Customer Reviews

Mystical One: George Harrison: After the Breakup of the Beatles (Essay series) (Essay Series 51)

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

 

 

I love this book and go back to it on a regular basis, and I am a fan who has more than 100 Beatles-related books. It just grabs you and keeps you with its humor and unique perspective. Elliot Huntley's fondness for George is palpable. But at the same time this is not hagiography. The author pokes fun, from time to time, at George Harrison's seriousness regarding gurus and spirituality, but always with affection. The detail and insights are terrific. Too many authors take the subject of the Beatles overly seriously, and such is not the case here. Mr. Huntley manages to shine light on much about George and his music, and for once I came away with some really wonderful tidbits about my favorite Beatle. Your collection is truly incomplete without this gem. Can't wait for Mr. Huntley's next book!

I can not fault the research done on this book. It is pretty solid. Most public highlights in George Harrison's life are explained in detail here. I would say go ahead and read this book to fill in the gaps or to clarify your understanding of George Harrison, but do so with some caution.

There are two incidents about George Harrison I had hoped would be explained in much greater detail. Unfortunately, having read this book I still have questions about (1.) why George started visiting Hawaii in the 1970s (At the time I read disturbing reports in magazines about George's safety in the U. K. resulting in these trips!) and (2.) the frustrating and abrupt termination of his business partnership with Denis O'Brien resulting in the end of Handmade Films and reports of serious financial problems.

I had also hoped to have the tenets of George's religious affiliations explained in detail. I never once heard George refer to himself as a Hindu (he would call himself a devotee of Krishna but never use the term Hindu) in spite of his near-lifelong study of the Hindu religion. Everyone who knows about George knows he was facinated by the religion native to the Indian subcontinent but know precious little about its beliefs. Here would have been a good place to help readers learn more about about this Faith.

The thing that made me uncomfortable with this book was the fact that genuinely harmless people close to George, including Ravi Shankar and Billy Preston, are victims of unkind words made at their expense, possibly just for the sake of humor, but hurtful just the same.

Huntley's book is adequate for a passing fan, but in terms of new material or insight it seems a bit lacking. That is not said as a major flaw of the book. On balance, the factual material seems to be there.

I do realize this is an "essay," but I wish he had left out the overly editorial comments particularly those reflecting his opinions of the musicians George Harrison chose to back him on tour and in the studio. Such commentary did not add a bit to my appreciation for this work.

I've been a George fan for many years, and although I knew most of the info, the format of this book put the events of his personal and musical life in a sequence that I hadn't picked up from reading other books. Definitely recommend this to George fans.

This is an excellent biography written in a very objective style. Huntley does a good job in covering the life, art and times of former Beatle George Harrison.

The youngest Beatle who was often reported as a man who cherished his privacy would probably endorse this book wholeheartedly. The writing remains general and objective and the author appears to view George with respect.

I think this is a work people ranging in mild interest in the Beatles to avid, inveterate fans will enjoy this book and think about it long after having read it to the finish.

This is not a professional publication; it's someone's personal essay. The author has the unique viewpoint that everyone else, and I mean everyone else, is terrible. I am an avid Bealtes fan with George my favorite and I deeply regret the $$$ and time spent on this so called mystical book. Mystical it ain't.

This book is well-written, well-researched, thorough, entertaining, and rewarding. Beginning with the break-up of The Beatles, Huntley focuses on the rest of George Harrison's all too brief life; his approach to recording; his relationships with Paul, John, and Ringo; his family life, and the three great tragedies of his later years: John Lennon's murder, George's near-fatal stabbing at the hands of a deranged home intruder, and his final battle with cancer.

Although I'm glad this book finally exists, the editing is the sloppiest I've ever seen in a published work. Although I'm not a grammar prig, every other page seemed to feature a misused apostrophe, strange tense shift, a sentence with an extra or missing word, or a basic flub--for example, "Sang (sic) with genuine emotion, this song was a deserved number one hit on the American charts." This publisher might also want to consider adding an author biographical note in order to establish Huntley's credibility, especially because Huntley freely offers his often scathing opinions on other musicians, including John Lennon and Eric Clapton. An index would also be a welcome addition to future printings.