Touching From a Distance

I just bought and read Deborah Curtis's book Touching From a Distance

It certainly exposes a lot of aspects of Ian and Deborah's life that I'm sure many fans did not know about. I felt very bad for his wife while reading it, seeing how Ian treated her. It bordered on abuse in some cases! It was also a very good portrait of how depression/suicide affects loved ones.

The story aside, there were pictures of their wedding day and their daughter Natalie, and the last quarter of the book was dedicated to a full set of Ian's lyrics, including those never seen before. Those were very welcome since they're not included in the CDs!

Any thoughts?

I always assumed that the Genius, Poet, Twat descriptions on the 24HPP posters referred to Curtis, Ryder and Wilson respectively but after reading the book I now believe that Curtis qualifies under each category.

Spooky

Just got this today (though some tw*t has robbed half the pictures)

Originally posted by The Haçienda must be (re)Built SpookyJust got this today (though some tw*t has robbed half the pictures)

The POET nicked em!:D

when i read the book it became abundantly clear that ian didn't suffer from depression--he was bipolar. still, no excuse for some of his behaviour towards his wife. however, she did put up with a lot of things that i would have sent my man packing for, no matter how much i loved him.

I enjoyed the book very much. It was a well told sad and twisted tale of someone who wanted to excel and then with everyday pressures , our lifestyle that we all experience, shook and could not take it anymore.

A desperate figure. And thats just the author. An intimate experience. I almost felt I was there in their marriage and it wasn't the warmest of places with Ian's eccentricity.

A bloody good read. Yes I know..............zzzzz sorry.

Ian was never depressed I think,he was a man who didn´t want to live very much and want to be famous dad,so he died young.But I like him the way he was and verryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy much really.

[Content deleted by Love Will Tear Us Apart on 3/11/2003 4:40:49 AM EDT]

[Content deleted by Love Will Tear Us Apart on 3/11/2003 4:40:36 AM EDT]

Originally posted by Love Will Tear Us Apart Ian was never depressed I think,he was a man who didn´t want to live very much and wanted to be famous dad like his idols,so he died young.But I like him the way he was and verryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy much really.

Not sure about the wanting to die young bit mate....

I think maybe he was so depressed that it was a release...... BUT WHO KNOWS??

I don't know, Deborah Curtis seems pretty sure that Ian was enamoured by the idea of dying young, you know, going out when you're on top...

And given what she said about his lifelong fascination with other people who died in such way, I wouild be inclined to believe it. Ian seemed to have his suicide planned out for a while before he actually executed it.

i thoroughly enjoyed the book. it wass fabulous, and very enlightening.

i feel so bad for Deborah and Natalie...that's such an awful thing that Ian did to them.

Ian Curtis had always been some kind of hero to me until I read that book - he came out of it very much as the villain of the piece with some of his antics, and I will never be able to view him in the same light again.

I've only been able to find a copy in French, and as my French is very "student-y," I'm not sure I read a lot of things correctly. For example, the part where Ian engineers the Gillian-Stephen thing by taking Stephen's then-girlfriend home and telling her parents she was suicidal(????). Somebody clarify this.

Originally posted by Housey I've only been able to find a copy in French, and as my French is very "student-y," I'm not sure I read a lot of things correctly. For example, the part where Ian engineers the Gillian-Stephen thing by taking Stephen's then-girlfriend home and telling her parents she was suicidal(????). Somebody clarify this.

Your French is not as bad as you think. Ian didn't like Stephen's girlfriend Stephanie, and when they broke up, (one assumes, it's not entirely clear even in English) that Ian didn't want her to harass Stephen to take her back. So he invited Stephanie to the house when Deborah was out, and when she came back he told her to call Stephanie's dad and tell him to come and get Stephanie because she was hiding in the bathroom threatening to kill herself. Pretty diabolical. Deborah says that the poor girl had no idea what was going on when her father turned up on their doorstep!

I put the book down thinking that Ian Curtis was a pretentious arsehole, rather than the tortured genius the music press and myth would have us believe.....

oh boy....I can't wait to read it...

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D anita

Originally posted by Lady 21 > Originally posted by Housey> I've only been able to find a copy in French, and as my French is very "student-y," I'm not sure I read a lot of things correctly. For example, the part where Ian engineers the Gillian-Stephen thing by taking Stephen's then-girlfriend home and telling her parents she was suicidal(????). Somebody clarify this.

Your French is not as bad as you think. Ian didn't like Stephen's girlfriend Stephanie, and when they broke up, (one assumes, it's not entirely clear even in English) that Ian didn't want her to harass Stephen to take her back. So he invited Stephanie to the house when Deborah was out, and when she came back he told her to call Stephanie's dad and tell him to come and get Stephanie because she was hiding in the bathroom threatening to kill herself. Pretty diabolical. Deborah says that the poor girl had no idea what was going on when her father turned up on their doorstep!

Merci. That part of the book was a real head-scratcher...

Originally posted by Benny's Cobweb EYES-UH !!! Ian Curtis had always been some kind of hero to me until I read that book - he came out of it very much as the villain of the piece with some of his antics, and I will never be able to view him in the same light again.

Remember he is not around to defend himself & maybe Deborah had a hidden agenda ie make the book more sensationalist and it sells more copies

:dead:

Maybe, but the facts about some of his antics speak for themselves.

Curtis could still be a tortured genius as well as a pretentious arsehole. How many 'nice' geniuses have there been in the course of history? There is usually an element of edge or ruthlessness to any genius. I think Curtis possibly was a genius but was almost certainly a twat.

I'm not convinced he was a genius. Sure, he wrote some lyrics that had far more to say and imply than many of his contemporaries, but that's as far as it goes. He couldn't sing without the assistance of technology, particularly live. If anyone was a genius in Joy Division it was Barney, who has become one of the finest songwriters of his generation.

Originally posted by Benny's Cobweb EYES-UH !!! I'm not convinced he was a genius. Sure, he wrote some lyrics that had far more to say and imply than many of his contemporaries, but that's as far as it goes. He couldn't sing without the assistance of technology, particularly live. If anyone was a genius in Joy Division it was Barney, who has become one of the finest songwriters of his generation.

Couldnt agree more, Ian wrote some terrific yet disturbing lyrics, yet mumbled his way through his lyrics which becomes somewhat frustrating, and as for his live singing! well... Barney is without doubt one of the finest songwriters of his generation, no arguments from me their Timbo!! :D

I have it in an above-average portuguese translation. Bought it in 1996 and only read it once, in fact! I don't want to sound harsh towards Deborah, but her side of the story never convinced me...

Originally posted by Benny's Cobweb EYES-UH !!! I'm not convinced he was a genius. Sure, he wrote some lyrics that had far more to say and imply than many of his contemporaries, but that's as far as it goes. He couldn't sing without the assistance of technology, particularly live. If anyone was a genius in Joy Division it was Barney, who has become one of the finest songwriters of his generation.

I remember a previous thread when you said that if Barney had died instead of Ian then JD/NO would have turned into a sad underground poetry collective. That statement intrigued me and I have been trying to re-evaluate my opinions on the whole Ian/Barney/genius debate ever since. If the word tunewriters was substituted for songwriters then I have no arguments but song is a combination of tune and words but is Barney a wordsmith? I am still to be entirely convinced.

Originally posted by a very small boy > Originally posted by Benny's Cobweb EYES-UH !!!> I'm not convinced he was a genius. Sure, he wrote some lyrics that had far more to say and imply than many of his contemporaries, but that's as far as it goes. He couldn't sing without the assistance of technology, particularly live. If anyone was a genius in Joy Division it was Barney, who has become one of the finest songwriters of his generation.

I remember a previous thread when you said that if Barney had died instead of Ian then JD/NO would have turned into a sad underground poetry collective. That statement intrigued me and I have been trying to re-evaluate my opinions on the whole Ian/Barney/genius debate ever since. If the word tunewriters was substituted for songwriters then I have no arguments but song is a combination of tune and words but is Barney a wordsmith? I am still to be entirely convinced.

I think he is, in his own way, moreso now than in the early days, when he seemed to try and emulate the Curtisian ambiguity. Some of his lyrics are plaintive and beautiful - there's a naive almost childlike quality to some of his best stuff. Absolutely no doubting his incredible creative talent though, to me he is right up there with Elvis Costello as one of the finest songwriters I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.

Bernard is a fantastic musician,very creative and intelligent.But Ian was different, he had a mysterious way to do things and knew how to play with his lyrics.He was also a great conductor.

Originally posted by Love Will Tear Us Apart Bernard is a fantastic musician,very creative and intelligent.But Ian was different, he had a mysterious way to do things and knew how to play with his lyrics.He was also a great conductor.

That wasn't conducting you pillock :) - that was his dead fly dance !

Still dont believe that Barney has written lyrics to compare with for e.g. LWTUA... unless he did write them! Which were the lyrics that Tony Wilson claimed to have had a hand in?

I ordered my copy last Friday and it was shipped Monday and it's on the way from England! Woulda ordered it from Amazon US but it woulda taken 6-8 weeks to get here because they woulda had to order it but it'll get here faster from England!!!!!

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D anita...the happy one