Who I Am: A Memoir

By Pete Townshend

Four out of Five Stars

I must first confess, as a teenager I was a Who fan; they were one of my favorite bands. At the same time, in recent years Pete Townshend, the lead guitarist and main creative force behind the rock ‘n’ roll band’s songs, has annoyed me, complaining in interviews about his life, his success, his fans, and so on. There is nothing more annoying than a successful man – a millionaire – complaining about his privileged life.

I found it annoying, and then I read his autobiography, Who I Am: A Memoir and realized that for his entire life, Pete Townshend, ‘Rock God’ to some, as been a pessimist – a glass is half empty kind of guy; he just can’t help himself.

To read Who I Am: A Memoir, a book highlighting the life of a very successful rock ‘n’ roller whose music is sure to live on for generations, is to read the tale of a man who never seemed satisfied with his lot in life. To read the book, you know he was conflicted continually about his direction as a rock ‘n’ roller, rather than staying in art school, his attachment to the band he joined, The Who, featuring their leader Roger Daltrey and members John Entwistle and Kieth Moon. We’re to understand he had a volatile marriage (well, not always, but enough) and that he wasn’t that good with the ladies, nor continually dealing with his own addictions. Where Townshend seems to allow himself some credit, is in his creativity, as a rock ‘n’ roll innovator, having basically come up with rock music’s first opera, Tommy, and other innovations in the field. He allows himself some credit here, but never in a bragging way.

While after reading Who I Am: A Memoir I can better understand Townshend’s complaining in interviews and, where it previously annoyed me, give him the benefit of the doubt; what prevented me from giving this autobiography a five star rating, despite my reluctance to hand out five stars too easily, was the fact, a lot in Who I Am: A Memoir left me wanting. Townshend almost seems to gloss quickly over the death of Keith Moon, and even the Cincinnati incident where lives were lost before a Who concert due to festival seating and a stampede for seating (the band played the concert, unaware of what had happened). When it came to the death of bassist John Entwistle, Townshend spent a little more time, giving us a sense of how tragic it was to him and that he could open up more if he wanted to.

Of course, no matter how much of a public figure he’s been during his lifetime, the truth is, he shared with us what he wanted to share and, really, owes us nothing more; his deeper thoughts on some matters are his and his alone, and I can respect that, although, sometimes in not mining them, he did leave me wondering and unsatisfied. That’s my problem.

Overall, Who I Am: A Memoir by Pete Townshend is a rock ‘n’ roll autobiography worth reading; and in the process, their music is worth discovering if you all ready haven’t.

Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel

By Kurt Vonnegut

Five out of Five Stars

The classic novel, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel by the late literary icon Kurt Vonnegut was not on my reading list, but found its way to the top of it based on recommendations from fans of the novel. While I was aware of it, and Vonnegut’s career, I had yet to read any of his works. Seeing how I had also fared well lately in recommendations in what I should read, I thought I should give it a go.

Writing a review of such an iconic and classic book is daunting. The temptation is to search the Internet for reviews and analysis of the novel and parrot that back in the review, so as to make myself look like a literary intellectual. That would also be more than a bit of a cheat. The beauty of writing, as in many other forms of art, is that it is all interpretive; there are shared experiences, but we all get something unique or different to ourselves through art – how our minds interpret what we read and what we see; so, it’s only fair that I relate to Slaughterhouse-Five, having been read by me in 2015, as I experienced it.

The book itself, told in an almost stream-of-consciousness format, by Billy Pilgrim, focuses, or I should say, is anchored by his remembrances of being a prisoner of war during WWII, and held in the German city of Dresden during its bombing by the Allies on February 13 to 15^th in 1945; while history has now determined that the bombings claimed 22,000 to 25,000 lives, for the longest time, and in 1969 when Slaughterhouse-Five was originally published, it was believed the death toll was in the 100,000 to 200,000 range.

Billy, an inept soldier at best, is obviously deeply troubled by the bombing and his survival during it, and in telling what happened, also relates other experiences in his life, doing so by explaining that after he was kidnapped by Outer Space beings known as Tralfamadorians, he was able to time travel back and forth through time, visiting different points of his life – at least when he isn’t stuck in a Tralfamoadorian zoo, where he is observed and eventually mated with a “B” movie actress who may have also dabbled in pornography.

In telling this tale, Vonnegut doesn’t structure his novel in a traditional manner, but bounces around in space and time relating Billy’s remembrances – an approach that works beautifully. In reading Slaughterhouse-Five, it dawned on me that living through a time of war must be a strange and surreal experience, as people act and behave differently – outside the norms of proper, expected society. Billy relating his wartime experiences is almost as farfetched and unbelievable as his time traveling experiences, and time with the Tralfamadorians – both might as well be the same. I was aware that Slaughterhouse-Five had been described as an “anti-war” novel, and got that, as the behavior of human beings during war, as described by Billy, is as silly and crazy as his remembrances of space creatures; both are out of place and time. Add to this, his mundane life as an optometrist, in a functional, safe marriage, and the absurdity of war is driven even further home.

I suspect Billy Pilgrim is telling this tale late in his life, and to make sense of what he went through during WWII and the bombing, he is manufacturing events he experienced into a wild and crazy tale, that in many ways, through the philosophy of the Tralfamadorians takes away the concept of free will, and as such absolves him of his participation in something as horrific and terrible as WWII. His way of coming to terms with what he experienced in Europe during that time.

Published in 1969, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel, written by Kurt Vonnegut is still a powerful read; a WWII novel unlike any other, that still has something to say, and can still prompt thought. The absurdity of war has not left us; while we no longer fight World Wars, the insanity of conflict, death and destruction still haunt us, and it’s in reading something as creative and inspired as Slaughterhouse-Five that it causes us to pause for a second and wonder just what the hell we think we’re doing, or accomplishing, in our desire as a species to embrace violence?

Thought provoking and brilliant, Slaughterhouse-Five is a classic novel worth reading.

Ready Player One

By Ernest Cline

Four out of Five Stars

Normally I wouldn’t seek out a book like Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, but then again I didn’t need to, as Ready Player One sought me out. It was probably several months back that a friend of mine recommended the novel during a phone conversation. I believe he said Whoopi Goldberg had recommended the book to Robin Williams sometime before he passed away, and that had intrigued him (I can’t confirm this). He isn’t an avid reader, so maybe I should have taken note, as he was ready to read this book. After the conversation, I quickly forgot the name of the book and the author.

Several months later, another friend, who has no association with my other friend, said he had received a copy of the book, hadn’t read it, related the idea of the book to me and asked if I wanted to read it. I said possibly and quickly forgot about it. Months passed and this friend lent the book to another, and after he had finished reading it, gave it to me to read. I was hesitant, but read the first 30 pages and was intrigued. That was when my first friend, whom I had the phone conversation with called me again (we don’t talk that much) and once again said I should read it. In all my days of reading, no book has so randomly been recommended to me. Ready Player One wanted me to read it...so I read the damned book.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is a perfect example of taking a chance on a book that I normally wouldn’t have. The book, based on the blurb on the back, is centered around video game culture, not an area of interest to me. I don’t play video games; not that I don’t like them, I just have other ways I wish to spend my time. This is probably why I would have passed on it – luckily I didn’t.

The book takes place in 2044 where the world is not in the best shape (is it ever in the future?). Wade Watts, a teenager about to graduate high school is poor and spends most of his time ignoring the real world and living in a virtual reality world known as OASIS. The game was designed by an eccentric billionaire, James Halliday, who, upon passing away, has left his multi-million dollar fortune and the virtual world of OASIS to whichever gamer can solve a game he has created that will lead to an ‘egg’. Years have passed, with professional gamers, known as ‘gunters’ and an evil corporation all looking to inherit Halliday’s fortune, and when Wade stumbles across the first ‘key’ and challenge and completes them, the game heats up.

Ready Player One is a fun read. Despite my lack of interest in video games, Cline has created a world I enjoyed exploring. Having been a teenager in the 1980’s, I was also delighted by the fact the book is full of Eighties pop culture references, seeing how Halliday was a big fan of that era and made his search centered around knowledge of it.

While Ready Player One is a fun read, it also struck me as fascinating that despite there being some danger to the players in the real world, for the most part, I’m rooting for characters in the novel who are sitting in rooms, strapped into virtual devices, playing a game within the book. In many cases the only danger they face is having their characters in OASIS killed, which means having to start over from scratch. It is a testament to Cline’s writing ability and character development, that despite this, I found myself lost in their world and reading on. The book could have used a bit more suspense – some things seemed to be overcome too easily – but for the most part that didn’t detract too much from the books enjoyment.

Ready Player One wanted to be read, and it was, and for a book that fell into my lap, I have to say, it was a great read, and a journey I’m glad I took. Based on how much I enjoyed it, I’ll definitely be seeking out Cline’s other novel, Armada and reading it as well.