William Blake and the Sea Monsters of Love: Art, Poetry, and the Imagining of a New World

William Blake and the Sea Monsters of Love: Art, Poetry, and the Imagining of a New World by Philip Hoare

What would happen if you tripped out and started relating William Blake to every artist that interests you? You would end up with this book. It is a not very coherent exploration of various artists, with a focus on the early 20th century. They relate to Blake with some direct and indirect experience. The book rambles on for much too long without saying very much.

Parade: A Novel

Parade: A Novel by Rachel Cusk

There are artists. Female artists can be conflicted in their artistic and family responsibilities. Somebody committed suicide in an art gallery. Some parade was going on. There is not much to recommend in this book.

My Friends: A Novel

My Friends: A Novel by Fredrik Backman

A homeless girl breaks into an art auction to go spread some graffiti and admire a painting she loves in person. She runs away from guards and ends up crashing into homeless guy. The homeless guy befriends her and helps her escape. She later learns that this was not a homeless man, but in fact the famous painter of the painting she admired. They have mutual admiration and then part ways. That night, the artist dies. Before dying, the artist said he wanted his famous painting to go to the girl. (He and his friend had purchased it back at the auction, after selling everything the artist had.) The girl has trouble grasping this. She ended up chasing after the friend and ended up on the train with him. On the train ride, they share each other's history. She learns the history of the painting and the friends involved. They came from a rough, working-class town. They had various struggles and experiences as they grew up. The "bully" ended up pushing the artist to do his work. The "teacher" was the one that supported the artist at the end of his life. There was violence, death and other issues. Eventually the artist was able to paint his works and escape the town.

They have some adventures on the train. They try to separate, get in fights with others and think they lost the painting and the ashes. They eventually get them back. They struggle with what to do with it. They hook up with some people remaining in the hometown and finally decide to execute a "reverse heist" and sneak into a hometown museum to hang the painting there for all to see.

The book slowly develops the characters through the history and flashbacks. It is easy to relate to the lives of the characters, even if their experiences feel very different.

Daily Rituals: How Artists Work

Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey

Each artists works in his (as there are only a small few women in this book). Many of the "rituals" are downright weird. Some of these men had spouses that helped an supported them despite fairly controlling or objectionable behavior. There did not seem to be much to get out of this book. It feels more like you are being a Peeping Tom than gaining actionable insight.

Culture in Nazi Germany

Culture in Nazi Germany by Michael H. Kater

Germany had been near the forefront of arts and cultures. Then the Nazis took over. They had chased away artists that were less desirable (such as Jews or sexual deviants.) They also encouraged art to adhere to traditions and to support Nazi ideology. The regime initially supported jazz, but then banned it due to what it stood for. Carmina Burana by Orff is one of the few musical works of significance composed during the era. Much art continued to be created, but has been judged as inferior today. Many of the elite artists were gone and those that remained were lacking in quality. (And in retrospective analysis have a high bar to clear due to the negative position of Nazis.)

Artists are stuck no matter what their position. Many left Germany due to being out of favor with the regime. They had trouble getting work in their new country. (Thomas Mann was a rare exception.) In the US they were treated as enemies until they had citizenship. After the war, many of those that had spent the war in Germany were often blacklisted. For actors, this could be seemingly arbitrary. Artists would try to declare their rejection of Nazism to gain work in the post war period. Some managed to thread the needle and work during and after the Nazi era, those these were rare. Totalitarianism and art do not go together well.

The Baby on the Fire Escape: Creativity, Motherhood, and the Mind-Baby Problem

How do women manage creativity and motherhood? The takeaway from this book is that they don't. The women covered seem more likely to get an abortion or enter enter into lesbian relationships than to take on motherhood. The focus is very narrowly on women that had lived through the late 20th feminist movement. It would be interesting to see women that have a greater diversity. Are there more cases where women have both willingly raised a family and been creative? Has it become easier or harder today?

Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling

The title accurately describes the centerpiece of this history. It makes diversions into the papal politics of the day and his "rivalry" with Raphael. Michelangelo was originally working on a tomb for the pope. However, the Sistine chapel ended up coming out to take priority. The pope was a strong figure who always seemed to get his way. Michelangelo, however, was portrayed as also being strongly opinionated, and unwilling to compromise.

A little is given on Michelangelo's family and personal life. He was shown to have some trouble at home. However, nothing was extreme. As for personal life, he is seen as being fairly conservative religiously, and somewhat aloof from personal relationships. (This is in contrast to Raphael who is shown as a socialite with many amorous relationships.)

The pope Julius that he worked under was shown as a megalomaniac, who saw biblical prophecies dedicated to him. He felt dedicated to reclaim papal lands. He did not create many friends.

Michelangelo had some artistic friends and trainers. However, he tended to be more of an introvert.

The painting of the chapel was hard work, but done with many assistants. Michelangelo's commission to do it was ironically initially given as an action to make him fail. However, Michelangelo succeeded greatly on the fresco. Other artists (including Raphael) have later adapted many of the styles shown in the Michelangelo's work.

The work is a fairly dispassionate story of Michelangelo's work, bringing out the political and artistic context in which he was working.

How Music Works

David Byrne rides his bike around Manhattan and plays guitar and sings in a rock band. What a life, eh?

This book contains a few different sections exploring "how music works". Part of it explores the origins of music and the impact on society and individuals. Even though music is different in various societies, it frequently plays a major role. While it once required a very individual experience, through recording and amplification it can now be mass-produced. Societies all seem to have their "popular music".

Another section provides a biography of the author's experience in music. He describes how he started playing instruments, how he formed a band, and how the creation process worked. He later spends some time describing the economics of the music industry itself. Detailed examples are given of how band can help their music to get out there. Now the barriers to entry are supposedly much lower. However, getting people to find music remains a difficult task.

The final section deals with music's role in modern culture and the place of music in education. Music is deemed to be important due to its creative impact. Byrne criticises focus on certain types of "received" music. Instead, people should be encouraged to make music themselves. Playing an instrument is more useful than "appreciating" a type of music that you don't care for. You may eventually decide to explore Beethoven or African drum music. The music that impacts and individual person will be different. Even classical music was closely tied to its place, with the music evolving to fit its appropriate venues. Even commercial pop can have its place.

Recording and electronics have changed how people can play or listen to music. (Vibrato on string instruments was mentioned as a response to music recording.) Things are still evolving. The personal way in which you experience music can be just as important as the music itself.

The book is more a series of independent long essays than a unified work. The last essay on arts education and society was a little dry, but all the others were well written. After reading, I googled my old high school band director. I found that he was promoted to "fine arts director" at the high school, only to have the position eliminated 2 years later. (The positions seems to have been created a few decades earlier for another retiring band director. And it was filled by his replacement afterwards. Poor timing with the whole no-child left behind thing.)

Cat's Eye

This tedious book dealt with the childhood reminiscences of Elaine, a popular, controversial Canadian artist. She traces back her experiences growing during World War II and going to school in Toronto. Her big concern seemed to be the relationship with Cordelia, a friend who used to tease the narrator, but later had struggles of her own.

The novel occasionally bounces from the past to present, but seems to have an odd "remembering" structure. The earlier parts of life seem to be in much greater detail, while the later parts of life whiz by quickly. The narration is fairly easy to follow, and has fairly vivid pictures of post-war Toronto. Cordelia plays the role of Citizen Kane's "rosebud", representing the lost youth that is difficult to reclaim.

Elaine has had challenges in her life, never quite fitting in with groups, yet not forcing herself to be a victim, or altering her beliefs to conform to groups at any end of the spectrum. Alas, the book is slow moving, and not very engaging. The characters change, but don't seem to grow. This is not a book I would recommend.