Book Reviews 2
The Beatles: In Their Own Words
Miles, 1978
Rating:
****
LIKES: This book, unlike the others I have of interviews, is interviews by the Beatles. It is more thorough and divides the interviews into controversial topic areas, like drugs and religion for example. This book is also full of pictures, although they are all black and white. Many of these are pictures I never saw before. It is also organized well, to keep the readers mind for jumping all over the place by staying on one subject matter.
DISLIKES: There really aren't many dislikes of this book. It could be more thorough, and have more information in it, but it was written in 1978. I wish many of the pictures were in color as well.
OVERALL: This book is ok. Like all interview books, you should have a base knowledge of the Beatles so you can fully understand what they are talking about. It is a lite book, worthy of reading.
The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia
Bill Harry, 1992
Rating:
*****
LIKES: There are many, many things I like about this book. First off all, nearly everything you want to know about the Beatles is in here, and easily accessible since it is alphabetized. This book has EVERYTHING. It is great for trivia cheating (ha!), as well as information regarding anything that has to do with the Beatles. I also like the fact that Bill Harry was a childhood friend of John, and it is good to see many of the right things being put it, many may have heard of him concerning the Mersey Beat newspaper. I also like the HUGE amount of pictures in this book. Black and white again, but many of them, and many never before seen.
DISLIKES: There are not many dislikes. Only that there is no great amount of thoroughness to the book, and that was not the objective of it. The biographies of each Beatle are lacking as is those of their family members. As with everything there is somethings that are left out that I personnaly would have put in, but no major faults in the book.
OVERALL: If you are fanatic about the Beatles and don't have this book, get it. You'll love it. Those that are not so crazy about them, might better pick up a book that tells more about what happened to the Beatles, and not have a book that tells of the minutes details concering the Beatles. However, I recommend this book to anyone.
The Beatles: An Illustrated History
H.V. Fulpen, 1982
***
Rating:
LIKES: I like how this book gives an indication as to how busy the Beatles were in the early days. It is amazing how few days they had off. I also enjoy the small pictures on the side. It is accessible, and it also has entries for any small thing. I like some of the articles in the book too. Many of the things forgotten about the Beatles are mentioned along with pictures never seen before.
DISLIKES: I don't like one section of the book in particular where the author states who wrote what song between John and Paul. Much of the information is wrong, and it creates an attitude of competitiveness within the Beatles, instead of the cohesiveness. The information can be trite sometimes too, and the pictures get to be too small.
OVERALL: If you are curious about the Beatles schedule, then this a good book. I liked it overall, but it was not anything you could really sit down and read.
A Hard Day's Write
Steve Turner, 1994
Rating:
*****
LIKES: This would have to be one of my favorite books. The author does not tell you what is good or bad about a song, or what it means, but rather where it possibly came from. Some of the analysis is not of the song, but the writer, and it is quite good. The stories behind each song are explained well, and he provides updates to stories we only knew bits of. He also includes many color pictures through out the text, many I have never seen.
DISLIKES: I don't have dislikes of this book really. Some of the early stuff could be explained better, but there is much more explaining in the late Beatles years. Many of the songs have an uncertain inspiration so it makes some of what the author says not that acceptable.
OVERALL: A great Beatles book. It is short and to the point, and is intersting. It is not so choppy, and the pictures make this book a good buy.