Off The Tracks

Off The Tracks
  • Blog
    • Interviews
    • Miscellany
    • Special Guests
    • Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • The Vinyl Countdown
  • Back Catalogue
  • About
    • About
    • About the banner image
    • On Song
April 30, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

Sandrine Revel: Glenn Gould – A Life Off Tempo

GouldGlenn Gould: A Life Off Tempo

Sandrine Revel

NBM Publishing

Glenn Gould was a fascinating man – a genius, troubled, difficult. And with her graphic memoir Sandrine Revel gives us an impressionistic take on Gould; it’s a rather brilliant book if you know anything about the man and/or his music. But it could be a head-scratcher for graphic-novel enthusiasts walking in unknown. There are whole pages of wordless panels that delve brilliantly into Gould’s psyche and assess his mental state. This could all seem like some weird mystery though. Gould

The artwork is wonderful. The writing is spot on – taut, occasionally dreamy.

As a book, a story and artwork, it takes you there. As close as is likely possible to the internal dilemmas of the hypochondriac/obsessive-compulsive traits and the seemingly god-given talent.

The details are all there, in Gould hunched over the kids sitting low on a cut-down chair; never perfectly poised at a purpose-built piano stool.

It’s a shame the book doesn’t come with a soundtrack – though I guess his music is easy enough to come by.5991f0670bfc13c4a2033299158bc1c8._SX1280_QL80_TTD_

Check out one (or both) of the playlists included here to get you started. Or to jog your memory as you read this book.

I love the graphic memoir as a form – and with someone like Gould I feel this works as well, if not better, than the bog-standard bio. There is of course a great documentary you might search for after this and YouTube footage and such.

It’s a fascinating world, one of the towering talents of classical piano – and with a head full of bees all of the while.

Revel is a dab hand here, she gets Glenn Gould, gets to the heart and mind and soul of the man. And his music. And the way the music was made. And most importantly the troubles in his life that fed into that music-creation and that filtered back out as a result.
650x650_77b931de9f82740faa96bb1b0fcccb62a531adf9de7fc7daf6a36806

Posted in Blog, Reviews and tagged with A Life Off Tempo, Book, Book Review, Classical, Comic, Concert Pianist, Glenn Gould, Glenn Gould: A Life Off Tempo, Goldberg Variations, Graphic Memoir, Graphic Novel, Piano, Sandrine Revel: Glenn Gould - A Life Off Tempo. RSS 2.0 feed.
« The Vinyl Countdown # 559
The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 160 The Rodent Guys »

Popular

  • The Sad Story of Bob Welch: Fleetwood Mac’s Most Undervalued Member
  • The Best Guitarist in The World: # 8 – Mark Knopfler
  • Janna Lapidus Leblanc: Four Years In Pictures
  • The Best Guitarist in The World: # 11 – Lindsey Buckingham
  • Time Casts Its Spell: When Silver Springs Became The Secret Weapon It Had Always Threatened To Be
  • Prince: Tokyo Dome 1990
  • Everything Must Go: My Last Time At The Record Fair
  • Where Have All The Kiwi Soundtracks Gone?
  • The Way It Is With Prince
  • Watching Music

Archives

Tags

Album Review Auckland Blog Book Book Review Chat Compilation DJ DVD DVD Review EP Film Film Review Gig Gig Review Guest Blog Guitar Interview Jazz Live Live Gig LP Movie Music NZ Podcast Poem Poetry Record Records Simon Sweetman Soundtrack Spines Spotify Stub Stubs Sweetman Podcast The Vinyl Countdown Vinyl Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron Wellington Wgtn Writing You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron [OST]

Categories

  • Back Catalogue
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • Miscellany
  • Mixtapes
  • Playlists
  • Podcasts
  • Reviews
  • Scene Of The Day
  • Special Guests
  • The Vinyl Countdown

Off The Tracks is the home of Sweetman Podcast, a weekly interview/chat-based pod. It's also home to my reviews across film, TV, music and books and some creative writing as well.

Off The Tracks aims to provide quality reviews and essays, regular blog updates about the shows, albums, books and movies you should be experiencing.

It's a passion project. Your support will help to keep Off The Tracks online.

All content © 2022 by Off The Tracks. WordPress Themes by Graph Paper Press