"Touching From A Distance"?

With Control in the works, I thought I would pick up a copy of Deborah Curtis' book "Touching from a Distance," on which the movie will be based. However, when I went on amazon.com to buy it, I noticed several scathing reviews of the book, some of which criticized Ms. Curtis for portarying Ian as a Nazi sympathizer and an otherwise selfish pig. I don't know the credentials of any of these reviewers, but I would trust much more the opinions of any fellow NOOLers who have read the book and can recommend whether this is a worthwhile read. Any thoughts? Thanks :)

she painted him as she saw him. yes she did paint him as being selfish, which is probably true. read the book. see what he did to his family and then make up your own mind. that thing about him being a nazi sympathizer escaped me when i read the book.

I thought it was a great perspective to look in on the whole universe of myth that surrounds the band/man. I ordered it as soon as it came out, read it a few times and sat around sort of mulling it in my head and talked with some other people about it, and some didn't like it because it destroyed their idyllic opinion of the Capt. McGothGod or whatever, and then the sane of the reading group were just thrilled to have a different view - the family man, the husband, the child, etc. Really put his percieved failures, and doubts and impish humor to light.

But it's been a few years since I last read it. Got a bit heavy to handle, and I've wound up over the years really feeling for ol' Nat, because I can't imagine that sort of thing being easy to deal with coming up. She's handled it with grace, in my opinion.

Some father he ended up being.

Its all to do with freedom of speech imo - everyone has their point of view, this is Deborah's, we have to respect it as far as we can tell there aren't any factual errors but without being in his shoes we cant really judge. Eg. you could equally well say with hindsight, he was trapped in an early marriage while dogged by ill health... he only got to 23, so any political opinions he's supposed to have had, (they were merely a fashion item of the time) are hardly set in stone. but I dont think she actually said he was a nazi sympathiser, just found the imagery distasteful, which is fair enough, more a criticism of his fashion sense?

It's ages since I read it too but I think there is some stuff in there about him being racist towards the local Pakistani community.

But as for the Nazi stuff - he was into the chique thing - the uniforms and imagery - but not the ideology.

i bought it on first release too.It is very revealing of the real him and cuts him down from a bit of a pedestal in my opinion.He treated Deborah badly at times

He did vote Tory. yes.But that was his choice.Can't knock him about it but some of the ways he treated Deborah were bang out of order (sorry for the pun)

But i strongly reccommend reading it ,Rasputin

Great book, a must read, as others have said above. It does shatter a few myths about Ian, but also adds a lot in terms of gaining a better understanding of the personality/personalities that Ian was. It's a mixture of pride and bitterness that comes through loud and clear. The book is just one perspective though, others would beg to differ no doubt.

twist wrote: Some father he ended up being.

That’s a cheap shot.

To me, it’s a story of someone who reached the age of 24 and went through a period where he couldn’t cope. Cheap drugs, bad medical care, hectic lifestyle and the stress of a failing marriage with a baby involved are all tough things to cope with.

I don't think you should judge anyone who died young in the same way as you would judge an adult. Look back to how different you were age 24, I think you'd cringe at some of your values.

And if you're not 24 yet - grow up.

The book was a riveting read, and a harrowing view into the bleakness of the lives of young working/middle-class post-WWII children and teens. I kind of see how some people are angry at Deborah Curtis' take; the way she writes about him, it just seems like a true mismatch of types, 2 lonely young people who were more or less opposites in terms of coping styles/priorities who ended up married and incompatible. She seemed kind of simple and practical and needy, and he was more of a chaotic intellectual free spirit type. Her account is probably accurate in showing Ian as a difficult, self-centered, volatile person to live with, but you can also sense that she didn't really seem to get/understand his artistic genius side either. Why aren't you staying home and taking care of me and the child was kind of the gist of her anger at him, which would be reasonable except that he also happened to be this poetic tortured soul trapped in post-industrial banality. You can see both points of view from her account.

i thought it was fascinating. it didn't make him out to be the nicest person, but he wasn't portrayed as a total monster, either. he was clearly bi-polar and unfortunately he was never diagnosed as being such. since deborah knew him from the time they were teenagers she was able to give quite good insight into ian's character and personality. of course, his friends may have seen him differently but she was able to talk about his home life in a way no one else could.

interestingly, when i wanted to check the book out of the library (my dad's a librarian) the only library in which he could find it that was anywhere near orlando was the one at the broward county correctional institution. so i got my inter-library loan from a prison!

The racism thing is not clear from the book. She does mention a drink fuelled tantrum (tantrums seem to have been a speciality) in an Indian restaurant, just after they sold their home to an Asian family, but also that he was into reggae and went to places white people didn't usually go, like the Afrique Club... he became obsessed with a lifestyle different from his own more than once... he was defensive about Moss Side. And his lyrics contradict any accusations of racism

Sometimes the cliches are true - he couldve said "My wife doesn't understand me" But then again who did...

It's a very interesting book, and I'd be careful about those Amazon reviews, they sound a bit fanboyish. As others have said, it's just a different view of the precedings, and I don't find it all that unbelieveable.

Just cause someone's a genius, doesn't mean they're the nicest or greatest person to get along with.

And yeah, he was a staunch Tory.

Thanks for all your comments everyone :) I will definitely be picking the book up to read.

DaveyMcDave wrote:

And yeah, he was a staunch Tory.

Ahh but in his defense, he was a City Fan

Shug wrote: Scintillating book. A must read. ---it gives a great insight from the person who knew him the best.

I was surprised at several of the revelations

just excellent. --felt strangely grateful. was such a strange fast read the couple of times. in that there was a clear sense of detachment and of course keeping in mind the lines for whom the wheels are turning--but at the same time offered a naked and exclusive look into the mortal man that somehow was already up for sainthood. edit- botched.

if the movie is based on the book, then it could be quite a dark and negative film. i'll still go and see it and get the dvd.

I wouldn't expect anything less judging from Corbijn's work. I would think his video for "Atmosphere" would be the blueprint for the movie in terms of visuals and motif.

Deborah's protrayal of Ian was sincere as she obviously loved him a great deal. Out of the all the other written accounts of Ian's life, this one made the most profound effect on me. I didn't lose or gain any love or respect for the man, but I would think the aim of this book was the bring us closer to understanding Ian, however impossible that may be.

A great book and a great insight into the man and his life. I thought the book was well written and transports you back into the 70's beautifully. However, the bottom line is that the man was a git/pig - whatever you want to call him - to his wife, as well as being the musical genius we love. As mentioned above - he was a blue - so you can forgive him a lot, and let's hope we batter those Villa girls tonight !!!

Norwegian Blue wrote:

DaveyMcDave wrote:

And yeah, he was a staunch Tory.

Ahh but in his defense, he was a City Fan

Even though there was a picture of him in a United shirt!

To me it was a long sad story, lots of insights and things that made you wonder, but still a real tragedy.

How could you abandon your own daughter like that?

As the 'other' woman, did Annik ever put pen to paper and give the third side of the story?

I also think it's a must-read. People have such idealized images of their heroes. Reality is often quite different.

Aries wrote: I also think it's a must-read. People have such idealized images of their heroes. Reality is often quite different.

Never a truer word on the subject.

It was worth buying for the photos alone - knowing a bit of Ian's background, just flicking through 20 odd photos from him as a little boy to the last photo of him and Natalie was very poignant... I think the first time I read it, I was a little 'hurt' that someone I admired so much could have actually been so far from perfect, but with hindsight, I think the book paints a picture of a quite ordinary person struggling with some very normal and some abnormal aspects of life, with very human failings, some very positive qualities and incredible talents, who in the end couldn't cope... Touching, indeed...

Snorri xxx

It's a great book. I've read it so many times I can probably quote whole chapters off the top of my head. I was kind of disheartened when I first read it because it doesn't paint the nicest picture of him but like others have said, making great music isn't equal to being a great human being. He was troubled, sick, in dire financial straits with a wife and a daughter all before the age of 24. I never got a sense of him being a racist other than Debbie reffering to some 'crude' jokes she overheard him telling which can probably chalked up to the fact that he was 22 at the time. Come on. I also can't imagine Debbie taking great liberties with his story because it seems pretty weak to hold a grudge against someone who's been dead for 15 years regardless of how big a part of your life he was.

It's a great story about a young couple trying to get by the best they can. Debbie really held it together for him. He probably would have been gone long before had she not been there. I'm looking forward to the film.