Adam BegleyRezensionen

UPDIKE. Just the name conjures up countless hours of reading enjoyment I've had in my life. I first 'discovered' John Updike in 1967, when I picked a paperback of RABBIT, RUN off a rack in the SBX bookstore at CMU. I've been reading him off and on ever since and have probably read at least three dozen of his books, some more than once. In his fifty-plus years of writing, Updike published over sixty books, both fiction and non-fiction, and some poetry as well. So of course I wanted to read about his life, and Adam Begley has captured the man and writer in the most erudite and even-handed manner possible. And Updike was certainly no saint, which is made very clear. Begley makes no bones about the fact that much of his fiction was drawn from his own life. Yes, Updike reveled in the sexual revolution of the sities, and was a serial philanderer and adulterer. Read COUPLES (1969), his breakthrough bestseller, and you will know all about the middle years of his first marriage, the hedonistic Ipswich era. Plenty here too about the man's nearly lifelong connections with The New Yorker. And there were the RABBIT books, and all the Olinger stories, reflecting his PA boyhood and adolescence in Shillington and Plowville. And the Maples stories. And on and on. The last Updike book I read was TERRORIST, something of a departure for him, but nonetheless chilling and, as always, beautifully written. Begley writes about all of these and more, and I felt like I was reading about an old friend revealed, warts and all. And the final chapter, about Updike's final illness and death, made me want to weep. I am so grateful to Adam Begley for all the time he spent writing this book. I loved it. (And, btw, Adam's father is Louis Begley, renowned author of the SCHMIDT novels and other books, something I only realized in reading the Acknowledgements page, although Adam had mentioned very briefly early in the book that Updike had known his father at Harvard.) My very highest recommendation, especially if you were/are an Updike fan.

- Tim Bazzett author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER

John Updike is one of my favourite authors, and this is a BRILLIANT biography. Begley intertwines Updike's work with his writing- the level of autobiography in his every novel, poem and short story is brought out vividly, as Begley takes us through his life. From a happy childhood in Shillington, Pennsylvania, child of a not particularly successful teacher father ("The Centaur" !) and an ambitious, literary mother who relocates her family to a rural location ("The Centaur" again!); his time in Harvard, marriage, time in UK, working on the New Yorker ("Bech"!), kids, a rampant social life and yet a solid religious conviction ("Couples" !) As divorce, a broken family, remarriage and old age confront Updike, we again see echoes in the "Rabbit" tetralogy . Of course, I've only read a few of his many works and there are a vast amount of other works which Begley introduces us to, and through which I felt I gained a fair insight into the genial and hugely intelligent Updike.

As remarked on by another reviewer, we do feel a lack of vision into Updike's second marriage; his second wife didn't involve herself in this work (unlike his first ) and it shows.
But overall a truly excellent, erudite but uttely readable work.½

I am a sucker for literary biographies, and this is a really really good one, on a par with Blake Bailey's Cheever biography. (I am a fan of Updike's work, which helps.) In particular, Updike's relationship with his mother is fascinating.

The jacket text for this book suggests that it will be funny, and show the dangers of clinging to an idea in the face of contradictory evidence. It fails on both counts, at least for me.

I suspect the authors assumed all that the readers would find a kind of point-and-laugh humor in each tiny biography, just as he did. I didn't really see it, but it was the best I could figure he was going for. This book might be more amusing to someone with the authors sense of humor. I just found it sad.

I was also disappointed to see no references, no bibliography, no evidence of why the author is so certain his take on each person is accurate.

A thoroughly enjoyable biography that rattles on just like its energetic, bustling and innovative subject. It is well illustrated with many examples of photos taken by Nadar - great names of French culture and history. The care taken with George Sand to remove her double chin was interesting and amusing. Nadar's ballooning was fascinating and reckless. His daredevil can-do anything approach whatever the setback was impressive.

When we in the 21st Century think about photography, we tend to think of a "great picture" the way we might think about a "great apartment": more for its functionality than its beauty. It may be beautiful, but we really appreciate it for what it can show us. So too, in the case of a photograph: the subject matter is what matters, most of the time. So it's hard to imagine that in the 19th century, when photography was in its infancy, it was seen, and practiced, as an art form. Not surprisingly, the photographers who first set up shop made portraiture their stock in trade. Its clientele not only wanted a lasting image which would remain long after they did; they were offering a poor man's commission of an art form that did more than just photograph the subject, but brought him or her to life, revealing personality and character through the lens of the camera.

Such was the greatness of the photographs of "The Great Nadar," the subject of this fascinating biography of the 19th century French photographer, artist, author, and aeronaut. A bit of a dilettante, his resume reads like a virtual catalogue of possible career choices: trained as a doctor, a caricaturist and artist, a balloonist, a photographer, entrepreneur, and essayist, Felix Nadar was a jack of all trades, one of those colorful French characters whose ambitions, experiences, friends, jobs, and overall life make the 21st century reader feel unaccomplished and provincial.

His photographs were pieces of art, and in this entertaining biography, Adam Begley gives us a glimpse of the man behind the camera. He delves into the more colorful aspects of Nadar's life, loves, family dramas, etc, highlighting the more entertaining episodes, like his infamous ballooning (mis)adventure that miraculously spared the lives of the travelers involved.

Nadar's portraiture photographs are mesmerizing, in their brilliance at capturing the subjects that sat for him. The photos are stunningly modern, capturing the essences of the models. The ones that spoke to me were his photos of a young Sarah Bernhardt, and those of an older George Sand. Nadar managed to expose something in each of his subjects that makes the viewer feel she is looking at an intimate moment rather than a posed portrait.

Begley, in his portrait, similarly allows Nadar's personality and character to shine through here. This was an entertaining read.

Thank you to the author and publisher for a review copy.

The blurb on this book quoted a recent French Biography, "Who doesn't know Nadar?" Well, I didn't. And I thought his accomplishments fascinating: photographer, balloonist, entrepreneur, artist. Nadar did indeed lead a fascinating life, mingled with luminaries of the day, and in his way was the forerunner of the celebrity cult of today. His portraiture included in the book was a plus, enabling me to see some historic figures who have intrigued me. All in all, while the book was interesting, it didn't inthrall me, but I'm glad I read it.

Many thanks to Blogging for Books and the publishers for sending me this copy.

Fascinating book that I got an advance read of courtesy of First to Read. My copy was an uncorrected proof.

For someone as famous as Felix Tournachon was, and for all that he did, I really don't recall having heard of him before, even by his better known pseudonym Nadar. Writer, caricaturist, photographer, balloonist, inventor...he was a 19th century polymath who trafficked in circles of the French celebrities of the day. His caricatures were incredibly detailed, but it was the portrait photography, wonderfully reproduced in the book, that is extraordinary. In the dawn of the art, Nadar, with primitive tools, created stunning, beautifully composed photographs. For those alone, the book is worth the read.

One quote, written in the early 1860s, stood out to me:

Photography is a marvelous discovery, a science that engages the most elevated intellects, an art that sharpens the wits of the wisest souls - the practical application of which lies within the capacity of the shallowest imbecile. This prodigious art which out of nothing makes something, this miraculous invention after which anything seems possible, this Photography which with applied Electricity and Chloroform makes our nineteenth century the greatest of all centuries [...]
This much can be learned...which means that anyone without exception, can safely aspire to call himself a photographer by tomorrow at the least.
I am going to tell you what cannot be learned: it's a fell for light - it's the artistic apprectiation of the effects produced by the various qualities of lighting alone or combined - it's the application of this or that effect according to the nature of the physiognomy that as an artist you aim to reproduce.
What is even less likely to be learned is the moral intelligence of your subject - the rapid tact that puts you in communion with your model ...and allows you to give...a more familiar and favorable resemblance, the intimate resemblance - that's the psychological aspect of photography, the word seems to me not too ambitious.

I am a sucker for literary biographies, and this is a really really good one, on a par with Blake Bailey's Cheever biography. (I am a fan of Updike's work, which helps.) In particular, Updike's relationship with his mother is fascinating.

I am disappointed by UPDIKE by Adam Begley. More than a biography of his life it is a biography of his writing, down to each short story. So it was the structure that bother me. I would like to have known more about his life, though the author does work in his life into each piece of Updike's writing. Too long for too little.

In the past few years, I have read several works of John Updike (1932-2009) and plan to continue to do so. Updike was a Renaissance writer: he wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, art criticism, book reviews, even a autobiography (although the last was not all-encompassing of his life). Nearly all of his prolific works were published, and many were compiled in collections as well. While others surely have written about Updike, Adam Begley provides an extensive biography and closer look at the man and author.

Begley looks at how John Updike's own life and experiences colored his writing. This approach provides insight for a reader of Updike. For instance, during the 60s and 70s, many of Updike's novels and short stories dealt with adultery; so it was not coincidental that during this era Updike and his first wife engaged in several affairs that eventually contributed to the end of their marriage.

Begley provides some literary analysis (but not of the Cliffs Notes form, nor are there spoilers) of much of Updike's work, although some are discussed much more extensively than others. What is discussed is mainly Updike's short stories and novels, rather than his essays and criticisms.

John Updike passed away at the age of 76. The first forty or so years of his life and works during that time take up most of this biography -- probably about 70% of the text. I think there are two reasons for this. Updike was better known and acclaimed during this period; although the quality (and quantity) of his writing did not change or decline significantly in his later years, although he experimented with different forms more later on. The second reason of the imbalance of Updike's represented life is that Begley drew from archival information and interviews with Updike's colleagues, friends and family. Begley also gleaned, and used, much information from interviews with Updike's first wife, Mary. In fact, in the acknowledgements section, the very first person Begley thanks is Mary. For whatever reason, second wife Martha Updike is apparently not a direct source of information for Begley's biography. Maybe she refused to collaborate with Begley, or maybe he did not attempt to work with her. Martha is depicted as having been fiercely protective of Updike's time and privacy during the thirty years that they were together.

In spite of the fact that Begley doesn't seem to treat Martha all too kindly (he refers to people he interviewed saying things such as that John was snatched away by Martha from his friends and children), Begley is mostly fair in his overall writing and does not stoop to tabloid-style reporting. The result, though, is not a dry account of Updike's complex life.

Because of Begley's approach of intertwining Updike himself with his works (which only makes sense as that is what Updike did with his writing), a reader has to have read at least some Updike to appreciate this biography. However, this biography will also provide a better understanding of any un-read works of his in addition to what has already been read.

I enjoyed reading this biography and it will help me be a better reader of Updike. He wrote so much, that there is still much left for me to read.

Quote by Adam Begley, early in the book (p.15):

"The more Updike one reads, and the more one learns about his life, the more glaringly obvious it becomes that he was enthralled by the details of his own experience. Does it make him a lesser artist that he so often relied on self-portraits and transcriptions of actual events and circumstances? Perhaps it would if the portraits were documentary photorealism and the action unedited chronology: the prose equivalent of a live webcam. Though he announced his desire to "imitate reality with increasing closeness," he knew full well that there is no way of translating raw experience into words without altering it. And that was never his intention."

Sometimes all we have is the courage of our convictions. But not all convictions are created equal. In fact, some are downright delusional. And once a foolish notion sinks its teeth into the famous or the powerful, look out–the impact can have profound consequences for the rest of us. So it’s nothing short of gratifying when our most bullheaded and self-righteous leading lights insist on getting their way only to be proven egregiously embarrassingly wrong. From politicians to pontiffs, movie stars to moguls, and artists to inventors, Certitude presents short biographical sketches of notoriously stubborn individuals who were certain they were right–with laughable, disturbing, and often disastrous results.