Das Buch der von Neil Young Getöteten

by Navid Kermani

Rare Book

Genres: Nonfiction, Music, German Literature, Biography

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Navid Kermani, born 1967, lives as an Islamic scholar, journalist and writer in Cologne.

Reviews

[Steffi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ganz ehrlich: Von Musik habe ich keine Ahnung. Weder von Klassik noch von populärer Musik. Und bin mir dieser Bildungslücke schmerzhaft bewusst.

Dieses schmale Bändchen sollte ein wenig Abhilfe schaffen. Wenigstens mit Blick auf einen Künstler.

Zwei Dinge haben dieses Unterfangen erschwert: Ich saß auf meinem Balkon und wurde aus der Nachbarschaft lautstark mit Musical und Popmelodien beschallt. Zum anderen glaubt Kermani nicht, dass Frauen überhaupt Zugang zu Neil Youngs Musik finden. Nicht sehr ermutigend.

Dabei ist der Anfang so vielversprechend: Wie der Vater sein Neugeborenes, das von fürchterlichen Blähungen gequält wird, nur mit der Musik seines Favoriten besänftigen kann, ist sehr anrührend. Zu diesen persönlichen Beziehungen, Erfahrungen, Ängsten kehrt Kermani immer wieder zurück, nachdem er sich in die Bedeutung einzelner Songs vertieft. Dabei entdeckt er, der Orientalist und Literaturwissenschaftler, immer wieder Verbindungen zu alten Mystikern.

Ich habe nebenher einige der zitierten Songs gehört, und sie haben mir, obwohl ich weiblich bin, ganz gut gefallen (immer im Wettkampf gegen die nachbarschaftlichen Musicalmelodien haben sie allemal gewonnen). Aber vielleicht hat Kermani recht, so ganz tief berühren sie mich nicht. Umso dankbarer bin ich für dieses Büchlein, denn es kann mir diese Faszination und das fast schon spirituelle Entzücken doch sehr nahe bringen. Und das obwohl ich für Mystik und Spirituelles nicht empfänglich bin.

Besonders gefiel mir diese Passage über Musik: „So wenig verbindet uns, wenn wir ehrlich sind, mit anderen Menschen, so mangelhaft sind unsere Möglichkeiten, das Wenige mitzuteilen und zu erfahren, daß ich die einzelnen Stellen, an denen wir uns berühren, als schmerzhaft und glücklich empfinde, daß ich sorgsam mit ihnen umgehe, sie mögen unscheinbar, sie mögen winzig sein, wenn sie nur wirklich sind.“


Nachtrag 14.08.2020:
Und gerade entdeckte ich dank eines GR-Freundes auf Youtube ein so wunderbar aktuelles Video, dass ich doch den ganzen Neil Young entdecken möchte: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0cOU...
Danke Matt!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to believe that Neil Young is always needed, but now I think you can manage the first few days without him.(*)

Those of you who don’t know Neil Young, or only his album Harvest or the song Heart of Gold will most likely not enjoy this book.
Navid Kermani is a German-Iranian writer, journalist and inherently a habilitated orientalist, especially versed in islamic mystic and Sufism. So it seems a little surprising that a man like him writes about a rock musician.

When I came to the “book of those killed by the Quran”, it didn’t seem to me to be strange or unbelievable that people should have been killed by singing. Now I see my striving in the past third of my life, the study of books and sentiments, the occupation with the Quran, the poetry, love, and – above all –, sex, now I see that it was nothing but the second, right after Neil Young howled “Dead”. If this seems exaggerated, you have not listened to the song [Down by the River] attentively or have no idea of sex.

The “Book of those killed by Neil Young” is neither a biography nor a deep musical analysis. It’s the story of a young father, a husband, a scholar, and a fan. The story of how Neil Young’s songs helped to soothe the baby girl during the first months of her life is actually quite heart-wrenching and the interpretation of the various songs from the author’s disarming and subjective viewpoint mesmerizing, the viewpoint of an ordinary mortal, not a Fachidiot, but a mortal who can write. It only works, however, if you know these songs by heart.

I admit, I haven’t listened to Arc not often in full volume and length. The composition requires a degree of concentration, for which I rarely have the leisure and the strength. The last time, however, when I put on the CD, I fell asleep. It was in broad daylight, I lay on the carpet of my study, the fat Sennheiser on my pointed ears. I felt relaxed, physically and mentally well, by no means tired, and yet I fell asleep. Not that the volume control slipped to the left: The non-departing supersonic aircraft may not be good for symbolizing the musical message, but as a reference to the decibels it gave to my ears, it certainly provides a clue: I reckoned every second that my eardrum would burst. And yet the music has gave me a rest, of which esoteric records can only dream. I noticed how gradually all the thoughts disappeared, all the images evaporated, all the feelings ceased, I felt that one object after another left my consciousness, and only the naked sound of two electric guitars, a bass guitar and drums, the essence Of the Rock'n'Roll, remained and I felt myself free from all hold, as I became empty, until I finally felt only the void. That the sounds of Arc mean nothing is their secret: Junayd was asked for the experience of the mystic: “The color of the primordial condition is the color of the water,” he replied. But this state of senseless sensation is presumably the most relaxing one that can be given to a man; perhaps it anticipates death. So I dozed off.

(*) Quotes from the book translated by me; sadly there’s no English version of this book available.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

[Andrew Schoenfeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wer Neil Young liebt und verehrt (ich :-)) UND Navid Kermani mag: für den ist dieses Buch eine Augenweide, ein Lesevergnügen der Sonderklasse!

[Andrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Обикновено се мъча да си пиша ревютата на езика, на който съм чел книгата, но за тази ще направя изключение. Купих си я през лятото на 2013, защото един човек във влака до мене я четеше и името и корицата ми направиха впечатление. В момента, в който ми я доставиха, я зарязах на етажерката, разнасях я насам-натам в рамките на 4 месетения и 7 години, чат-пат се сещах за нея, но нямаше момент преди този февруари, който да ми се струваше достатъчно подходящ, за да започна да я чета. Книгата представлява едно голямо есе за бащинството, музиката (на Нийл Йънг) и нейното променящото се присъствие и роля в различните моменти от живота. Бих я препоръчал на всеки, който обича да чете за музика, защото гарантирам, че много ще му се прислуша Нийл Йънг. Бих я препоръчал и на всеки бъдещ баща, защото дава вяра и оптимизъм, че връзката между един нов баща и новородената му дъщеря е не само неизбежна, но и силно трогателна. Бих я препоръчал и само на владеещи добър немски хора, защото ... не е издавана на други езици. Това последното я направи малко трудна и доста тромава за четене, поне за мене и по средата вече се чудих накъде изобщо отива авторът и има ли някаква идея в цялото това нещо, но усилието да издържа до края си заслужаваше, защото с последния абзац всичко, съвсем буквално, се строполи на мястото си и даже малко ме разплака. Та в крайна сметка чакането придоби смисъл и моментът да я започна се оказа съвсем подходящ ( :

[Bettina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started listening to Neil Young and might be getting what Kermani tries to say and what Neil tries to do. a must of course for Neil Young followers.

[Anna Nießner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is a bit feeble, because there is no real storyline, but Navid Kermani excels at writing about the music and the effect it has on people.

[Lars · Rating 5 out of 5]

A warning is in order: This will make you want to listen to Neil Young!

It is difficult to convey what exactly this book is meant to be in terms of genre. You could describe it as an aesthetic manifesto that bridges the gap between western rock music, (islamic) mysticism, and the secularized aesthetical theories of thinkers like Adorno; but it is so much more and not remotely as dull as this makes it sound. This book also contains the condensed lessons of life that Navid Kermani experienced and filtered through Neil Youngs music. But ultimately, it is an embrace of fatherhood - a realization of purpose. In this embrace emerges a deep and heartfelt humanity, a call to mind all the miniscule details connecting us as individuals, the remedy for all the bad things that happen in life: laughing in the face of all the atrocities, thus not allowing them to take a hold of your heart and diminishing the realization of 'evil' in this world.

I would recommend this book to everybody!

[Erika_kartmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Navid Kermani hat eine Tochter bekommen. Sie leidet an Dreimonats-Koliken und Navid Kermani leidet daran, ihr beim Leiden zuzusehen. Durch Zufall findet er heraus, dass Neil Youngs hohe Singstimme beruhigend auf sie wirkt und spielt ihr nun fortwährend dessen Platten vor.

Dieses Buch kaufte ich auf Anraten meines Buchhändlers und ja, ich habe während einer Zugfahrt viel gelernt über Neugeborene und Einiges aus der Biographie von Kermani und von Young. Und ich habe echt Lust, mal wiederNeil Young zu hören....

[Readingunicorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Das Buch der von Neil Young Getöteten" ist ein sehr tiefgründiges Buch. Es interpretiert die Lieder Neil Youngs im Zusammenhang mit der Tochter des Protagonisten. Mir gefällt der Schreibstil des Autors sehr, allerdings ist sehr viel in dieses Buch zu interpretieren, um es zu verstehen.