Una vita che si racconta a ritmo veloce; come quel treno su cui viaggia Clara; principale figura femminile; treno che la riporta ad atmosfere lontane; non ancora sbiadite anzi logoranti nei momenti di tormento e solitudine; dove non si puograve; barare con la dimenticanza; ma solo resistere per non essere distrutta. Una vita che quasi vuole a tratti ingoiare se stessa; come le gallerie buie che si chiudono sul convoglio; ma poi lo ridonano alla luce. Clara corre anche lei verso ricordi che non sono pietrificati; ma che riprendono spessore e la spingono ad aprire la porta dei suoi giorni di esistenza per raccontare e raccontarsi ai "lettori". Un continuo sfogliare in questo presente le pagine della "memoria" con episodi che si inseriscono gli uni negli altri; senza sosta. Una fiumana di situazioni e di imprevisti preparati dal destino per lei sin dai primi passi della sua infanzia dove compare e la ghermisce una solitudine dolorosa che; nello stesso tempo; la conduce verso unautonomia incredibile ed imprevista per la sua giovane etagrave;; ma necessaria per continuare a vivere.
#2587233 in eBooks 2013-07-27 2013-07-27File Name: B00E6SAP2K
Review
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful. A deeply insightful; wildly entertaining eye-openerBy Lee GThis is not the first biography of Bob Dylan but it is quite likely to be the last. Surely well see more works focusing narrowly on specific facets of the superstars life; or; in the grand but dubious tradition of Dylanology; parsing to death his endlessly confounding (and sometimes utterly nonsensical lyrics); but its hard to imagine any further need to examine the totality of the mans life now that Dennis McDougals Dylan has entered the canon. Exhaustively researched; much of it from primary sources; Dylan is not a rehash of prior works but a freshly considered; de novo examination of one of the towering figures of American musical culture. And while McDougal certainly adopts a point of view; he clearly is not pushing an agenda for which he cherry-picked evidence but appears to have developed his understandings as he processed the information he unearthed. This "telling it like it is" feel permeates the book and leaves us feeling that McDougals work is destined to be canonical.But let me not give the impression that Dylan is a scholarly tome to be slogged through. To the contrary; the book is a fast-paced; ever-fascinating roller-coaster romp not just through a life but through an era. Dylans musical evolution sometimes reflects; sometime refracts and often leads the evolution of music over the last half century. Iconic figures we grew up with wafted in and out of his life; "out" being especially relevant since he left a horde of discarded friends and acquaintances in the dust of his towering and unapologetic; even gleeful; contempt. That Dylan made full use of celebrity license to be a nasty sonofabitch is only one of the inescapable conclusions to be drawn from this book.Part of the authors brilliance is in being able to effortless juggle seemingly contradictory ideas; in much the same way that he describes Dylan as doing. McDougal is transparently admiring of Dylans musical genius even as he demonstrates that some portion of the work derives directly from that of others. (Not outright plagiarism; necessarily; but more towards what Shakespeare meant when he called himself "a borrower of the trifles of others.") Dylan sees no troubling contradiction in sneering at commercial striving while he himself aggressively pursues the accumulation of wealth; with the rationalization that its okay for a singer-songwriter to sell records; but not Coca-Cola. Theres also no reticence about pointing out that; like many geniuses in a variety of fields of human endeavor; Dylan put out a lot of junk along with the gems.For anyone who might be thinking that you need to be a Dylan fan to enjoy this book; let me tell you; you dont. And if; like I; youve always enjoyed the mans music but couldnt have cared less about his life; this book will change your mind. I cant remember ever using "biography" and "page-turner" in the same sentence but Dylan had me riveted from the first chapter. The only times I paused were when I reached for the headset to re-hear his vintage songs; this time knowing the context in which they were written and recorded. What a revelation.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Probably as good as it gets for a Dylan bioBy CustomerIt seems like Dylan bios are something of a cottage industry. However; the subjects notorious reticence and tendency to obfuscation make any bios claim to accuracy questionable. Given this; McDougals bio seems a good effort. It makes a lot of reference to previous bios; which at first was a bit disappointing until I realized careful filtering of material uncovered by previous authors is a good approach to Dylan. The author doesnt seem particularly enamored of or have an ax to grind with his subject (something to which Dylan bios are especially prone). Dylan: The Biography gives you as good a sense of the man as there is to have. If you like Dylan; grew up with him; own a few of the records; seen a concert or two; and want to have some of the dots connected on who he is; this is the book for you. (On the other hand; if youve read everything out there; own everything Dylans ever released AND the bootlegs; and have followed him from venue to venue; this book will be redundant.)My major gripe is that the book dwells on the second half of Dylans career but seems to leap through the early years a bit quickly. Im still a little vague on how Dylan came out of Minnesota; hit the Village and boom is a force in the folk music scene. Maybe theres just not much to say in that regard -- or much available; at any rate -- but it still left me wondering what Id missed.Otherwise; a good effort and worth your time if you want to get a sense of who this Bob Dylan guy is.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Amazing man..By nancy delliberVery well written; its nice to see ones idol does have Fleet of Clay. How he could have so many ongoing love affairs and tour the world is a mystery to me..Dylan must be a sort of Superman. One thing I question; a photo suposedly his first girlfriend in Minnesota. That looks to me like a photo of Jean Harlow who died long before Dylan was born. I have seen photos of his first girlfriend and she looked nothing like that photo. Perhaps some disclaimer should be added to avoid possible litigation. If the photo was posted as a prank; then so beit...