Heavier Than Heaven: The Biography of Kurt Cobain

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Charles R. Cross heeft zich voor zijn boek gebaseerd op meer dan 400 interviews en had inzage in massa's authentieke documenten, waaronder correspondentie en dagboeken van de zanger. Hoe hij uit die verscheidenheid aan bronnen zo'n consistent en uitgebalanceerd verhaal kon puren, is mij een raadsel. En hij doet dat zonder enig waardeoordeel, maar eerder als een bevoorrechte getuige, een versl Cobain's dark side also came to light, as he was able to calmly talk to friends about murder, rape, and suicide. At 14 years old, he told a friend, “I’m going to be a superstar musician, kill myself and go out in a flame of glory.” At the same time, he began smoking marijuana to escape his real life. Fans of Cobain are faced with a similar conundrum. It was this delicate balance between the two worlds that made the music great; music with an edge and a palatable emotional intensity that was at the same time accessable and catchy. It perfectly straddled the line between ugly and beautiful, melodious and dischordant, gentle and rough.

Bytheway. Buku ini cukup rinci nyeritain kisah hidup Kurt Cobain. Tentu beserta Nirvana n keluarganya. Pokoknya semua yang dirasa pernah ada hubungan dengan Kurt, dituangkan secara kronologis di buku ini. Si penulisnya melakukan 400 wawancara selama empat taun dengan orang-orang yang pernah bersinggungan jalan dengan jalan hidup Kurt, sebelum buku ini akhirnya jadi. Jadi ya setidaknya buku ini bisa lah dijadiin gambaran awal mengenai kisah kehidupan Kurt. It starts out as any typical biography, detailing his birth, family life, and early childhood in a very efficient yet story-like way; a phrase that can be used to describe how this entire book is executed. A nice touch that I really love is that every chapter is named after a quote from Kurt or someone close to him which seemed to, at least in my case, reel in the reader and connect them straight to Kurt. The burden of his family's history would turn Cobain from a seemingly popular high-school student into a fully fledged drug addict and drop-out, with a petulance and anger that would increasingly surface only in his music and drawings. But what petulance and what anger. urn:lcp:heavierthanheave0000cros_m3u0:epub:eaf8a05b-db44-453b-a8e9-62b1810f9f69 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier heavierthanheave0000cros_m3u0 Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t57f29w6v Invoice 1652 Isbn 0786865059

This book was very well put together. So many biographies can feel as if the writer is taking liberties or injecting their own personal views on the subject into the text, but this didn’t feel that way for most of this book. The very notable exception to this being that the author presumed to know details of the final minutes of Cobain’s life; something no one but Cobain could possibly know. Other than that, this book was very well researched! The book is a very detailed biography which is based on profound research. However, Cross’ writing style is what makes his biography that complete and special. He is telling a story in a very comprehensible way. He does not simply provide a set of fact. Cross provides the entire picture. In fact, the reader can literally ‘see’ the story of Cobain’s life. Therefore, it is possible to state that Cross’ book Heavier Than Heaven is the best Cobain’s biography which is appreciated by many people due to its thoroughness and comprehensiveness.

Cobain's depressive tendencies and withdrawal symptoms even affected the band's performance. Once, before performing in front of 110,000 people, Cobain mixed pills and alcohol, making it difficult for him to play chords. The whole show was a mess. A Brazilian magazine had harsh comments about the show, saying, “They were not the real Nirvana at all; instead it was only a depressing Cobain making noise with his guitar.” While arguably the most complete Cobain biography, Cross opted to include his own impression of what Cobain's final days were like. Several people questioned the inclusion of fiction in what was claimed to be a non-fiction book. [3] At the same time, Cross' desire for the book to be as complete as possible meant that he occasionally accepted secondhand (and incorrect) information as fact. [4] The book was criticized as being a collaboration between Love and Cross by friends. Cross also did not interview Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. However, beyond the criticism, the book contained many details about Cobain and Nirvana's career that had otherwise gone unnoted. When he was seven, Cobain was briefly diagnosed as hyperactive; the singer later claimed that the subsequent three-month Ritalin course prescribed by a local doctor inaugurated his later drug abuse. Cross's portrayal of a shy but prodigiously gifted child, in artistic as well as musical terms, is a joy to read. Baru selesai baca kemarin malam. Akhirnya selesai juga baca kisah si motornya Nirvana ini :D. Meski yang gua baca itu versi terjemahan bahasa Indonesianya, kayaknya gua pengen beli juga yang versi aslinya.I finally got to visit Seattle in the summer of 2007. I was visiting my college friends in Vancouver and we planned a weekend roadtrip to take in “Rain City”. One of our first stops when we arrived was the Experience Music Project (EMP), a museum in Seattle dedicated to the history and exploration of popular music. EMP is especially famous for its permanent exhibition, the Northwest Passage, which is dedicated to the history of music in the Pacific Northwest, including bands from the grunge music genre, and the life and work of Jimi Hendrix. EMP has also held various exhibitions on other popular music acts, including Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, The Beatles and Kurt Cobain. The museum is also famous for its Guitar Gallery, dedicated to the history of the guitar, and its massive sculpture entitled Roots and Branches, made largely out of musical instruments, especially guitars. It was such a great experience to get to see EMP and learn all about the history of Seattle music. The part of me and my friends’ trip that excited me the most, however, was getting to see the house that stands at 171 Lake Washington Boulevard E., the house where, on 5th April 1994, Kurt Cobain would take his own life. Interesting fact No. 1: KC's first concert was not the Melvins or some such punk band, but Sammy Hagar, who has shown surprisingly restraint in not naming a brand of tequila after the now-Converse branded icon. For starters, it really is too detailed. It's hard to get through because the text is really dense and it reads like a super long Wikipedia article. Some parts were overdone and unnecessary, and I had to take one star off. But, that being said, I liked how objective it felt, without trying to sugar coat anything. Cross portrayed Kurt as a moody, disturbed and depressed person who had a serious addiction problem, which is more or less who Kurt was. David Benioff was hired by Universal Pictures in October 2007 to write a screenplay based on the Charles R. Cross biography. [5] Courtney Love was to serve as executive producer with Marc Forster showing interest in directing. [6] However, in March 2009, Forster said that he was not going to direct the film but expressed hopes that it would be done well. [7] In 2014, it was reported that the film was still going ahead. [8] [9] However, as of 2023 there is no news on whether or not the movie will be released.

I question some parts about Courtney Love. The author made her seem like the more stable of the two. Which seeing what a mess she has been in recent years, I just question the way the author portrayed her in the book. His teenage friends - you know, people who actually knew him as opposed to those who felt a 'connection' to him through his music - described him as 'the shape of suicide'; the journals he kept diligently from childhood right up to his death are filled with constant thoughts of suicide; his song lyrics are often frequent paeans to feelings of despair and alienation; he wrote (you may spot a bit of a theme here) several suicide notes during the final months of his life. He bought a gun days before his death. The writer provides certain facts in a mix with perfectly cut descriptions. These descriptions make it possible to recreate the complete picture of Cobain’s life. Finally, it is also important to state that due to Cross’ special style the book is easy to read and comprehend. He tells his story in a very natural way. Cross took the name "Heavier Than Heaven" from a tour Nirvana did with the band Tad in the United Kingdom. The lead singer, Tad Doyle, was very obese; the name which was thought up by the tour promoters, was meant in part to poke fun at the inaccurate idea that Tad alone weighed more than all of the members of Nirvana put together. Even his marriage with Courtney Love and the birth of their daughter Frances could not save the great lonelier from his depression. He had several overdoses within a few years. He had to postpone concerts as he was not able to perform due to his health problems. This frustration led to two albums Incesticide (1992) and In Utero (1993). The albums were financially successful projects, but many people considered them to be quite failing.

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I don't understand what could have possessed Charles R. Cross and his editors to include at least two scenes that take place entirely in Cobain's head; the man wasn't around to describe them. The first one follows Cobain after he loses his virginity, walking in a field and sniffing himself, his every intimate gesture and feeling described. That's questionable in and of itself, but we could give Cross the benefit of the doubt; it's unlikely, but maybe there's a quote or diary entry somewhere. Warmoth, Brian (March 27, 2009). "Exclusive: Marc Forster Shoots Down Kurt Cobain Biopic Rumours". MTV.com . Retrieved September 19, 2023. I can't avoid feeling sad reading this tragic tale, but sometimes we have to stand face to face with others' struggles so we can learn to put things in perspective and learn. Here's what I learned: life is our most valuable gift.