I’ve just finished reading this book. I enjoyed it a lot, just as I expected to. (The reviews were promising and had addressed the misgivings I would have had coming to it cold.)
I don’t want to give a review or say much about it; I’m interested in hearing what others think about it and perhaps getting a bit of discussion going. I do have a couple of comments.
One thing I really liked was Dylan’s ability to convey, not really through literal language, something of what being consumed by the imperatives of creativity and an incohate sense of destiny is like from the inside. I think a lot of us are musicians and creative artists of one or another kind and I doubt that I’m the only one who picked up on this. You don’t have to think, with Dylan, that your destiny is to be ‘bigger than Elvis’ to identify with this stuff.
One thing that has always puzzled me and still does is Dylan’s ambivalence to the trappings of fame. He knew that the easy road wasn’t for him, that he wanted to mess with people at a very profound level. He was obviously very ambitious. So when he got what he wanted, why did the consequences surprise him so much? (If Elvis was a prisoner in Graceland, why would Woodstock be different for Dylan?) Why was he surprised that people didn’t grasp what he was really on about when he himself doesn’t seem to have been all that clear about it? And why did he have so much contempt for people who failed to know what he was really thinking when he went to so much trouble to throw them off the scent?
That’s enough. I’d love to know what you thought about it.
Sounds interesting. I’m still trying to find Phil Lesh’s book.
These things are always difficult since it’s hard to determine how honest one can really be about memories decades past. The motives of our youth filtered through hindsite can often mislead. Was he really that ambiguous about fame? I’ll have to read it but I’m skeptical of anyone with his legendary status who denies any desire for it. Sort of as if Tom Cruise said, “I never wanted to be a star, I just wanted to act.”
Anyway, I haven’t read it yet but it would be interesting to compare to my observations while watching a DVD of a 1964 tour of England. While often described as “deep” I found his interviews and attempts at messing with people’s mind no more original then a hundred other young people of the time. Answering questions with questions and twisting other’s logic may be an interesting parlour trick but not necessarily an indication of “depth”. One shrewd interviewer however would not be thrown off and gave as well as he got. Dylan appeared to enjoy it though he also became obviously flustered.
If it weren’t for his music and his obvious talent and charisma he would have been dismissed as another “hippy freak”.
But he wasn’t another “Hippy Freak” was he? I have always been intrigued by his ability to move people through his music and the music is why he’s still known today. Clearly his “parlour tricks” were a part of what make him a legand.
As much as I enjoyed “Chronicles” I felt that it asked more questions than it answered but that is usually the case with Dylan.
With regard to his ambivalence with the trappings of fame, well this has always been one of the great mysteries of Dylandom.
At the time when his interviews with the press bordered on the surreal, he was married with a young family and I have come to believe that by creating a very larger than life persona for Bob Dylan, then Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman could have some privacy while the media debate raged around these audacious interviews.
He has always been very liberal with the truth about of his younger days and for many years tried to create a vagabond lifestyle that was very far removed from his traditional middle class upbringing.
Like many great artists he is a mass of contradictions but has always been very secretive about his private life and it is this conflict between his ambition and his desire for privacy which has brought about the conflicting aspects of his personality that we all know.
His recent advert for Victorias Secrets caused a lot of controversy but I firmly believe that this was a classic example of Dylans keep 'em guessing policy…I mean he did not need the publicity or indeed the money.
For every explanation about Dylans behaviour there will be a rebuttal and alternative theory offered, we will never really understand the mind of the coolest man on the planet and anybody who feels the need to try would be better to avoid Dylans own writings and stick to the songs.
As he sez himself…" something is happening and you don’t know what it is…"
I’m gonna go see Bob Dylan this summer at the Maryhill Winery/Gorge concert series, along with BB King. I’d like to ask Bob some questions about his younger self, but getting a straight answer may be a little like pulling teeth. Did you ever see that footage of him, when he was younger, getting into an argument with a reporter at one of his concerts? That was damn funny!
