The Doors: A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years
“Don’t like The Doors or wondering who this Jim Morrison guy is? Read The Doors: A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years anyway, because Griel Marcus is an educated writer who makes us care about new things and how they are related to old, familiar standards.
Someone lit my fire with this book, but it was not Jim Morrison.”
It is challenging to decide if Griel Marcus is a music lover who likes words or a logophile who enjoys music. He is well versed in both—coming across as the love child of John Cusack’s know-it-all record store owning character from High Fidelity and MTV Veejay Matt Pinfield (with maybe just a smidge less judgemental snobbery). Mr. Marcus even has a column he writes for The Believer called “Real Life Rock Top 10.”
At the start, it seems like Mr. Marcus is going to take this broad knowledge base and make his book, The Doors: A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years, into glorified liner notes—with florid prose superimposed on top of the aesthetic grittiness of The Doors’ music, for Mr. Marcus has no difficulty putting words to what most people can only experience in song.
The first three chapters take the reader through the author’s interpretation of some favorite tunes (“L.A. Woman,” “Mystery Train,” and “The End”), weaving in somewhat obscure references from Thomas Pynchon and Hunter S. Thompson to assist in the illustrations; however, if this were all the book accomplished, Mr. Marcus would be little more than a fan boy with a publishing deal.
The Doors, however, is not just about the infamous band. After a somewhat slow and overly descriptive beginning, the book branches out to discuss the culture surrounding The Doors and why the decade of the sixties is still something that is relevant to us today. Mr. Marcus clearly shows himself a man who is well-read and well-listened, intelligently discussing books, music, and the society that creates them.
The book is short, but succinct. Even with the somewhat academic quality of his prose, Mr. Marcus includes learned references from Ian McEwan and Oliver Stone (director of The Doors movie), even incorporating Christian Slater’s less-than-famous movie, Pump Up the Volume into his analysis. Next time I play Trivial Pursuit, this guy’s gotta be on my team.
Calling all Doors fans: Come read this book not just because it discusses the most loved songs from this tragic act, but because it just might give you a new perspective on classic rock.
Don’t like The Doors or wondering who this Jim Morrison guy is? Read The Doors: A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years anyway, because Griel Marcus is an educated writer who makes us care about new things and how they are related to old, familiar standards.
Someone lit my fire with this book, but it was not Jim Morrison.