a bit of a poke at Catholicism in "Vatican Blues," where he questions the morality of church officials, I don't get the sense that he is critizing the faith, per se. Again, in this song, one hears a young George lamenting about how the priests in his boyhood neighborhood would knock on doors, requesting money and use it to build pubs as well as churches. It is the actions of people that George has criticized, not the faith itself.

In "Rising Sun," one gets the sense that George has reached a point of acceptance. In a somewhat ironic twist, my church (which is a Catholic church) uses a lot of George's songs for our prayer meetings and discussions. There are parishioners who have said that George's music helped them appreciate and recognize their own spirituality. It was George himself who said that our search for God cannot wait; he was making an inclusive statement and not one confined by any one religion or ideology.

Allison is truly a scholar and is brilliant in outlining George's view of life, death, religion and the beliefs of others with dignity and grace. It is always a treat to find genuinely good books about my favorite Beatles, the Messrs. Harrison & McCartney, but to find one of this caliber is a bonus treat.

This book is a study and a celebration of George Harrison's life, religion, and music, and will be a joy to read for any Beatle's fan or devotee.
Allison follows George's spiritual journey beginning with his childhood experiences of Roman Catholicism to Harrison's eventual discovery of his love of Hinduism. With knowledge and insight that only a scholar of his caliber could possibly offer, Allison does a grand job of sorting out the turmoil of George's feelings about this world and the afterlife with class and candor.
And not only is this book an insightful read on so many levels, it is also full of delight and entertainment for those who perhaps don't know very much about George's music or want to know a little something about Hinduism and his beliefs in general. Also, "The Love There That's Sleeping" will hold enchantment for those who just plain love classic rock.

Also, who knows what's wrong with the moron below who didn't realize this book could be purchased in paperback for $12.95. By no stretch of the word is this book a "rip-off."

I just want to thank the author for this work on the spirituality of George Harrison's music. He was always my favorite Beatle and I came to love his solo music because of its spiritual expression. I have a very personal spiritual life myself, and very much enjoy the insights in this book regarding his lyrics and experiences. It is by far the most interesting work I've read about him aside from George's own words.

Allison brings his considerable skills as an exegete of religious texts to Harrisonology. The results are stunning. See the blurbs below from the dust jacket.

"What have we here? A delightfully revealing analysis of George Harrison's songs by a world-class, religious scholar. An obvious labor of love, this book is as lively and as enlightening as its subject matter warrants. Fans of the former Beatle are certain to learn things about his songs that no ordinary rock historian could teach them -- and students of religion and culture will find a compelling introduction to a pop-icon whose imaginative work merits serious attention. It is enough to catch more than a glimpse of that elusive inner light Harrison himself hoped we would see." --Mark Allan Powell, Professor of New Testament (Trinity Lutheran Seminary) and author of The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music.

"A sensitive, thorough and fair-minded appraisal of the issues and beliefs central to George Harrison's life and art presented with great clarity. I welcome this addition to the newly formed genre of Beatles' theology!" - Steve Turner, author of The Gospel according to the Beatles

"For more than forty years fans have celebrated George Harrison's music, enjoying its poetry, sharp wit, and virtuosity. But as much as his songs delight, they also puzzle those not familiar with the Hindu inspirations behind them. Harrison enthusiast Dale C. Allison comes to the rescue with The Love There That's Sleeping, an accessible introduction to the religious and philosophical worldview that informs so many Harrisongs. Allison is well known for his careful analyses of religious texts and in this book he brings his considerable skills to the religious poetry of George Harrison, helping us appreciate Nelson Wilbury's art on yet another level." --Michael J. Gilmour, author of Tangled Up in the Bible: Bob Dylan and Scripture

After getting this book at the library I decided to buy it because I must have it in my Beatles book collection.

The book has a ton of good information about the meaning of George's lyrics and the philosophy and beliefs that George studied and followed. For this reason I give the book 4 stars and do recommend it to anyone serious about George Harrison's music.

However I knocked off one star because, to me, the book is somewhat poorly organized. It jumps around so that the meaning of one song has to be found by reading different parts in different chapters. I would much rather have had the author discuss each song at length, organized around THAT one song. As it is the author divided the chapters around various aspects of George's philosophy such as "The Art of Dying" for example. Then, under that heading he discusses the songs that fit under that subject matter. But then later with a different chapter, he will discuss the same song's lyrics, emphasizing a different part of the song. While this is an acceptable way to deal with the meaning of George's lyrics, I do not feel it is the most efficient and best way to discuss his songs.

I would like to have seen him discuss each song in the order of its release, and discuss the lyrics in depth for each song. THAT would have made this a very valuable 5-star rated book!

So, yes, get this book, it's worth it. But I wish it had been organized differently.

When will Beatles fans realize they are being ripped off. This book is a real bust.