Journals

Rating:
Summary: awesome with a capital AWE!
Review: this book is a must for any kurt fan. it really helps you to see into kurt's mind and atempt to understand how it works. it takes you through his thoughts and feelings during the begining, the rise and the end of nirvana. this book opens up a new door for people who think they know the man behind nirvana.

Rating:
Summary: Good or bad, it is definitely unique.
Review: Books of this kind always tend to disappoint. Although we privilege the ambiguity in the art as beatific, we always seem to expect, in the personal jottings of our collective heroes, to have that ambiguity cleared up--those contradictions resolved. "Journals" does not resolve Kurt Cobain's contradictions for us, but in the process does seem to make some of his intentions seem a little more clear.
Aside from the wonderful packaging--a spiral-notebook cover (underneath the dustjacket) that ironically resembles a high school yearbook (no recess!)--and crystal-clear photoscans of these handwritten pages (kept so to preserve authenticity), what makes "Journals" such a fascinating text is its seeming universality. I have written stuff LIKE this for my own use: so have many of our best friends. But who would have expected that the singer who inarticulately screamed out the words to "Smells Like Teen Spirit"--not knowing what he was singing until the "Lithium" CD single was released with all the lyrics to "Nevermind"--would, in his personal writings, be so clear about his vision of the world. In interviews, he shrugged off the "spokesperson of a generation" title as rightly he should have. But after reading the passages contained in "Journals," particularly those specifically about what you could call generational warfare, the title, though cliche, seems somewhat apt.

Also apparent is in "Journals" is just how funny Cobain could be (though he is generally portrayed in the media as a grumpy sourpuss curmudgeon). One of Nirvana's initial bios, on p. 34-5, is simply hilarious, as are sex-nightmares of Telly Savalas (p. 74), and the writing of a letter to a fictitious congressman (p. 161).

Apart from the inclusion of the hand-drafted lyrics to many of Nirvana's most popular songs, "Journals" primarily offers Cobain's dream of fame, his realization of fame, his personal backlash against that fame, his increasing political awareness, and an evolving definition of punk rock (it starts off meaning "freedom" for him, then, after the punk-clique backlash against Nirvana after "Nevermind," the relationship becomes much more complicated). While his viewpoints are not necessarily cutting edge, his public espousal of these viewpoints--particularly feminism and gay rights--to a predominantly young straight white male audience were, and helped directly influence a younger generation into directions directly opposed to the "hippie" generation that Cobain saw as hypocritical because of the rift between their preaching and practice.

One last thing about what makes "Journals" so joyful to read: the minutae. One notebook has the phone number for Nordic-trac on it! (Can you seriously imagine Cobain on a Nordic-trac?) Also, his list of compilation tapes for others (or for himself?) are revealing about what music personally influenced him.

As I stated initially, books of this type are often disappointing. They are not immune from chronic repetition, shoddy organization, and debatable inclusions and omissions. For one thing, "Journals" is horribly organized, leaving up to the reader to assume when these "entries" were written. Also, not everything here is necessarily "journalistic." Song lyrics, drawings, letters, short stories and poetry are not "journal entries," therefore the title is somewhat misleading. This type of posthumous text also needs to alert the reader to entries that were omitted and for what reasons they were not included in the book. Obviously many of the people who wrote about in excised entries are still alive and open to public embarrassment and humiliation. This is understandable.

As to whether or not this journal poses an "ethical dilemma" or not - Cobain is dead. People as famous as Cobain often have their letters and personal writings published after their deaths: Anne Frank, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickenson, Sigmund Freud, Vincent Van Gogh and even Ronald Reagan (who is still alive) have had their letters published. That's just my opinion. If you are beyond this argument, I urge you, if so interested, to read what Cobain's active imagination had to offer to the world inside his head, which at times magnificently spilled over into ours.

Rating:
Summary: I loved this book
Review: When I first got this book I couldn't put it down. I finished it the night I got it. I think it was magnificent. It was so awe-inspiring to actually get inside Kurt's mind. He is the type of person that you can't control. When he goes off he goes off. He was bound to burn out. No one could have saved him. People say that he wouldn't want anyone to read his journal but on the front page it says, "If you read you'll judge." I feel he wanted us to read it. Before he was famous everyone treated him like dirt, but as soon as he rose to fame everyone was his best friend and they had no clue about anything about him. I think he would like it if all the people that made fun of him in high school would read what he wrote and have them think..." wow, he was always incredible."

Rating:
Summary: Oooo
Review: I was in awe when I read this book. I didn't know Kurt was an artist. I love how the book depicts the pages as if they were really from the notebook paper. Mmm...

Rating:
Summary: A Captivating Journey
Review: This is a very good book which tells the story of the life of Kurt Coabin by using his journal entries. By looking at his drawings and entries, you can really tell what kind of person he really is. I highly reccomend this book to any Nirvana fan.

Rating:
Summary: Kurt Cobain
Review: Kurt Cobain was one of the best lead singers of a band in history. This book shows him for what he really was. He lives on in our memories forever. We love you Kurt.

Rating:
Summary: /
Review: its completely obvious that he loved his wife so why do so many people try to run from that fact. he loved her. maybe she does need money but she's supporting his child, whom he loved. some people say he liked and encouraged people to read his journals others think its intrusive. i think its highly unlikely that its intrusive now since hes been raped by the world for 15 years.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing to do with what you think, even if you think at all
Review: They say that people who keep journals secretly long to have them read. From this book, it seems that Kurt Cobain explicitly wanted his journals to be read. What we get is a few hundred pages of often inane ramblings that amount to nothing more than a great artist showing off.

While Cobain's lyrics were chilling and stirring within the context of his brutal, soulful music, they come off as pretensious (sp?) outside of the songs. How many times can he make the "I'd wear a tie-dyed shirt if it was dyed with the blood of Jerry Garcia and the urine of Phil Collins" joke? There are some nice moments, like the Mr. Moustache cartoon and the little notation for the Nordictrac number, indicative of Cobain's low body image.

I love Nirvana. Songs like "Scentless Apprentice" still chill me 10 years later. But the publication of Cobain's journals seems to me to be the literary equivalent of those Jimi Hendrix compilations that come out every so often: grave robbing of an artist whose original work needs no more explanation.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: I can't say that there is a lot in these journals that is eye-opening. If you are already a Nirvana fan you probably have read similar things Kurt Cobain has said that is in this volume. Most of his thoughts in this compilation are private, I suppose, but as a public figure we knew most of them already. But if you're a fan, you will want to get this.

Rating:
Summary: Invasion, Violation, Unscrupulous, Infringement, BLASPHEMY!
Review: Well, Courtney does it again. To be honest with you I cannot read this book. I picked it up off the shelf and saw that it had the actual journal papers in it. I am someone who journals and I know how it would feel to be violated in this way.. ESPECIALLY since this is nothing more than another of Courtney's ploys to make more money. Can I please puke now? Shame on any of you who are just too damn curious to not read Kurt's private thoughts.