Charlie Chaplin and His Times

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful look behind the eyes of Chaplin
Review: I hung with this book because 'Mr. Lynn' is a highly respected writer. He did not disappoint in that area, the writing is crisp at times but the tone is crabby and vindictive. His obvious dislike for his subject gains as the book progresses. He seems to find it very difficult to compliment Chaplin or any of his films. I think most people when reading a biography hope for a objective approach from the writer but at least in Mr. Lynn's ' Chaplin' you won't find it..

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful look behind the eyes of Chaplin
Review: Lynn's book was a great view at the historical record of who Charlie Chaplin really was. There is no doubt Chaplin was the most talented and most influential man in the history of film, but there was so much more to him. Thanks to Kenneth Lynn for his terrific look at the man behind the Little Tramp.

Rating:
Summary: The Tramp was a Red!
Review: The best thing I can say about this biography by Kenneth Lynn is that counterbalances the 1992 biopic of Chaplin's life. In this film, Robert Downey Jr portrayed Chaplin as an artist-hero who was martyred by the political right. While the Chaplin movie didn't ring particularly true for me, Lynn's biography appears to go too far in the opposite direction. This biography is not about Chaplin the Tramp, Chaplin the filmmaker, Chaplin the comic. Its about Chaplin the sputtering, spastic tyrant, Chaplin the felon, Chaplin the sex fiend, Chaplin the Red.

This book reads more like an indictment than a biography. Lynn makes his case persistently and repetitiously. He grants weight to negative accounts of Chaplin's character while positive accounts are brushed aside, or are relegated to the footnotes. (A typical example: Lynn gives an account of the problematic relations between Chaplin and Brando. Lynn relies on Brando's account of an interaction between the two men, which reveals Chaplin as a petty tyrant. Then, in the footnote Lynn slips in a completely contradictory account of the same incident by another source. The footnoted source, which depicts Chaplin in a much more favorable light, seems far more credible than Brando's. Lynn repeatedly dismisses the veracity of Chaplin's autobiography. But when he comes to Brando - now there's a reliable memoirist!)

In some cases, Lynn delivers jabs at his subject which seem quite pointless (for example, Lynn states that Chaplin "ignorantly" named his Modern Times heroine the Gamin. (the word is correctly spelled gamine). To me, this sort of criticism seems petty and overly personal. In sum, this mean spirited and poorly informed biography of Charlie Chaplin can be safely bypassed. David Robinson's Chaplin biography remains the primary recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: beware: author hates subject!
Review: This book is factually wonderful. More details about Chaplin's life are discussed here than in other bios. But, I gradually wondered what it was that was bothering me about the writing. Suddenly it dawned on me. Kenneth Lynn hates Chaplin! I dont know why, but there is an overwhelming sense that he is doing his best to knock Chaplin down wherever he can, but Chaplin's genius is always sticking it to him in the end. Read with the knowledge that the author is in no way in love with his subject (a strange concept to be sure) this book can be read through and enjoyed with reservations. Without realizing this fact though, the reader can get a very unfair view of Chaplin.

Rating:
Summary: Placed in real historical context of the times
Review: This is an amazing book, very different from the majority of biographies that I have read. The reason for this difference is that is was written by an honest, first class history professor and not by a journalist or professional writer that graduated with a C in History 101. The reader will discover rarely publicized facts about the life of the famous "Tramp". As a rare premium, the reader will get facts about those difficult times that followed Word War I, when people were fascinated with all kinds of social engineering experiments like communism and its younger sisters fascism and nazism. This fascination persisted even when information about millions murdered by these criminal "social scientists" were made public. One of the funniest stories in this book that you really have to read is about the rich, spoiled Charlie Chaplin lecturing the British Labour Party Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald about economics. Mind you, Charlie never gave much money to charities, but loved social engineering. There are a lot of such rarely discussed facts throughout the book. That's why contemporary followers of ideologies based on mass murder are attacking or dismissing this book. Treat yourself to this gem