Customer Reviews

Broken Music

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was a rabid Police fan starting back in 1980 and have admired Sting ever since. I knew when I bought this book that it would discuss his life before the Police, and that was fine. I was interested to learn more about Last Exit and Frances and his childhood, so I have no complaints with the content.

But his writing style stands in the way of the story. It is pompous and egotistical with pretentious metaphors and a really annoying habit of switching between past and present tense. I could just picture him sitting there with a thesaurus trying to find the most intellectual-sounding way to say each thing he wanted to say.

The foreshadowing "teasers" started getting to me, too: "Little did I know then that this person [or moment or event] would change my life forever." Over and over and over. Ugh.

He really needed somebody to reign him in on this one.

I do realize that this book is a memoir, and not a blow-by-blow autobiography, but still, it was a disappointment that he focused so little on his time with Stewart and Andy and none at all on the break-up of the band and his solo career. He completely glosses over that with an "I knew all along that I had bigger fish to fry" attitude, which isn't quite what most fans are looking for. Also, after his appearance on Oprah with Trudie, I had the impression that he was going to tell more about the onset of that relationship, but that didn't happen either--basically you're left with the impression that he dumped Frances somewhere along the way (why?) and ended up with Trudie. No doubt he left out the details of that out of respect for his former wife, but the fact that he leaves the woman who was with him when they were practically starving, supporting his career and encouraging his dreams, doesn't leave a person with the most favorable opinion of him as a man. And I was less than impressed with the opening chapter, in which a hallucinogenic drug helped him to flash back to his childhood. A needless contrivance, in my opinion.
All in all, though, the writing was very good, which was a pleasant surprise. I found particularly poignant his insight into his parents' relationship, which was gained from wisdom that came through his own adult experiences and relationships.

I do not follow Sting's career as a fan although I think he is a fascinating person. His ideas on love and romance are admirable. I read this book purely out of curiosity. I saw it mentioned on a television show. Let me start by saying that Sting can actually write. This is not a mindless book of senseless drivel. This is not a typical autobiography. Sting has quite a memory. I can barely remember what happened yesterday. He incorporates in great detail the many specific good and bad adventures of his childhood and young adulthood, the numerous people, relationships and emotions that formed his outlook on life and the musical influences that make him what you hear today. "Broken Music" comes from a term used by his grandmother to describe the horrific sounds he made on her piano. Do not look to read about all of Sting's known successes. He focuses on the days before stardom hit. Sting is an intelligent soulful man regardless of fame. If you are one of his many fans, I would highly recommend "Broken Music".

"My live seems plaited by many ropes, like a musical improvisation, composed with the different voices of a J.S. Bach fugue. The "Basso Continuo" is my development as musician, the melody lines flying high above are my human relationships ... " Sting writes in the middle of his thick, idyllic autobiography. The development of his music levels: As a little child he sat under the piano of his mother. She introduced into the horizon of the British family Little Richard (Tutti Frutti) and Jerry Lee Lewis's with his "Great ball of fire". To identify the bass-lines, he slowed down the speeds of his Venyl-records. He lovingly describes the atmosphere in his hometown small music shop: "as Aladdin's magic cave". His first concert-impressions (Beatles, Jimi Hendrix etc.), his gigs in jazz and pop are mentioned and his work as a bass player in an orchestra-sink at Christmas musical performances. His relationships: At first we find the well comprehensible experiences in the dancing halls of the 60s (written with humour), then the adventures while seeking a woman for the whole life (written with blood), then we find the pondering over the complicated relation to his (divorced) parents (written with tears), but especially interesting for me, written with cynicism: the precision with which he represents the details of the subtle hostilities in that school staff, he was forced to work with as a young teacher, before he ventured the great jump in a pure musician career: "I felt like a fish in the aquarium, but one in the false cymbal. There is a intricately maintained truce, a hostility, only badly hidden by a false, polite tone. Did the headmistress smuggled me into the staff as a collaborator? I remained in guard, but one day the swindle would be exposed ... " These lines may serve as a piece of evidence for my classifying, that Sting has literary qualities, coming up to the talent of novelists like John Updike for example ... A book, creating a pleasant emotional effect in every reader with his altogether peaceful, here and there viciously detailed, but mostly positive atmosphere: highly recommendable!

I have to say that "BROKEN MUSIC" is the best music biography I have personally read in years purely because it doesn't follow the paint by numbers philosophy of "how I became a star and why you should love me" writing that many biographies take. Sting has crafted an actual entertaining book that could be about anyone's life, it just happens to be his. It takes the luster off his stardom and ironically propels him further onto a pedestal in my eyes as a result.

Sting is a very gifted song writer and author. The book is grounded in real life, with dysfunctional family circumstances and problems that everyone can relate to. He succesfully translates his memories of a young child into a fascinating tale of a person who is always reinventing himself and writing songs that asks difficult questions that provide the listner with insight and fresh perspectives.

I have to admit it-I wasn't sure that I'd enjoy reading a memoir by an international music idol, and I certainly wasn't expecting much out of Sting in creating this work. His diction is very particular and precise. I used this book as my before bedtime wind-down, but found myself struggling to keep into it, as the language and general approach was extremely dry. I could only read a few sections of each chapter/unit and then had to put it down.

Not terribly exciting, but it held my interest because I'm such a fan of Sting's music.

I love the music of Sting and was looking forward to hearing about the man who created it and how the music was created. Unfortunately, the readers get some interesting information, but they do not get the whole story.

The book begins with Sting and his wife, Trudie, in Brazil taking part of a religious ceremony where some kind of psychedelic plant has been taken. In taking this plant, Sting is taking back into his memories, which leads the reader into Sting's past. As a literary tool, this is interesting.

We learn about Sting's troubled childhood as well as his journeyman years as a musician. This was very enlightening and really gave me an idea of who the musician is. However, as a fan since the 80s, I would like to have read more about his time with The Police. This part doesn't come until the last pages of the book and is not particularly enlightening. This part reads as the climax of his career, although I know his career doesn't end there.

Although the book talks of Sting's first marriage and the first meeting with Trudie, the book does not go into the end of the first or the beginning of the second. As this fits with the time of The Police, maybe we will get this in another book down the line.

Still, I would recommend this book for people who want to understand the man behind the musician and the musician behind the man.

Very disappointed in Sting's recent CD, "Sacred Love," I expected this book to be more of the same- shallow, self-promoting and full of glittering generalities. For some reason, I purchased it anyway. To my pleasant surprise, Gordon Sumner has produced an interesting and sincere memoir, fairly well-written and revealing throughout. As opposed to projecting a slick image of a self-satisfied superstar, Sting humbly lays himself bare, emphasizing the period prior to his becoming successful with the Police. Perhaps the most intriguing portions are those concerning his childhood in which he provides intimate glimpses of his home life, including a tender portrayl of his mother and father's doomed marriage. He describes how, within this context, he nonetheless becomes growingly aware of one thing in particular: he wants to play music. After some false career starts and gigs with several local jazz rock bands around Newcastle, he ultimately heads for London where, with only his hopes and an encouraging wife, he works to make it big. Colorful tales enrich the story while he also acknowledges several helpful comrades along the way. It is a pity that Sting forgot to incorporate the same original spirit in his most recent musical compositions, but that is another discussion. For the moment, this is a good read. The doubters should know that this guy can indeed write prose (as well as those lyrics for tunes), and I would recommend the book both to fans and non-fans alike.

After being a lifelong Sting & Police fan I decided, with reservation, to plunk down the bucks & entertain this effort....

it was the least I could do...after all, i've been jumping for years now to all those great tunes this song-writing genius has lent his most adoring fans (like me).

However, after reading the 1st paragraph i wanted to croak. the language was bogus, so fruity, well the impluse to abort this nonsense grew into an indomitable force... but your loyal reviewer trudged on...

Here's the central problem, the book is filled with EGO, STING's EGO, and in such he avoids true emotion, giving us massive SKIPs both in time and reality.

The fact is, nothing REAL gets told about his interaction with his former Bandmates, nor do we get anywhere remotely near when or if Sting, And, and Stewart will ever play together again.

By the end of the book you realize what a mad ego the man they call Mr. Sting has got. No doubt if I were a musician, I'd probably defer working with someone so simultaneously fragile & emotionally needy. It's as if the big stage isn't big enough....

What Sting learns here is the natural laws that prove you can't write a good a song or a good book on your very 1st effort.

try again mister Sting.