Simon Callow

In One-Man Band, the third volume in his epic survey of Orson Welles’ life and work, Simon Callow again probes in comprehensive and penetrating detail into one of the most complex artists of the twentieth century, looking closely at the triumphs and failures of an ambitious one-man assault on one medium after another – theatre, radio, film, television, even, at one point, ballet – in each of which his radical and original approach opened up new directions and hitherto unglimpsed show more possibilities.
The book begins with Welles’ self-exile from America, and his realisation that he could only function happily as an independent film-maker, a one-man band; by 1964, he had filmed Othello, which took three years to complete, Mr Arkadin, the biggest conundrum in his output, and his masterpiece Chimes at Midnight, as well as Touch of Evil, his sole return to Hollywood and, like all too many of his films, wrested from his grasp and re-edited. Along the way he made inroads into the fledgling medium of television and a number of stage plays, including Moby-Dick, considered by theatre historians to be one of the seminal productions of the century. Meanwhile, his private life was as dramatic as his professional life.

The book shows what it was like to be around Welles, and, with a precision rarely attempted before, what it was like to be him, in which lies the answer to the old riddle: whatever happened to Orson Welles? show less

I read this as a buddy read with BrokenTune, and was woefully inadequate with the status updates, but thankfully, some sidebar chats with her during and after our read, have helped me clarify my thoughts about this fantastic book enough to write some of them down.

Richard Wagner was, arguably, one of the most influential composers and conductors in the history of classical music. He changed the face of opera from top to bottom; from the way the music was played, the notes were sung, the show more lighting, even the shape of the theatre itself. He made opera dramatic storytelling. I'm not even sure I can imagine what it was before he turned everything and everyone on their ear.

Richard Wagner was also an unmitigated ass. Not merely arrogant; not merely selfish; Wagner was self-involved, egotistical, short-sighted, fiscally irresponsible and anti-semitic. Additionally, he was described as short, stoop-shouldered and afflicted with an appalling skin condition; we're not talking run-of-the-mill eczema here - words like 'sores' and 'pustules' were used. I mention the physical challenges here because in spite of all of this - the horrible character flaws and the physical challenges - he was apparently charismatic as hell. The crap he got away with, the abuse people took only to come back for more, the sheer number of people who shelled out money to pay his debts and provide him with housing is mind-boggling. Not just in Germany, but in Switzerland, Italy and the UK. All this, and he was not a good person.

I could have probably overlooked the childish selfishness; I could chuckle over his inability to stay out of any riot he crossed paths with. I might argue (weakly), that the trail of broken relationships he left behind him his whole life were people who knowingly attached themselves to this horrible man. But the anti-semitism is a deal-breaker. HIs disparagement of Jews was grossly casual, brutal, unwarranted and irrational. Worse, it was not a phase he outgrew, but a mania that only became more brutal and irrational with age, even though he continued to work with Jewish conductors, musicians and composers until the end.

So Wagner was both artistically brilliant and a horrible human being. This fascinating dichotomy is made still more fascinating by Simon Callow's writing. He masterfully writes this condensed biography with the utmost objectivity, clarity, and just a dash of humor in unexpected places. I doubt very much I could have read any other book about Wagner without dnf'ing it simply because I wouldn't have been able to swallow Wagner's life, but Callow made it not only palatable, but compelling.

Wagner may have created some of the most powerful music ever written - at least some of the most unforgettable - but his music will forever be tainted for me now that I know the man behind it better. The real star that came out of this book, for me, is Callow; his writing ... well, take it as read that I'm gushing over it, because it's some of the best biographical writing I've ever read (not that I read a lot, mind you).

If you're interested in Wagner but don't want a long academic biography, you should absolutely investigate this book; it's fair, it's balanced; it's unbiased and it's excellently written. The 1/2 star I took off was more my shortcoming than his - my eyes glazed over during the descriptions of the operas' stories, because I'm not a fan of opera. Seriously, ignore that and just check out the book. show less

Simon Callow’s “Alternative Autobiography” My Life in Pieces was one of the most exciting books I’ve read in a long time. Hearing stories from behind the curtain about the 1960s–1970s London theater scene was intriguing and delightful. Callow was lucky to get a job at theaters long before his acting career, which gave him both insight and inspiration into the real world of acting. The book is rich with anecdotes encountering theater royalty, and many younger actors who later became show more household names. The story grows in interest as he moves from observer to dramatic artist, sharing his fascinating experiences as he rises in his own brilliant acting career.

Callow intersperses his narrative with relevant pieces he had written in the past, which fit nicely into the autobiographical storyline. These interspersed biographical pieces were usually about other people (reviews of others’ works, tributes, even obituaries). They were fun in themselves, but they also helped show the progression of Callow’s intellectual life. They could constitute their own “Collected Works” and in fact seemed reminiscent of the late great Lytton Strachey’s “Biographical Essays” from the 1920s (published in 1969). It would be a perfect kind of vehicle for Callow’s biographical essays as well.

John Gielgud is at the center of some of the most memorable anecdotes of Callow’s encounters with the theater’s brightest lights. Callow has written very perceptive analyses and heartfelt reminiscences of Gielgud, as well as some very entertaining anecdotes. I pick those out because they were my favorites. But all of Callow’s essays-within-an-autobiography had that flavor: perceptive and heartfelt. Callow is both sharp observer and compassionate colleague to his subjects. Within the autobiography, they comprise a wonderful book-within-a-book.

Still, first and foremost, there is the autobiography proper. Callow tells a wonderful story that mingles heartache and joy through his own life growing up, gradually becoming an artist. His childhood between London and Rhodesia was partly painful, partly ideal training ground for a future actor, though it may not have felt like it at the time. Callow shined in challenging circumstances, seizing every opportunity to perform and to entertain others. He was honing his craft from toddlerhood. And in the fullness of time, the result became genius.

Callow is, by the most stringent definition of the term, an artist. The common theme throughout his life is art, especially the art of acting. Having seen his amazing one-man shows playing Charles Dickens, and playing Charles Dickens playing Dickensian characters, and having seen Callow in films and TV shows over the years, it made reading his autobiography all the more exciting and rewarding. Callow’s brilliant and sublime talents obviously come from painful, determined dedication and discipline, as well as the true gift that sets great artists apart. Callow is one of those great artists.

Now, having read My Life in Pieces, and having read Callow’s full-length biography of Charles Dickens, I see that his talent equally spills into the literary arts.

If you love the world of theater and acting, or you love a great story, or you just love great writing, I wholeheartedly recommend Simon Callow’s “Alternative Autobiography” My Life in Pieces. show less

Perhaps no one alive today has done more to shine a light on Charles Dickens, the man and his works, than Simon Callow (Charles Dickens 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870). Callow has achieved a most delightful and compelling biography.

Callow himself performs one-man shows of Dickens life, along with adaptations of selected novel scenes for the stage. This is appropriate because Dickens often thrilled audiences by acting out scenes from his novels when his public readings burst into dramatic show more performances. Callow carries on the tradition, becoming much more than a scholarly biographer, but a dramatic virtuoso who breathes new life into the 19th-century author and his creative genius.

Dickens wrote from life. The statement has become a cliché, but no one can say it more truly than Dickens. Callow does a marvelous job mapping the biographical facts with characters and scenes in the novels. Even Dickens’ famous detailed descriptions of quaint shops and other charming nooks of 19th-century London—they derived from intentional explorations of hundreds and hundreds of those shops with the express purpose of describing them later.

One of Dickens’ favorite pastimes was to walk London streets for miles and miles, hours on end, every day, sometimes with a friend, sometimes alone. He also haunted theaters and tried his hand at acting early in life. He was conversant with stage life and made use of that knowledge in his stories as well. Also notably, Dickens’ depictions of child labor came from his own consignment to forced child labor in a blacking factory.

Many of Dickens’ contemporaries recognized themselves and each other in the novels. Several of the novels’ lawyers, proctors, courts, and even specific court cases were lifted straight from the real thing. An anguished protest from one such person (Jane Seymour Hill) characterized in early chapters of David Copperfield (Miss Mowcher), moved Dickens to significantly improve her characterization in later chapters (197). He could modify characters and plot direction in-progress, because the novels first appeared as magazine installments over the course of a year or more.

Connecting the real-life elements with the stories makes Callow’s biography all the more compelling. The astounding breadth and variety of characters in Charles Dickens’ novels speaks to both the brilliant writing of the author and of the fascinating colorful culture of Victorian London.

Simon Callow provides a beautiful and thorough discovery of Dickens the exceptional human being, through his vibrant and compassionate telling of the life of the author. Callow also provides fascinating insights into Dickens’ superhuman energy, imagination and intellect. Callow’s biography gives a deep look into Dickens’ creative life, the interplay between creative output and personal circumstances, and the profound psychological battles Dickens fought throughout his life.

It’s hard to say which part of Charles Dickens’ genius was the greater: storytelling, artistic writing, descriptive detail, complex plot organization, sheer high-level imagination, mixing fantastical with real to make them indistinguishable. There is no end to the ways Dickens is remarkable. Callow highlights these qualities vividly, while keeping the main focus on the man himself, his motivations, his conscience, his physical and mental struggles, and his complicated personality. Callow brings us inside, where we really get to know Dickens on a personal level.

Simon Callow achieves his own remarkable work of genius in this biography of Charles Dickens. The work shows moving affection as well as deep understanding of its subject. Our lives are fuller because of Dickens’ novels. And we are fuller because of Simon Callow’s work of art in this biography. show less