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Glenn Gould : una vida a contratiempo
Glenn Gould, star planétaire de la musique classique, génie absolu et solitaire. Cette biographie retrace la vie du célèbre pianiste canadien pour tenter de comprendre sa personnalité cachée et en percer le mystère... Pourquoi a-t-il arrêté si brutalement sa carrière de concertiste ? Pourquoi est-il devenu une des premières figures de l'ère médiatique à vouloir disparaître ? Sandrine Revel met tout son talent au service de cette peinture magnifique d'un génie au mal-être tangible.
136 pages, Hardcover
First published March 20, 2015
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September 23, 2020
A most peculiar hummingbird
I’ve always had a sort of intuition that for every hour you spend with other human beings, you need X number of hours alone.
When I was young and merry and still living in the wonderful city of Ghent, my beloved coaxed me along to the Ghent Film Festival, to see a documentary about Glenn Gould, Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould.
Having never heard about the eccentric Canadian pianist before, I wasn’t prepared to experience what turned out to be a mind-blowing epiphany. Bach. The Goldberg Variations and the Well-tempered Clavier. The world had become a better place on the spot. Owing to my melomaniacal father, I was acquainted with opera, symphonic music and the great composers of the 19th century, but I never heard anything coming close to that purity, that energy, that celestial before. Touched to the core, dazed, my soul hummed, soared, danced. Starting with the 1981 recording of the Goldberg Variations by Gould, Bach’s music since then has been an ever true companion, from his keyboard music to his violin partitas and concerto’s, some cantatas and the Passion oratorios.
I still feel an immense gratitude towards Glenn Gould for opening Bach’s world to me, and it was a delight to meet him again in this gorgeous graphic novel by Sandrine Revel.
Glenn Gould (1932-1982) was not only considered a musical genius but was also notorious for his eccentricity and hypochondria, swallowing enormous amounts of pills like sweets and making weird body movements while playing the piano. Few musicians I know actually appreciate his unorthodox, non-historical and highly personal interpretations of the piano repertoire, and abhor the background humming and groaning on his recordings. A professional concert pianist at 15, he quit public performing at 31 and gave his last concert in 1964, confining himself to the recording studio for the rest of his short life. He expounded his musical philosophy in many articles, lectures and documentaries.
Do not expect a neat, chronological biography or a linear storyline. Revel explores Gould’s life and work in a rather impressionistic, fragmentary way, drawing poetical vignettes out of key moments, habits and character peculiarities, like his stroke paralysing the left side of his body at 50, his Russian tour in 1957, his stern youth as a child prodigy, his love for animals. By creating an inventive amalgam out of dreamlike and surreal scenes germinating from Gould’s stroke-affected mind, the abundant documentary material about him, his own writings and testimonials from fellow musicians and people near to him, Revel subtly and respectfully illuminates his complex, fragile and passionate personality.
I always assumed everybody shared my love for overcast skies. It came as a shock to find out that some people prefer sunshine.
Revel’s atmospheric drawing style and tender colours reminded me of the Spanish illustrator’s Pablo Auladell in his graphic novel Paradise Lost by John Milton. She recurrently fills pages with pictures of Gould’s hands. Hands, hands, hands dancing all over the piano like floating birds in the sky, almost evoking the ephemerality of the music he is playing.
With this superbly illustrated, non-judgemental biography on Glenn Gould, French illustrator and artist Sandrine Revel has created a beauteous homage to the man and his music. It is hard to tell whether this artful biopic will speak strongly to readers not familiar with the sound of Gould, but I have high hopes it will incite a new audience to listen to Gould’s music.
The graphic novel was published in French in 2015 and won the prix Artémisia 2016. I received a digital ARC of the English translation of the book through NetGalley.
I’ve always had a sort of intuition that for every hour you spend with other human beings, you need X number of hours alone.
When I was young and merry and still living in the wonderful city of Ghent, my beloved coaxed me along to the Ghent Film Festival, to see a documentary about Glenn Gould, Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould.
Having never heard about the eccentric Canadian pianist before, I wasn’t prepared to experience what turned out to be a mind-blowing epiphany. Bach. The Goldberg Variations and the Well-tempered Clavier. The world had become a better place on the spot. Owing to my melomaniacal father, I was acquainted with opera, symphonic music and the great composers of the 19th century, but I never heard anything coming close to that purity, that energy, that celestial before. Touched to the core, dazed, my soul hummed, soared, danced. Starting with the 1981 recording of the Goldberg Variations by Gould, Bach’s music since then has been an ever true companion, from his keyboard music to his violin partitas and concerto’s, some cantatas and the Passion oratorios.
I still feel an immense gratitude towards Glenn Gould for opening Bach’s world to me, and it was a delight to meet him again in this gorgeous graphic novel by Sandrine Revel.
Glenn Gould (1932-1982) was not only considered a musical genius but was also notorious for his eccentricity and hypochondria, swallowing enormous amounts of pills like sweets and making weird body movements while playing the piano. Few musicians I know actually appreciate his unorthodox, non-historical and highly personal interpretations of the piano repertoire, and abhor the background humming and groaning on his recordings. A professional concert pianist at 15, he quit public performing at 31 and gave his last concert in 1964, confining himself to the recording studio for the rest of his short life. He expounded his musical philosophy in many articles, lectures and documentaries.
Do not expect a neat, chronological biography or a linear storyline. Revel explores Gould’s life and work in a rather impressionistic, fragmentary way, drawing poetical vignettes out of key moments, habits and character peculiarities, like his stroke paralysing the left side of his body at 50, his Russian tour in 1957, his stern youth as a child prodigy, his love for animals. By creating an inventive amalgam out of dreamlike and surreal scenes germinating from Gould’s stroke-affected mind, the abundant documentary material about him, his own writings and testimonials from fellow musicians and people near to him, Revel subtly and respectfully illuminates his complex, fragile and passionate personality.
I always assumed everybody shared my love for overcast skies. It came as a shock to find out that some people prefer sunshine.
Revel’s atmospheric drawing style and tender colours reminded me of the Spanish illustrator’s Pablo Auladell in his graphic novel Paradise Lost by John Milton. She recurrently fills pages with pictures of Gould’s hands. Hands, hands, hands dancing all over the piano like floating birds in the sky, almost evoking the ephemerality of the music he is playing.
With this superbly illustrated, non-judgemental biography on Glenn Gould, French illustrator and artist Sandrine Revel has created a beauteous homage to the man and his music. It is hard to tell whether this artful biopic will speak strongly to readers not familiar with the sound of Gould, but I have high hopes it will incite a new audience to listen to Gould’s music.
The graphic novel was published in French in 2015 and won the prix Artémisia 2016. I received a digital ARC of the English translation of the book through NetGalley.
April 24, 2022
4 ⭐
”I've always had a sort of intuition that for every hour you spend with other human beings you need X number of hours alone. Solitude fuels creativity, whereas brotherly camaraderie tends to dissipate it. Isolation is the one sure way to human happiness.”
Thanks and praises to the lovely Ilse for bringing this one to my attention!
I came to know Glenn Gould, as many before me, through the works of Bach. Others come to know Bach through the inspired renditions of Gould. The composer and performer are so intimately entwined at this stage, their names so synonymous with one another, that one can hardly be mentioned without conjuring up thoughts of the other.
For those who are unaware, Glenn Gould (1932-1982) was an extraordinary classical pianist, most renowned as interpreter of the clavier works of the eminent Johann Sebastian Bach and, as you can see from the above image, blatantly disregarding any commonly accepted conventions on correct posture at the piano. While his now famous recordings of the ‘Goldberg Variations’ aren’t my absolute favourite of the now limitless options available, his youthfully exuberant 1955 recording, in particular, single-handedly placed Bach’s work into the active repertory and launched Gould to international fame. While this recording was full of energy, virtuosity and originality, it also comes off as a little hurried to me, perhaps exposing some anxiety or an eagerness to prove his worth. His 1981 recording (just one year prior to his death), on the other hand, is a much more personal, introspective rendition. A work, to steal a phrase from Christoph Wolff, ”transfigured, rounded off, and permeated by the wisdom of age”. Do yourself the favour of listening to at least one of these two essential recordings. In the 1981 version his in/famous humming is more prominent and may, at first, be a little distracting. With familiarity, however, I feel it gives a more unique and intimate atmosphere to the recording.
”I have nothing against orthodoxy per se, but it is crucial, when recording, to approach things from a new angle and to recreate the piece, in effect, turning the performance into an act of composition”
With regard to Sandrine Revel’s ’Glenn Gould – A Life Off Tempo’, an artistic homage to the virtuoso keyboardist, it’s both stunning in its aesthetic beauty and refined in its efforts to portray at once, Gould’s self-induced state of lonely solemnity, his eccentricity and quirky nature, and his occasionally too-self-appreciating sense of humour. Art is not my strong point but Revel’s hand-painted illustrations really make this graphic novel feel as though it were a living realisation of Gould’s history. Like real, tangible events that continue on replaying themselves even after I’ve closed the covers.
The work is structured around the “framing story” of the stroke that paralysed the left side of Glenn’s body two days after his 50th birthday in 1982 and would ultimately lead to his death. It is assembled as a sort of life-flashing-before-the-eyes experience from Gould’s perspective so it’s not at all a neat, chronological relaying of events but rather a scattered collection of short anecdotal chapters covering what could be externally perceived as the most important, pivotal moments of his life.
Amongst many other things, Revel covers Gould’s hypochondria and subsequently heavy reliance on, and addiction to, pills and his abandonment of live performances from a young age. The latter was a direct result of a fundamental point in Gould’s musical philosophy, as he believed:
”Music is something that must be listened to in private. It must lead both the listener and the performer to a state of contemplation.”
”… You can’t surrender to it with two thousand nine hundred ninety-nine souls before you”
This was something he often voiced, though it seems likely that anxiety about performing in front of so many judgmental eyes (”what fun is there in playing for people secretly hoping for a false note?”) and, if the very loose narrative is anything to go by, the depression following the loss of his favoured Steinway piano, might also have played a role in his decision to stop performing live.
"Gould defined himself through his piano. He was incapable of playing on any other one. It was like co-dependency.”
The only negative I can pin to the work is that, occasionally, in an effort to give context to a scene or introduce certain individuals, the dialogue strays from direct quotations and can come across a little clumsily. But all in all, how lucky we are that Sandrine Revel, an artist of such talent is a devout enough Gould fan to have considered creating such a fine work. We, the people, benefit greatly from this coincidence and I hope this will prompt some to discover both the works of Bach and of Gould. I’ll leave you now with this, ironically very clever and showy, excerpt from a Gould composed fugue:
”…never be clever for the sake of being clever,
For a canon in inversion is a dangerous diversion
And a bit of augmentation is a serious temptation
While a stretto diminution is an obvious solution
Never be clever for the sake of being clever
For the sake of showing off.”
- Glenn Gould (‘So You Want To Write A Fugue?’)
”I've always had a sort of intuition that for every hour you spend with other human beings you need X number of hours alone. Solitude fuels creativity, whereas brotherly camaraderie tends to dissipate it. Isolation is the one sure way to human happiness.”
Thanks and praises to the lovely Ilse for bringing this one to my attention!
I came to know Glenn Gould, as many before me, through the works of Bach. Others come to know Bach through the inspired renditions of Gould. The composer and performer are so intimately entwined at this stage, their names so synonymous with one another, that one can hardly be mentioned without conjuring up thoughts of the other.
For those who are unaware, Glenn Gould (1932-1982) was an extraordinary classical pianist, most renowned as interpreter of the clavier works of the eminent Johann Sebastian Bach and, as you can see from the above image, blatantly disregarding any commonly accepted conventions on correct posture at the piano. While his now famous recordings of the ‘Goldberg Variations’ aren’t my absolute favourite of the now limitless options available, his youthfully exuberant 1955 recording, in particular, single-handedly placed Bach’s work into the active repertory and launched Gould to international fame. While this recording was full of energy, virtuosity and originality, it also comes off as a little hurried to me, perhaps exposing some anxiety or an eagerness to prove his worth. His 1981 recording (just one year prior to his death), on the other hand, is a much more personal, introspective rendition. A work, to steal a phrase from Christoph Wolff, ”transfigured, rounded off, and permeated by the wisdom of age”. Do yourself the favour of listening to at least one of these two essential recordings. In the 1981 version his in/famous humming is more prominent and may, at first, be a little distracting. With familiarity, however, I feel it gives a more unique and intimate atmosphere to the recording.
”I have nothing against orthodoxy per se, but it is crucial, when recording, to approach things from a new angle and to recreate the piece, in effect, turning the performance into an act of composition”
With regard to Sandrine Revel’s ’Glenn Gould – A Life Off Tempo’, an artistic homage to the virtuoso keyboardist, it’s both stunning in its aesthetic beauty and refined in its efforts to portray at once, Gould’s self-induced state of lonely solemnity, his eccentricity and quirky nature, and his occasionally too-self-appreciating sense of humour. Art is not my strong point but Revel’s hand-painted illustrations really make this graphic novel feel as though it were a living realisation of Gould’s history. Like real, tangible events that continue on replaying themselves even after I’ve closed the covers.
The work is structured around the “framing story” of the stroke that paralysed the left side of Glenn’s body two days after his 50th birthday in 1982 and would ultimately lead to his death. It is assembled as a sort of life-flashing-before-the-eyes experience from Gould’s perspective so it’s not at all a neat, chronological relaying of events but rather a scattered collection of short anecdotal chapters covering what could be externally perceived as the most important, pivotal moments of his life.
Amongst many other things, Revel covers Gould’s hypochondria and subsequently heavy reliance on, and addiction to, pills and his abandonment of live performances from a young age. The latter was a direct result of a fundamental point in Gould’s musical philosophy, as he believed:
”Music is something that must be listened to in private. It must lead both the listener and the performer to a state of contemplation.”
”… You can’t surrender to it with two thousand nine hundred ninety-nine souls before you”
This was something he often voiced, though it seems likely that anxiety about performing in front of so many judgmental eyes (”what fun is there in playing for people secretly hoping for a false note?”) and, if the very loose narrative is anything to go by, the depression following the loss of his favoured Steinway piano, might also have played a role in his decision to stop performing live.
"Gould defined himself through his piano. He was incapable of playing on any other one. It was like co-dependency.”
The only negative I can pin to the work is that, occasionally, in an effort to give context to a scene or introduce certain individuals, the dialogue strays from direct quotations and can come across a little clumsily. But all in all, how lucky we are that Sandrine Revel, an artist of such talent is a devout enough Gould fan to have considered creating such a fine work. We, the people, benefit greatly from this coincidence and I hope this will prompt some to discover both the works of Bach and of Gould. I’ll leave you now with this, ironically very clever and showy, excerpt from a Gould composed fugue:
”…never be clever for the sake of being clever,
For a canon in inversion is a dangerous diversion
And a bit of augmentation is a serious temptation
While a stretto diminution is an obvious solution
Never be clever for the sake of being clever
For the sake of showing off.”
- Glenn Gould (‘So You Want To Write A Fugue?’)
March 13, 2017
Here’s Glenn Gould playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations, since this is a biography of him and he’s a musician. That’s the challenge of writing a book or review about a musician, you want to hear one reason people think he is a genius:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah392...
Another challenge about writing about Gould is that he was a loner, odd, hated playing for audiences, and so on. A strange man:
I’ve always had a sort of intuition that for every hour you spend with other human beings, you need X number of hours alone.
A creative documentary, Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould is a film in fragments (1993) that I loved about Gould. Fragments seem best for helping capture the refraction of Gould’s being, though you have to admit he was stunning productive in his short lifetime.
But this—Revel’s work--is alos how you write a graphic biography of Gould, to use the visual medium to try and get at some idea of him! Amazing work, more poetic than narrative.
Gould was an unconventional player, with odd mannerisms and obsessions about his piano, his bench, and so on. He stopped recording at 31 to focus on recording. He said playing for audiences was “a force of evil.”
Gould died at the age of 50 in 1982 from complications from a stroke. He had perfect pitch. He preferred animals to people. He may just have been the best pianist of his day; he was certainly admired by the greatest musicians of his day, even if other non-musician people found him annoying and strange. He could memorize anything at sight and had an amazing memory for music of all kinds. He loved “Downtown,” by Petula Clark.
Gould often swayed while he played, as if in a trance, and often hummed as he played, to the annoyance of audiences. (Keith Jarrett does this, too). He wrote prolifically about music and musical theory. He was a friend of Bill Evans, though in general he disliked jazz. Hypochondriac. Had an affair with a married woman for four years, which maybe was his only romantic relationship. He produced and scored many documentaries such as Mennoites in Manitoba.
George Szell, composer of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra: "That nut's a genius.”
I agree, and I might say the same about Sandrine Revel, whose wonderful creation helped me to listen all day to Gould again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah392...
Another challenge about writing about Gould is that he was a loner, odd, hated playing for audiences, and so on. A strange man:
I’ve always had a sort of intuition that for every hour you spend with other human beings, you need X number of hours alone.
A creative documentary, Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould is a film in fragments (1993) that I loved about Gould. Fragments seem best for helping capture the refraction of Gould’s being, though you have to admit he was stunning productive in his short lifetime.
But this—Revel’s work--is alos how you write a graphic biography of Gould, to use the visual medium to try and get at some idea of him! Amazing work, more poetic than narrative.
Gould was an unconventional player, with odd mannerisms and obsessions about his piano, his bench, and so on. He stopped recording at 31 to focus on recording. He said playing for audiences was “a force of evil.”
Gould died at the age of 50 in 1982 from complications from a stroke. He had perfect pitch. He preferred animals to people. He may just have been the best pianist of his day; he was certainly admired by the greatest musicians of his day, even if other non-musician people found him annoying and strange. He could memorize anything at sight and had an amazing memory for music of all kinds. He loved “Downtown,” by Petula Clark.
Gould often swayed while he played, as if in a trance, and often hummed as he played, to the annoyance of audiences. (Keith Jarrett does this, too). He wrote prolifically about music and musical theory. He was a friend of Bill Evans, though in general he disliked jazz. Hypochondriac. Had an affair with a married woman for four years, which maybe was his only romantic relationship. He produced and scored many documentaries such as Mennoites in Manitoba.
George Szell, composer of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra: "That nut's a genius.”
I agree, and I might say the same about Sandrine Revel, whose wonderful creation helped me to listen all day to Gould again.
December 10, 2016
"Chacun doit vivre sa vie en ayant une direction spirituelle en tête."
First, I need to thank Ilse for bringing this book to my attention. If not for her wonderful review, I would not have just undergone a unique experience. I am completely charmed.
Glenn Gould was a part of my youth. He brought classical piano music into our lives as no end of high school field trips to concert halls could have done. He was a part of a worldview that saw the world as opening up to every possibility. He was both perfection and discovery. He was also a neurotic, lonely eccentric whom we felt a need to protect. He was, in the 1970s, a genius of his time for whom many of us, here in Canada, felt a special excitement. His radio and television recordings, completely produced and controlled by him, were occasions for anticipation.
"Le thème principal de cette émission [The Idea of North] est l'aspect nordique de l'être humain. La co-existence avec soi-même."
All of this to say that Sandrine Revel has managed, in this 130 page graphic fictional biography, to bring all of that back to me, including the sadness of his death. It is difficult to explain the aura of a man who died 34 years ago, a man who, on the one hand wanted to be alone and on the other wanted to address a large, invisible to him, audience.
"Pas en tant qu'individus, mais en tant de masse, je déteste les auditoires."
He was extraordinary and Revel has been able to present that through her words and drawings. It is obvious that much of what she puts in the mouth of the character Gould is made up of direct quotes of recordings of Gould during his short lifetime.
"La solitude nourrit la créativité alors que la fraternité collégiale tend à la dissiper. De plus, sûr chemin vers le bonheur. La présence des autres me distrait."
Yes, I am totally charmed by this book. Much of the artwork is beautiful. All is relevant.
(Erratum. Regarding Gould's concerts in Moscow in 1957, Revel shows the Canadian maple leaf flag to represent the Canadian embassy in Moscow. That flag only came into existence in 1965. A small point easily forgiven.)
By the way, Glenn Gould's CBC radio and television productions can be accessed on the CBC Radio web site. Not sure if it is accessible everywhere.
First, I need to thank Ilse for bringing this book to my attention. If not for her wonderful review, I would not have just undergone a unique experience. I am completely charmed.
Glenn Gould was a part of my youth. He brought classical piano music into our lives as no end of high school field trips to concert halls could have done. He was a part of a worldview that saw the world as opening up to every possibility. He was both perfection and discovery. He was also a neurotic, lonely eccentric whom we felt a need to protect. He was, in the 1970s, a genius of his time for whom many of us, here in Canada, felt a special excitement. His radio and television recordings, completely produced and controlled by him, were occasions for anticipation.
"Le thème principal de cette émission [The Idea of North] est l'aspect nordique de l'être humain. La co-existence avec soi-même."
All of this to say that Sandrine Revel has managed, in this 130 page graphic fictional biography, to bring all of that back to me, including the sadness of his death. It is difficult to explain the aura of a man who died 34 years ago, a man who, on the one hand wanted to be alone and on the other wanted to address a large, invisible to him, audience.
"Pas en tant qu'individus, mais en tant de masse, je déteste les auditoires."
He was extraordinary and Revel has been able to present that through her words and drawings. It is obvious that much of what she puts in the mouth of the character Gould is made up of direct quotes of recordings of Gould during his short lifetime.
"La solitude nourrit la créativité alors que la fraternité collégiale tend à la dissiper. De plus, sûr chemin vers le bonheur. La présence des autres me distrait."
Yes, I am totally charmed by this book. Much of the artwork is beautiful. All is relevant.
(Erratum. Regarding Gould's concerts in Moscow in 1957, Revel shows the Canadian maple leaf flag to represent the Canadian embassy in Moscow. That flag only came into existence in 1965. A small point easily forgiven.)
By the way, Glenn Gould's CBC radio and television productions can be accessed on the CBC Radio web site. Not sure if it is accessible everywhere.
December 3, 2020
This is a wonderful book! Full of gorgeous and intriguing illustrations, it creates a rather kaleidoscopic portrait of the enigmatic Glenn Gould. A brilliant concept, beautifully realized.
December 17, 2019
This graphic fictional biography captures the essence of the genius and eccentric, Glenn Gould.
Here are a few extracts without the accompanying graphics:
"À LA SORTIE DU DISQUE DES "VARIATIONS GOLDBERG" LA PRESSE EST UNANIME : GLENN GOULD EST LE MEILLEUR PIANISTE DE SA GÉNÉRATION." (p76)
"GOULD JOUE COMME UN COMPOSITEUR. LORSQUE JE L'ÉCOUTE JOUER BACH, C'EST COMME SI C'ÉTAIT BACH LUI-MÊME QUI JOUAIT."
AARON COPLAND (p96)
"J'AVAIS LE SENTIMENT QUE LE PUBLIC ÉTAIT UN OBSTACLE SUR LA VOIE DE CE À QUOI JE VOULAIS PARVENIR" (p98)
"MA VIE, C'EST MON TRAVAIL. JE NE CROIS PAS QUE MON STYLE DE VIE RESSEMBLE À CELUI DE LA PLUPART DES GENS, ET ÇA ME RÉJOUIT. LES DEUX ÉLÉMENTS - LE STYLE DE VIE ET LE TRAVAIL - SE SONT FONDUS EN UN SEUL. SI C'EST UNE EXCENTRICITÉ, ALORS OUI, JE SUIS EXCENTRIQUE." (P105)
The graphics are brilliant, and in few pages much is conveyed. Author Sandrine Revel provides a playlist of music that she listened to whilst working on this book, as well as a discography of Glenn Gould’s work.
#####
Special thanks to a Goodreads friend for this lovely gift.
Here are a few extracts without the accompanying graphics:
"À LA SORTIE DU DISQUE DES "VARIATIONS GOLDBERG" LA PRESSE EST UNANIME : GLENN GOULD EST LE MEILLEUR PIANISTE DE SA GÉNÉRATION." (p76)
"GOULD JOUE COMME UN COMPOSITEUR. LORSQUE JE L'ÉCOUTE JOUER BACH, C'EST COMME SI C'ÉTAIT BACH LUI-MÊME QUI JOUAIT."
AARON COPLAND (p96)
"J'AVAIS LE SENTIMENT QUE LE PUBLIC ÉTAIT UN OBSTACLE SUR LA VOIE DE CE À QUOI JE VOULAIS PARVENIR" (p98)
"MA VIE, C'EST MON TRAVAIL. JE NE CROIS PAS QUE MON STYLE DE VIE RESSEMBLE À CELUI DE LA PLUPART DES GENS, ET ÇA ME RÉJOUIT. LES DEUX ÉLÉMENTS - LE STYLE DE VIE ET LE TRAVAIL - SE SONT FONDUS EN UN SEUL. SI C'EST UNE EXCENTRICITÉ, ALORS OUI, JE SUIS EXCENTRIQUE." (P105)
The graphics are brilliant, and in few pages much is conveyed. Author Sandrine Revel provides a playlist of music that she listened to whilst working on this book, as well as a discography of Glenn Gould’s work.
#####
Special thanks to a Goodreads friend for this lovely gift.
March 18, 2018
Really well done.Best enjoyed while listening to Gould playing the Goldberg variations,or any Bach for that matter.
April 28, 2019
I've always had a sort of intuition that for every hour you spend with other human beings you need X number of hours alone. Isolation is the one sure way to human happiness... I find the presence of others distracting.
I first encountered Glenn Gould's recordings - technical brilliance, off-kilter humming, and all - when I was a teenager and semi-serious about playing the piano. I'm glad to have now learned more about him through this gorgeous, evocative graphic novel that weaves together his biography with glimpses of his dreams, memories, and imagination. The art has an impressive breadth, from simple yet expressive depictions of faces and gestures, to full-page illustrations that unite Gould's inner and outer worlds. This book paints a picture of a person with an intricate, decisive mind that was often at odds - sometimes triumphantly, other times tragically - with what the world expected of him.
I first encountered Glenn Gould's recordings - technical brilliance, off-kilter humming, and all - when I was a teenager and semi-serious about playing the piano. I'm glad to have now learned more about him through this gorgeous, evocative graphic novel that weaves together his biography with glimpses of his dreams, memories, and imagination. The art has an impressive breadth, from simple yet expressive depictions of faces and gestures, to full-page illustrations that unite Gould's inner and outer worlds. This book paints a picture of a person with an intricate, decisive mind that was often at odds - sometimes triumphantly, other times tragically - with what the world expected of him.
January 6, 2023
Puramente precioso 🌹
Le doy cinco estrellas porque soy una fan fatal de Gould y me ha parecido un lindo homenaje. Necesario en la biblioteca personal de cualquier melómano. Ponerse las variaciones Goldberg y recrearse en cada dibujo 🖤
Obvio que se queda corto como biografía, pero es que no es la intención de esta novela gráfica. Para ello, Sandrine Revel se encarga de anexar una discografía razonada y referencias bibliográficas.
Recomiendo, al que le interese, la biografía de Alejandro Castroguer titulada "Glenn" o "El malogrado" de Bernhard.
Creía firmemente que todo el mundo compartía mi pasión por el cielo nublado. Me sorprendió mucho darme cuenta de que algunas personas preferían el sol.
Le doy cinco estrellas porque soy una fan fatal de Gould y me ha parecido un lindo homenaje. Necesario en la biblioteca personal de cualquier melómano. Ponerse las variaciones Goldberg y recrearse en cada dibujo 🖤
Obvio que se queda corto como biografía, pero es que no es la intención de esta novela gráfica. Para ello, Sandrine Revel se encarga de anexar una discografía razonada y referencias bibliográficas.
Recomiendo, al que le interese, la biografía de Alejandro Castroguer titulada "Glenn" o "El malogrado" de Bernhard.
Creía firmemente que todo el mundo compartía mi pasión por el cielo nublado. Me sorprendió mucho darme cuenta de que algunas personas preferían el sol.
December 22, 2016
The problem with writing a graphic novel about music or dance is that it is hard to show. And in this case, since I have never heard of Glenn Gould, nor heard his piano work, all this story is is about an eccentric. It has beautiful pictures, and heart ache, and all, but I never connect with Glenn, nor feel the loss of his death.
This graphic novel would probably work better for lovers of his music.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
This graphic novel would probably work better for lovers of his music.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
December 10, 2016
Deleitarte con su música, mientras disfrutas de las geniales ilustraciones y lees el texto fue una experiencia religiosa para mis sentidos.
July 10, 2020
Cette BD ne se suffit pas à elle-même. Vous aurez besoin à un moment donné (avant, pendant ou après) d’un enregistrement – voire d’une vidéo – de Glenn Gould pour mettre des notes sur les images. Sandrine Revel a pensé à vous et propose sa playlist ainsi qu’une discographie raisonnée dans les annexes.
Il n’est en effet pas facile de faire ressentir l’émotion véhiculée par la musique au travers d’un livre – qu’il soit illustré ou pas. Sandrine Revel y parvient toutefois assez bien en proposant un récit elliptique, mais original, sur la vie de ce musicien hors norme. Si cette biographie en bande dessinée ne se prétend pas exhaustive, elle permet d’introduire de très belle manière l’univers passionné et tourmenté de Gould.
Le récit suit globalement une progression chronologique qui est introduite et guidée par ce que revoit Gould à la fin de sa vie. L’usage de ce procédé est une réussite car il agrémente beaucoup la lecture, il donne de l’épaisseur au récit. De nombreuses tentatives sont faites pour faire ressentir la musique, notamment en représentant les mains sur le clavier, mais pour un non connaisseur comme moi, l’effet n’est pas garanti. Je souligne au passage une très belle planche qui fait découvrir l’intérieur de l’appartement de Gould – forcément dédié à son travail – au travers du regard de sa cousine qui entend la sonnerie du téléphone et le cherche pour répondre.
Elle parvient par contre très bien à évoquer la personnalité tourmentée du musicien. Cela passe d’abord par un regard, une attitude et évidemment par son comportement sa relation aux autres. Depuis l’enfance – très émouvante – jusqu’à l’âge adulte, on a vraiment l’impression de saisir quelque chose de sa vie intérieure, on comprend qu’il n’a vécu que pour et par la musique et c’est assez vertigineux d’imaginer une vie consacrée à son interprétation sur un seul instrument, le piano.
> Ma vie, c’est mon travail. Je ne crois pas que mon style de vie ressemble à celui de la plupart des gens, et ça me réjouit. Les deux éléments – le style de vie et le travail – se sont fondus en un seul. Si c’est excentrique, alors oui, je suis excentrique.
Certains diront qu’elle n’est pas exhaustive, mais ce n’est pas le but recherché – à cette fin, elle donne également des références dans les annexes. Le but recherché – je pense – est de transmettre quelque chose de l’homme, de nous introduire sur le pas de la porte de son univers, de nous donner envie d’écouter avec une oreille très attentive sa musique, son oeuvre, et elle y parvient parfaitement en alliant textes et dessins. Une très belle biographie en BD dans la veine de celle consacrée à Nietzsche.
> Je tenais pour acquis que tout le monde partageait ma passion pour les ciels nuageux. J’ai eu tout un choc en apprenant que certaines personnes préféraient le soleil.
Également publié sur mon blog.
Il n’est en effet pas facile de faire ressentir l’émotion véhiculée par la musique au travers d’un livre – qu’il soit illustré ou pas. Sandrine Revel y parvient toutefois assez bien en proposant un récit elliptique, mais original, sur la vie de ce musicien hors norme. Si cette biographie en bande dessinée ne se prétend pas exhaustive, elle permet d’introduire de très belle manière l’univers passionné et tourmenté de Gould.
Le récit suit globalement une progression chronologique qui est introduite et guidée par ce que revoit Gould à la fin de sa vie. L’usage de ce procédé est une réussite car il agrémente beaucoup la lecture, il donne de l’épaisseur au récit. De nombreuses tentatives sont faites pour faire ressentir la musique, notamment en représentant les mains sur le clavier, mais pour un non connaisseur comme moi, l’effet n’est pas garanti. Je souligne au passage une très belle planche qui fait découvrir l’intérieur de l’appartement de Gould – forcément dédié à son travail – au travers du regard de sa cousine qui entend la sonnerie du téléphone et le cherche pour répondre.
Elle parvient par contre très bien à évoquer la personnalité tourmentée du musicien. Cela passe d’abord par un regard, une attitude et évidemment par son comportement sa relation aux autres. Depuis l’enfance – très émouvante – jusqu’à l’âge adulte, on a vraiment l’impression de saisir quelque chose de sa vie intérieure, on comprend qu’il n’a vécu que pour et par la musique et c’est assez vertigineux d’imaginer une vie consacrée à son interprétation sur un seul instrument, le piano.
> Ma vie, c’est mon travail. Je ne crois pas que mon style de vie ressemble à celui de la plupart des gens, et ça me réjouit. Les deux éléments – le style de vie et le travail – se sont fondus en un seul. Si c’est excentrique, alors oui, je suis excentrique.
Certains diront qu’elle n’est pas exhaustive, mais ce n’est pas le but recherché – à cette fin, elle donne également des références dans les annexes. Le but recherché – je pense – est de transmettre quelque chose de l’homme, de nous introduire sur le pas de la porte de son univers, de nous donner envie d’écouter avec une oreille très attentive sa musique, son oeuvre, et elle y parvient parfaitement en alliant textes et dessins. Une très belle biographie en BD dans la veine de celle consacrée à Nietzsche.
> Je tenais pour acquis que tout le monde partageait ma passion pour les ciels nuageux. J’ai eu tout un choc en apprenant que certaines personnes préféraient le soleil.
Également publié sur mon blog.
December 2, 2017
"When I started work on this biography of Gould, I didn’t know yet which direction to take. To start, to reassure myself, I began with a script very faithful to the chronology of his life. Then I started to draw and realized I was taking a wrong path because the more I advanced, the more I got bored. Gould is far from a boring person. Quite the contrary, he was impulsive, instinctive, surprising, mysterious, and I had to respect all his character traits in the construction of this narrative. So I started all over again, I demolished what I had done to better deconstruct it. I don’t regret taking at first a false path, it allowed me to better understand him." - Sandrine Revel
http://www.tcj.com/sandrine-revel-int...
A wonderful biographical dreamsong and meditation upon a legendary musician and eccentric who's connection to Bach (to music in general?) is reminiscent of Van Gogh's sense of air currents in the night--the grand, patterned, spiraling and somehow whimsical movements always breathing beneath and beyond our everyday perceptions.
this book moves between several styles and modes, sometimes more surreal, sometimes more literal in its depictions. We meet Gould and his closest people and other animals (and pianos) in various moments and stages, not confined by particular chronologies. Sometimes I wished there were more rhythmic and structural announcements of these movements (in color schemes or some other signs of where we were going when, and perhaps why at this juncture.) But, I accept the work on Revel's terms and am grateful for the strange and immersive and jarring experience of reading this book. (I wish more of her books were translated into English.)
Gould's immersion in melodies, the way he sings and swims through compositions as well as playing them, is so compelling. It's hard to know how to feel about his suffering and isolation, which Revel rendered so tenderly--with such humor and compassion and grace.
Was Gould, in his way, content to live in such heightened and at times disturbing awareness of himself and his surroundings? (While still, in his way, trying to detach from the mechanicality of playing.) I think this is a question the book raises in a quiet way. What is happiness to someone with his talents and fears and cognitive and emotional orientations?
I searched for but couldn't find a Gould video my guitar teacher played for me recently (to help me get the feel of a Bach Air I'm learning.) But below is a link to a pop song from the 1960s Gould loved, revealed in a wonderful moment in the book (there are no page numbers).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fllN8...
http://www.tcj.com/sandrine-revel-int...
A wonderful biographical dreamsong and meditation upon a legendary musician and eccentric who's connection to Bach (to music in general?) is reminiscent of Van Gogh's sense of air currents in the night--the grand, patterned, spiraling and somehow whimsical movements always breathing beneath and beyond our everyday perceptions.
this book moves between several styles and modes, sometimes more surreal, sometimes more literal in its depictions. We meet Gould and his closest people and other animals (and pianos) in various moments and stages, not confined by particular chronologies. Sometimes I wished there were more rhythmic and structural announcements of these movements (in color schemes or some other signs of where we were going when, and perhaps why at this juncture.) But, I accept the work on Revel's terms and am grateful for the strange and immersive and jarring experience of reading this book. (I wish more of her books were translated into English.)
Gould's immersion in melodies, the way he sings and swims through compositions as well as playing them, is so compelling. It's hard to know how to feel about his suffering and isolation, which Revel rendered so tenderly--with such humor and compassion and grace.
Was Gould, in his way, content to live in such heightened and at times disturbing awareness of himself and his surroundings? (While still, in his way, trying to detach from the mechanicality of playing.) I think this is a question the book raises in a quiet way. What is happiness to someone with his talents and fears and cognitive and emotional orientations?
I searched for but couldn't find a Gould video my guitar teacher played for me recently (to help me get the feel of a Bach Air I'm learning.) But below is a link to a pop song from the 1960s Gould loved, revealed in a wonderful moment in the book (there are no page numbers).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fllN8...
June 11, 2017
I assume the book skims the surface of who Glenn Gould really was, but it nevertheless brings a human livelihood to this eccentric genius. Being a musician is hard, and expressing creativity is a daily battle that I assume only other artists can truly understand. This graphic novel explores Gould's childhood, personal quirks, and all the things that may have been who he really was inside as both an eternally striving artist as well as a crafty artisan.
March 11, 2024
A mi sí me gustan los cielos nublados, Glenn.
February 14, 2025
This book was a lot. I only heard of Glenn Gould from my grandfather when I would go visit him when I was a child. So to be able to read about him and his experiences which led him to his death was an experience. The writing of this book almost felt like I was watching Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It felt like I was sitting in front of the screen watching a documentary of one of the greatest pianists hearing each interviewee speak on what Gould meant to them. Awesome
December 6, 2017
"When I started work on this biography of Gould, I didn’t know yet which direction to take. To start, to reassure myself, I began with a script very faithful to the chronology of his life. Then I started to draw and realized I was taking a wrong path because the more I advanced, the more I got bored. Gould is far from a boring person. Quite the contrary, he was impulsive, instinctive, surprising, mysterious, and I had to respect all his character traits in the construction of this narrative. So I started all over again, I demolished what I had done to better deconstruct it. I don’t regret taking at first a false path, it allowed me to better understand him." - Sandrine Revel
http://www.tcj.com/sandrine-revel-int...
A wonderful biographical dreamsong and meditation upon a legendary musician and eccentric who's connection to Bach (to music in general?) is reminiscent of Van Gogh's sense of air currents in the night--the grand, patterned, spiraling and somehow whimsical movements always breathing beneath and beyond our everyday perceptions.
this book moves between several styles and modes, sometimes more surreal, sometimes more literal in its depictions. We meet Gould and his closest people and other animals (and pianos) in various moments and stages, not confined by particular chronologies. Sometimes I wished there were more rhythmic and structural announcements of these movements (in color schemes or some other signs of where we were going when, and perhaps why at this juncture.) But, I accept the work on Revel's terms and am grateful for the strange and immersive and jarring experience of reading this book. (I wish more of her books were translated into English.)
Gould's immersion in melodies, the way he sings and swims through compositions as well as playing them, is so compelling. It's hard to know how to feel about his suffering and isolation, which Revel rendered so tenderly--with such humor and compassion and grace.
Was Gould, in his way, content to live in such heightened and at times disturbing awareness of himself and his surroundings? (While still, in his way, trying to detach from the mechanicality of playing.) I think this is a question the book raises in a quiet way. What is happiness to someone with his talents and fears and cognitive and emotional orientations?
I searched for but couldn't find a Gould video my guitar teacher played for me recently (to help me get the feel of a Bach Air I'm learning.) But below is a link to a pop song from the 1960s Gould loved, revealed in a wonderful moment in the book (there are no page numbers).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fllN8...
http://www.tcj.com/sandrine-revel-int...
A wonderful biographical dreamsong and meditation upon a legendary musician and eccentric who's connection to Bach (to music in general?) is reminiscent of Van Gogh's sense of air currents in the night--the grand, patterned, spiraling and somehow whimsical movements always breathing beneath and beyond our everyday perceptions.
this book moves between several styles and modes, sometimes more surreal, sometimes more literal in its depictions. We meet Gould and his closest people and other animals (and pianos) in various moments and stages, not confined by particular chronologies. Sometimes I wished there were more rhythmic and structural announcements of these movements (in color schemes or some other signs of where we were going when, and perhaps why at this juncture.) But, I accept the work on Revel's terms and am grateful for the strange and immersive and jarring experience of reading this book. (I wish more of her books were translated into English.)
Gould's immersion in melodies, the way he sings and swims through compositions as well as playing them, is so compelling. It's hard to know how to feel about his suffering and isolation, which Revel rendered so tenderly--with such humor and compassion and grace.
Was Gould, in his way, content to live in such heightened and at times disturbing awareness of himself and his surroundings? (While still, in his way, trying to detach from the mechanicality of playing.) I think this is a question the book raises in a quiet way. What is happiness to someone with his talents and fears and cognitive and emotional orientations?
I searched for but couldn't find a Gould video my guitar teacher played for me recently (to help me get the feel of a Bach Air I'm learning.) But below is a link to a pop song from the 1960s Gould loved, revealed in a wonderful moment in the book (there are no page numbers).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fllN8...
July 21, 2017
When I worked in the Music and Art Department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, I was fascinated by Glenn Gould. I knew (and still know) very little about classical music or what makes a pianist innovative, but I know (and knew) what I liked: clear, distinct piano playing, where every note has value, and where emotion seems to be driven into the keys with each fingertip. I also liked the Gould story--I read his essays and realized what a seriously appealing kook he was, who loved northern climes and isolation, mumbled and squirmed while he played, took many pills, wore winter clothes all of the time, and gushed about Barbra Streisand and Petula Clark. I remember reading how he (seriously?) suggested that in the future, listeners could assemble their favorite music performance by editing together numerous recordings themselves. You know he'd do it.
Sandrine Revel gets all of this, and adds two things I loved: other people, who are peripheral but important--and confused by him, and saddened by his loss. And visual brilliance: I read this without music accompaniment, but I swear you can hear it when you look at her drawings of him at the piano--of his hands in all their different shapes. The overall tone is brown and overcast--like the clouds he loved, which I loved too by the end of the book. And fear is vividly communicated in the blood red that overtakes him in the end. I think this is a genius achievement.
As a bonus, it has a select discography at the end.
Sandrine Revel gets all of this, and adds two things I loved: other people, who are peripheral but important--and confused by him, and saddened by his loss. And visual brilliance: I read this without music accompaniment, but I swear you can hear it when you look at her drawings of him at the piano--of his hands in all their different shapes. The overall tone is brown and overcast--like the clouds he loved, which I loved too by the end of the book. And fear is vividly communicated in the blood red that overtakes him in the end. I think this is a genius achievement.
As a bonus, it has a select discography at the end.
July 8, 2017
Cómo se trasmite la música a través del cómic? Supongo que en definitiva eso no es posible. Por eso éste se detiene en todos los consabidos quirks de Gould: sus múltiples obsesiones, sus adicciones, sus miedos. Pero no penetra ni un ápice en lo importante: Qué hace que el Bach de Gould sea distinto al resto, por ejemplo? Rescato principalmente el bello final.
November 16, 2016
This graphic novel tries to illustrate a life devoted to music without utilizing any sound. And while most of the beautiful artwork does a fine enough job at rendering Gould’s pathos, some of the more dramatic moments are too flat for such a life as his.
April 21, 2018
I read the English translation because I'm lazy. Excellent memoir in sequential art form. Very imaginative envisioning of a life that did not include a lot of strong visuals. I loved his conversations with children. (One of them asked him why he was so good at playing the piano, and he said he didn't know and didn't want to find out. He was afraid that if he knew why he played as he did, he wouldn't know how to do it anymore.)
December 12, 2019
Very strange ending that took somewhat of an inappropriate twist. The "plot" of the biography seemed to take many liberties in forming a narrative about Gould that seems more fit for cinema.
Interesting pages on the critical response to his live performances, and, in turn, Gould's self reflexivity when confronted with the opinions of his contemporaries.
Nice illustrations. Content was lacking in both depth and breadth.
Interesting pages on the critical response to his live performances, and, in turn, Gould's self reflexivity when confronted with the opinions of his contemporaries.
Nice illustrations. Content was lacking in both depth and breadth.
January 7, 2020
A summarised life and times of Glenn Gould, perhaps one of the best interpreters of Johan Sebastian Bach's music on the piano. According to history and biographies, he was a germaphobe, and had idiosyncracies, that will make you ponder over where he learned to fear all these things from. It was truly sad that he was taken away from us so soon. The music world lost an amazing musician!
July 20, 2021
Contar gibi é trapaça no Goodreads? Enfim, esse é muito bom.
July 3, 2024
Beautiful and tender graphic novel about a reclusive genius pianist. Really wonderful and such a great medium to explore the work of Gould.
February 8, 2017
'For both the listener and the performer, music must lead to contemplation...and you can't surrender to it with two thousand hundred ninety-nine souls before you. I love recordings, because if something truly extraordinary occurs...you know it will live on...and if such is not the case, you are given another chance to achieve perfection. The recording studio provides me with the setting I need to make music in a fruitful way. Monastic reclusion suits me.'
Growing up as a Canadian kid playing the piano under the syllabus of the RCM [Royal Conservatory of Music], I knew of Glenn Gould's name from day 1 just looking at my books, before I knew who he was. There's a bench with his bronze statue outside the CBC studio here in the city. He's sort of everywhere if you look. It wasn't until much, much later, 'til my lessons had stopped that I went looking for his recordings and listened to them, and tried to learn more about his life.
He'll always be a mystery. I don't think it's possible to capture anything in whole about Gould's life in a graphic novel, but Sandrine Revel made such a beautiful attempt. I could almost hear his playing, his humming, his movement, his energy, coming out of these pages. Panels upon panels of his fingers flying, his eyes closed in ecstasy, sitting in that wonderfully low chair of his, that maddening posture that no teacher would encourage, as the audience and the surroundings are completely shut out. There were also little moments of pure joy and love between family in childhood that made my heart melt and ache in equal measure. And Gould's tenderness for animals! I don't think I ever knew about his hatred for fishing or it must've slipped my mind somehow.
I love the way time flits in and out, memories blurring as we're drifting along in his mind. The more fantastical sequences are stunning. The loneliness is at times so tender and other times, haunting. There were so many pages that I'd love to get prints of to hang up on the wall (of my non-existent piano studio). I adore the way Revel's approached these dreamy sequences and how it flows so seamlessly between the past and present. You feel closer to the inner workings of his mind, but at the same time, know you're that much more distant from it because you can't ever understand it. He died way too young.
I really loved this. Maybe it's because I gravitate towards artists that lean recluse - it's certainly a path I would choose for myself if I had the misfortune of having fame - but unless you actively hate Glenn Gould or classical music, I think this is a gorgeous piece of art worth reading. I'm totally biased though. I knew I'd love this before I read it. :)
February 26, 2017
Glenn Gould reminds me of a certain someone I know; characterized by loneliness, isolation, misanthropy, non-conformity, eccentricity but also possessing great talent and intellect. Gould says this of himself, "Monastic reclusion suits me."
Joseph Roddy, says of Glenn Gould, "It would be inaccurate to compare Gould to the lonely Phantom of the Opera. His world, though hidden, is expansive."
Sandrine Revel's illustrations are simple but of tremendous skill in capturing the mood and expressions of Glenn Gould -- all difficult to capture especially with regards to classical music. How does one describe music - from the feelings to the execution; how does one communicate and draw out the importance that every single bit of the artist's movement and touch matters? Alas - perhaps not so much in words, but drawings, such as Revel's, which cuts to the very core of what Classical Music embodies, especially in the mind of a genius.
Joseph Roddy, says of Glenn Gould, "It would be inaccurate to compare Gould to the lonely Phantom of the Opera. His world, though hidden, is expansive."
Sandrine Revel's illustrations are simple but of tremendous skill in capturing the mood and expressions of Glenn Gould -- all difficult to capture especially with regards to classical music. How does one describe music - from the feelings to the execution; how does one communicate and draw out the importance that every single bit of the artist's movement and touch matters? Alas - perhaps not so much in words, but drawings, such as Revel's, which cuts to the very core of what Classical Music embodies, especially in the mind of a genius.
February 7, 2017
'Glenn Gould: A Life Off Tempo' by Sandrine Revel is a very interesting biography about a brillian Canadian pianist. I'm not sure how much you will learn about him, but I sure enjoyed the ride.
Glenn Gould is most known for his recordings of Bach. He first played in public at the age of 13. After gaining fame and acclaim, he abruptly ended his career and became a recluse. This book gives hints of a man who was driven, and germ-phobic, and very much to himself. The story here weaves back and forth through Glenn Gould's life, from a boyhood learning and performing to a stroke that left him in a coma. On a trip to Russia to play concerts, his initial show was sparsely attended because no one in Russia had heard of him. At intermission, the audience left to go tell friends to come hear this phenomenon play. The rest of the tour was sold out.
The artwork is very good. There are wordless, soundless frames where Glenn Gould is in the midst of playing. panels of hands or his face are shown. The story is told in a non-linear fashion and feels like a good indie film Facts are not spoon fed to the reader and are discovered through careful observation and reading. I thoroughly enjoyed this graphic novel. I recommend reading it while you listen to some recordings by this genius musician.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from NBM Publishing, Papercutz, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
Glenn Gould is most known for his recordings of Bach. He first played in public at the age of 13. After gaining fame and acclaim, he abruptly ended his career and became a recluse. This book gives hints of a man who was driven, and germ-phobic, and very much to himself. The story here weaves back and forth through Glenn Gould's life, from a boyhood learning and performing to a stroke that left him in a coma. On a trip to Russia to play concerts, his initial show was sparsely attended because no one in Russia had heard of him. At intermission, the audience left to go tell friends to come hear this phenomenon play. The rest of the tour was sold out.
The artwork is very good. There are wordless, soundless frames where Glenn Gould is in the midst of playing. panels of hands or his face are shown. The story is told in a non-linear fashion and feels like a good indie film Facts are not spoon fed to the reader and are discovered through careful observation and reading. I thoroughly enjoyed this graphic novel. I recommend reading it while you listen to some recordings by this genius musician.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from NBM Publishing, Papercutz, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
September 6, 2016
Un primer acercamiento a la vida de Glenn Gould para los profanos en su biografía. Es una historia emotiva con la que no resulta difícil identificarse si se es un poquito outsider, aunque el efecto será mayor en las personas que aprecien previamente su obra.
El dibujo es muy bonito, particularmente en los pasajes en los que el relato escapa de la narración realista y se adentra en los paisajes oníricos en los que la autora interpreta los pensamientos y visiones de Gould; de hecho hay viñetas que dan ganas de fotocopiarlas en gran formato y hacerse un póster. Por su parte, el texto es sencillo tirando a escaso, apenas una excusa para explicar la acción en los momentos en los que el dibujo solo no podría hacerlo si el lector no conociera lo que ocurrió.
Es una obra reflexiva, bonita, para leer tranquilamente y mirar los dibujos con detenimiento. Lograr empatizar con Gould será harina de otro costal para muchos lectores: a mí no me ha costado encontrarle interés e inspiración a sus aparentes excentricidades.
El dibujo es muy bonito, particularmente en los pasajes en los que el relato escapa de la narración realista y se adentra en los paisajes oníricos en los que la autora interpreta los pensamientos y visiones de Gould; de hecho hay viñetas que dan ganas de fotocopiarlas en gran formato y hacerse un póster. Por su parte, el texto es sencillo tirando a escaso, apenas una excusa para explicar la acción en los momentos en los que el dibujo solo no podría hacerlo si el lector no conociera lo que ocurrió.
Es una obra reflexiva, bonita, para leer tranquilamente y mirar los dibujos con detenimiento. Lograr empatizar con Gould será harina de otro costal para muchos lectores: a mí no me ha costado encontrarle interés e inspiración a sus aparentes excentricidades.
January 9, 2017
I happened upon this book purely by accident when I was browsing in a comic book store after Christmas. Of course I was meant to buy it - not exactly the sort of thing I was expecting to find.
This is an absolutely beautiful book. It is more of a character sketch than a biography, since it doesn't delve deeply into Gould's background. Through the artwork, text and annotated discography, it is very possible to get a real sense of what Gould was like as a person, however, and the sequences of hand movements and playing positions capture his particular quirks perfectly.
I just loved this book; can't recommend it enough.
This is an absolutely beautiful book. It is more of a character sketch than a biography, since it doesn't delve deeply into Gould's background. Through the artwork, text and annotated discography, it is very possible to get a real sense of what Gould was like as a person, however, and the sequences of hand movements and playing positions capture his particular quirks perfectly.
I just loved this book; can't recommend it enough.
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