Long Lost Review: "Life" by Keith Richards (2010)

Author's Note: I'm a lousy blogger. I need to become more frequent in my updates; This every two months pattern is not good for a future journalist.

Anyways, here is a review that I wrote back in July. Enjoy!

Keith Richards can be described in many ways: a music legend, one of the greatest  guitarists of all time, and also one of the poster boys for rock and roll excess. But, after reading Life, you can add the following descriptor: master storyteller. Much like the first notes of many famous Rolling Stones songs, Life grabs a hold of you and does not let go until it is finished.

The novel discusses Keith Richards’ life beginning as an only child growing up in postwar England. His passion for music is evident at an early age, as he talks about his desire to play his grandfather’s guitar and his love of the blues. After being expelled from high school, he was transferred to an art school. It was during this time that he became reacquainted with his former neighbour Mick Jagger, bonding over the blues albums that they had in their possession. This friendship led to the formation of one of the most popular and controversial bands of all time.

For readers who want to know everything about the Rolling Stones, this is the book for you. Reading Life is the closest that many of us will come to meeting Keith Richards, and being able to pick his brain about anything regarding the Rolling Stones. He describes everything, from their early days trying to be “the best blues band in England” to the recording of the classic albums Exile on Main St. and Beggar’s Banquet. Despite the presence of an additional writer, the voice in the book is definitely Richards’; nobody else could describe the situations he encounters the way it is described in the book. Credit must be given to James Fox for allowing Richards' voice to shine through.

The phrase “brutally honest” has been thrown around so often that it has become a cliché, but it is an appropriate phrase to describe this book. Richards holds nothing back throughout the book, whether talking about his various run-ins with the law or his experience with drug addiction. At times, while reading the novel, it felt like Richards was bragging about his drug consumption and how his fame prevented him from serving serious time in prison. At other times, he seems more responsible than most addicts; he knew his limits, unlike several of his contemporaries. Richards lays it all out, and allows the reader to make their own decisions regarding his actions, which allows him to come across better than some other artists (Anthony Kiedis, I'm looking in your direction).

The deterioration of his friendship with Mick Jagger, whom he calls “unbearable,” was another subject that came up late in the book, and what the media focused on after the release.  It does not come off as sour grapes or jealously. Rather it feels believable that after 40 years of close quarters, the two of them have grown apart. Despite this, Richards insists that he still loves Jagger like a brother, even if they have separate dressing rooms. Recent events, however, show that Jagger is still bitter over the comments made in the novel. I hope they patch it up and tour one more time.

Life also had a personal effect on me. About a year ago, I began to learn guitar, but had stopped playing it. After reading Life, and hearing Keith Richards discuss the guitar in terms that even a non-musician can understand, I picked up my guitar and began playing again. Now, I play almost every night. Life sets the new standard for rock and roll memoirs; other musicians are going to have trouble topping it.

The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis (2008)

Wow, it's been a long time since I've written in here.

My absence from posting in this blog is easy to explain. I've just been busy with work and preparing for the fall that writing in this blog hasn't been a priority. I don't like it, but that's life, for better or worse. I hope to get back into the groove soon.

I've been doing a lot of reading this summer. I read everyday, sometimes have two books on the go. It's a practice I've honed during my time at university. when you have a full course load, you master reading multiple books, articles, and essays. And now that I have a Kobo, I find myself reading more. So, I thought to mark my return, I'd review one of the most entertaining novels I've read this summer.

Terry Fallis took an unorthodox method to becoming a publishing success. A former Liberal Party strategist, he experienced little interest from publishers for his debut novel The Best Laid Plans. Rather than getting discouraged, he started releasing his novel a chapter at a time in podcast form, building an audience, and then self-publishing the novel. It was awarded the Stephen Leacock Medal, and then was picked up by McCelland & Stewart for wide distribution.

The novel is most likely inspired by Fallis' experience working for the Liberal party. The novel is told from the perepsective of Daniel Addison, who works for the Liberal Party as a speechwriter. He has become increasingly burned out with politics, his idealism being stripped away after years of working in Parliament. However, after he hands in his resignation to the party leader, he is given one last task before he is allowed to leave. He must find a candidate to run under the Liberal banner in Cumberland-Prescott, one of the safest Tory ridings in Ontario.

Addison has just moved there, and tries to get Muriel Parkinson, an elderly woman who ran in five previous elections to be his nominee. She refuses due to her age and the disease she shares a name with. Finally, Daniel finds a person to represent the party in his landlord, Angus McClintock. Angus agrees to do it, so long as he doesn't have to do anything at all relating to the campaign, and also because it gets him out of teaching first year English for Engineers for the term, a job Daniel takes over in his place.

Much of the humour is derived from Daniel having to run a phantom campaign. He enlists two young punks, both named Pete, to canvass for him, while Angus is more content to play chess, work on his hovercraft, and write in his journal. In the last few days of the campaign, however, the Tory candidate's chances are decimated because of a sex scandal. Suddenly, Angus, who wanted nothing to do with the campaign, has been declared the winner by a slim margin.

Reading this novel, even though it was published in 2008, one can't help but notice parallels between the story and Ruth-Ellen Brosseau. Brosseau, for those who don't recall, won a seat as an MP for the NDP, despite not speaking French, not visiting the riding, and being on vacation in Las Vegas on Election night. It actually makes the satire funnier, as we have basis for this happening in real life. And many areas of politics are satirized, including voter apathy (people in Cumberland-Prescott would rather spoil their ballot than vote Liberal), scandals among the electorate, and Question Period

Throughout the novel, the reader is given excerpts from Angus' journals, in which he writes to his recently deceased wife Marin. These excerpts ground the novel, giving it a sense of poignancy, despite the humor that precedes these entries.

Fallis published a sequel in 2011 titled "The High Road." I would recommend both of his novels not only to anyone who has even the slightest interest in politics, because the humor will ring true to them, but  also to those who don't care for politics, because their opinion on the entire process will be proven right.