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Почему Боуи важен

Will Brooker,

Уилл Брукер

3.49 · Rating details · 72 ratings · 11 reviews

Дэвид Джонс навсегда останется в истории поп-культуры как самый переменчивый ее герой. Дэвид Боуи, Зигги Стардаст, Аладдин Сэйн, Изможденный Белый Герцог — лишь несколько из его имен и обличий. Но кем он был на самом деле? Какая логика стоит за чередой образов и альбомов? Какие подсказки к его судьбе скрывают улицы родного Бромли, английский кинематограф и тексты Михаила Б ...more

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Paperback, 288 pages

Published 2020 by Individuum (first published October 15th 2019)

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Mar 11, 2020 Meg Orton rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Disclaimer: thank you to Jonathan Ball Publishers in South Africa for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What was the first Bowie song you ever heard? What was the first music video of his that you remember seeing? Where were you when he passed on, and who was the person to tell you? Why does David Bowie matter?

As I started reading Brooker's ode to the man we all knew as David Bowie there were several occasions where I felt an imposter. How could I possibly answer Disclaimer: thank you to Jonathan Ball Publishers in South Africa for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What was the first Bowie song you ever heard? What was the first music video of his that you remember seeing? Where were you when he passed on, and who was the person to tell you? Why does David Bowie matter?

As I started reading Brooker's ode to the man we all knew as David Bowie there were several occasions where I felt an imposter. How could I possibly answer those questions posed to the readers of a book that I initially believed was written for super fans? I am a fan, but I am also not a fan who can claim anything other than a general love and an admiration, and indeed a fascination for the man who was born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 and died 10 January 2016. That of course was my initial fear when I started reading a book written by a man who had spent a year of his own life attempting to become the many aspects of Bowie over his lifetime - that I wasn't 'enough' of a fan. The truth is that Will Brooker is very much a super fan, and sometimes (if you are an amateur like me) you will feel as though you are floundering along in a sea of Bowie, but do not despair dear reader because Brooker will carry you safely to shore. As he navigates the intricacies of a man whose work both musically and on-screen were fraught with their own share of difficulties, he will also teach you about a man who was also just a mortal, and not the god he was often made out to be. For this and for so many other reasons you will slowly begin to love him (Bowie, and Brooker for that matter) even more.

It is perhaps relevant to add that as I read this fascinating book my soundtrack was The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972). I occasionally dabbled in Diamond Dogs (1974), Hunky Dory (1971) and Space Oddity (1969), but Ziggy was my constant and true companion. Something I wasn't as aware of as I am now is how often Bowie's lyrics are held under so much scrutiny. Brooker attempts to unpack his music that was so clearly influenced by Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground, Elvis Presley and even the Beatles, and mentions how his songs were so often seen as meta texts, and used as examples of literary theory. His music made references to elements of popular culture, science fiction and the literary world on more than one occasion, but were oddly never autobiographical. If we as casual readers, Bowie scholars and fans of the music see him as the great storyteller he clearly was it makes for a far more fascinating adventure into not only his mind, but also allows us the freedom to delve into the many roles Bowie played over the years. He not only told the stories, but he was very often several of the main characters all at once.

“I'm the last one to understand most of the material I write” ~ (Bowie, David)

Brooker details Bowie's rather slow rise to fame, his relationship with his astonishingly supportive father, his suburban working class back-story, and his ever-changing relationship with his sexuality and the media's response to this. In the midst of writing about Bowie's many faces that included Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and The Thin White Duke, Brooker goes into enormous detail discussing the late singer's fascination with George Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, and unpacks his videos for his last two albums, Lazarus and Blackstar in which he believes Bowie's own sense of mortality is the major theme. At the time of his death and the weeks preceding it the theories regarding his origin often made him out to be an extra-terrestrial type who had simply returned to his home planet. His common 'space theme' and the character of 'Major Tom' made it perhaps easier for those in grief to imagine him as a sort of 'intergalactic messiah'. Sometimes its easier to believe someone is simply away for a little while, and not gone forever.

Brooker importantly details his time emulating Bowie in the most extreme ways. For a year he transformed himself several times over by dressing as Bowie would, reading the books he read, walking his streets and visiting the bars he frequented. He even spent a bit of time in Berlin as Bowie had, wearing the clothes and hairstyles that represented each era in Bowie's life. Who better to answer the question in the title? Who better to tell the world the reason we should allow Bowie into our lives and his ways of seeing the world?

“Nobody can become Bowie, but we can all become a little more Bowie; we can all incorporate a bit of Bowie into our lives. Draw on your own wonder-house of experiences to dream up a version of yourself – perhaps more colorful, more creative, more confident – and then inhabit it, and see what happens. It worked for him. It worked for me.”

In an ever-changing world, Bowie was an ever-changing performer whose music transcended the mundane. In so many ways the question as to why Bowie matters is really up to you – the reader, the listener, the music-lover, the person who saw Bowie as someone who encompassed their own cautious feelings for a world that is not particularly tolerant towards the unique and the more subversive among us. In a world where image is everything Bowie gave us the freedom to embrace the image that resonated within our individual hearts, and I believe that is something worth making Bowie matter.

“While he was publicly challenging gender conventions... his behavior in private seemed to hark backwards to a reactionary past, rather than into the progressive future. It's a useful reminder that while we can still aspire to be more like Bowie, we can also, in some respects, try to be better”

After reading this beautiful ode and somewhat critique you will find yourself figuring out all on your own why Bowie matters, why he did then and why he does now. Will Brooker will guide you along the path, but soon you'll be in Oz and you'll have to figure out which road to take all on your own. And that's alright. You"ll get there soon enough.

“His music... it's all about memories. You remember the first time you heard one song. You remember that you were on holiday, and the good times you had. You remember specific moments that were important to you. And those moments... were Bowie's songs”
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Sep 05, 2020 Ryan Edwards rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: music

Brooker is quite the fan of Bowie. How much of a fan? Well, so much so that we learn more about him living out his fantasy of being Bowie than we do about what the book purports to deliver: an answer to the titular question.

More attention is paid to parsing the significance (i.e. verifying) three brief comments made by Bowie about his sexuality than any line of his lyrics, or any bar of his music. But given that the rest of the book contributes so little to our understanding of Bowie, it's unsu Brooker is quite the fan of Bowie. How much of a fan? Well, so much so that we learn more about him living out his fantasy of being Bowie than we do about what the book purports to deliver: an answer to the titular question.

More attention is paid to parsing the significance (i.e. verifying) three brief comments made by Bowie about his sexuality than any line of his lyrics, or any bar of his music. But given that the rest of the book contributes so little to our understanding of Bowie, it's unsurprising that he focuses on this issue so much. Brooker is able to vaguely tie together an argument for Bowie's relevance as a cultural figure through his playing with and against sexual and gender norms. This is complicated by whether or not Bowie was gay or bi, whether or not he was just using queer culture. Unfortunately, one of the schoolchildren he quotes in the conclusion does a better job at summing up the issue in a few lines than he does in a whole plodding chapter.

Outside of this point, Brooker is more intent on pointing out the fact that Bowie clearly matters to people rather than the why. Newspaper articles are quoted, responses to his last album compiled, and this unintentionally hilarious reflection on his death is offered:

I posted a single tweet, 'David Bowie will never die,' which was favourited many times. Then I lay on my bed reading books about race and representation, trying to distract myself with academic research.

What Brooker neglects to do is explain why people care about Bowie. Why is his music held in high esteem? What is it about his different personas that captivated people? Why did Bowie even do any of this? The entirety of his creative output seems to recede into the distance, eclipsed by the fandom it has mysteriously inspired. You would even be forgiven for thinking music had much to do with Bowie's life.

Taking a great artistic/cultural figure and approaching their work through a semi-academic, semi-personal style could be very interesting. Sprinkling in some French philosophy to the analysis and looking at the cultural context of said figure's art could be very interesting. Unfortunately, the only interesting thing about this book is how it took such interesting subject matter and rendered it tedious and uninspiring. Its failure is interesting in that it can hopefully serve as an example to others in what not to do. ...more

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Jan 12, 2021 Grace rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

To paraphrase: "Bowie's music is about memories... and our memories are Bowie songs" mused a 17 year old. With food for thought, thus, a great book ended. Why Bowie Matters by Will Brooker was more complex than I expected- trawling back through Bowie's history, our modern history and the meanings we find in his songs and albums, both collective experiences in as much as they are individual experiences. We approach Bowie's music as two different personas: the fan and the critic. Through acknowled ...more

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Nov 27, 2019 Kate Henderson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

**listened via audible**

Didn’t really know what to expect with this book.
As a huge Bowie fan I was excited to learn more about one of my idols. I did indeed learn now things about him, and these new bits of info were the best parts of the book.
Slightly confused by the author spending the year living out his version of Bowie... feel like it got lost a bit, and didn’t find it particularly relevant or interesting.

Enjoyable for any Bowie fan!

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May 16, 2020 Tammy Pullum rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

As a Bowie fan, I could not help but give five stars to this book. Essentially, the author is a super mega fan of David Bowie who spent a year dressing as Bowie, living as Bowie, and just being Bowie (I just want to travel to the spots that were important and formative to Bowie himself), and this is Brooker’s “Ode to David Bowie,” which helps us realize why David Bowie matters. And he does. And for me Bowie always will matter.

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Dec 19, 2020 Sarah Jackson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

"Why Bowie Matters" by Will Brooker is a fascinating and engaging read, that explores David Bowies's journey from a birth to death. The author traces his life, highlighting David Bowie's many struggles, failures and disappointments on his journey to fame. He pays particular attention to his constant need to reinvent himself and develop his art. One for the fans, but a very interesting biography none the less. Well worth a read. ...more

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Apr 17, 2020 Ian Fryer rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Fascinating and very readable analysis of the music, lyrics, stylistic changes and cultural borrowings/adaptations of one of the very few artists in popular music whose work benefits from such an approach.

The book itself is a sturdy little hardback, which is good as I'm sure I'll be returning to it. ...more

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Feb 08, 2020 Davina Gifford rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoyed reading this book. There were a few places where the academic critical theory went a bit beyond my understanding, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment.

I did really struggle with the chapter focused on Blackstar and his passing as its still a bit raw (yes even 4 years later). But I soldiered through the tears and I'm glad I did. ...more

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Feb 09, 2021 Max Cherepitsa rated it liked it

чет слишком доя радикальных фэнов от радикального фэна

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Mar 22, 2020 Alexandra rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Loved it!

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About Will Brooker

Will Brooker

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Dr. Will Brooker is a writer and academic, Professor of Film and Cultural Studies at Kingston University, England, and an author of several books of cultural studies dealing with elements of modern pop culture and fandom, specifically Batman, Star Wars and Alice in Wonderland