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Review
Fascinating book... It's beautifully written, moving and, coming from 1970s, Yes-loving prog-rocker, surprisingly moving --Independent
Book Description
An account of one man's struggle to recover from the loss of his greatest passion in life - and a hymn to music.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I found this book engrossing, moving and entertaining. Nick Coleman is primarily a music journalist and a man for whom music of all kinds has been central to his life. A few years ago he suddenly lost the hearing in one ear which also had devastating effects on his balance and on his whole inner world whenever he moved or was subjected to sounds of any kind - including music which became physically painful to listen to. The Train In The Night is his account of this experience, interwoven with the story of the birth of his love of music as a child and teenager in Cambridgeshire.
Part of my interest in this book is due to my having suffered exactly the same failure of the inner ear. I know that this may bias me toward the book, but it would also make me very critical if I thought it badly done. In fact it is exceptionally well done. It is phenomenally difficult to convey the experience because it is so subjective, but Coleman does it extremely well. He describes the physical effects very vividly, but also manages to portray the terrible but intangible loss of so much of what makes music so special to us and conveys a sense of having been inside and a living part of it and now being reduced to the equivalent of looking at a flat line-drawing of a magnificent building. I found both this and the difficult, partial struggle back very poignant, as was the phenomenal degree of support and strength shown by Coleman's wife Jane, who emerges as a quiet heroine from the narrative.
I also loved the youthful music bits. Coleman is (as one might expect from a music journalist) insightful and eloquent about all sorts of music, and about the prejudices and little hypocrisies we bring to it. Examples include both a terrific description of what makes Marvin Gaye's I Heard It Through The Grapevine so brilliant and a thoughtful and touching passage on Christmas carols.
The prose is very readable and there is a great deal of insight, honesty and wisdom in this book. It has a great deal to say about the importance of music and how we respond to it, and more generally about how people respond to crises of their own and of those they love. Very warmly recommended.
Part of my interest in this book is due to my having suffered exactly the same failure of the inner ear. I know that this may bias me toward the book, but it would also make me very critical if I thought it badly done. In fact it is exceptionally well done. It is phenomenally difficult to convey the experience because it is so subjective, but Coleman does it extremely well. He describes the physical effects very vividly, but also manages to portray the terrible but intangible loss of so much of what makes music so special to us and conveys a sense of having been inside and a living part of it and now being reduced to the equivalent of looking at a flat line-drawing of a magnificent building. I found both this and the difficult, partial struggle back very poignant, as was the phenomenal degree of support and strength shown by Coleman's wife Jane, who emerges as a quiet heroine from the narrative.
I also loved the youthful music bits. Coleman is (as one might expect from a music journalist) insightful and eloquent about all sorts of music, and about the prejudices and little hypocrisies we bring to it. Examples include both a terrific description of what makes Marvin Gaye's I Heard It Through The Grapevine so brilliant and a thoughtful and touching passage on Christmas carols.
The prose is very readable and there is a great deal of insight, honesty and wisdom in this book. It has a great deal to say about the importance of music and how we respond to it, and more generally about how people respond to crises of their own and of those they love. Very warmly recommended.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a most thought-provoking account of a person,a professional, who relies on a basic sense plus an artistic appreciation of what he interprets before he puts it into perpetual ink. What happens when this is blown? Compensation may help in general but as a dedicated critic, the mind changes are incomprehensible. Nick Coleman expertly deals with his own 'horrors' that he has to face. The frustration can only be understood in the narrative. There are many more out there who have never had an impairment of one of the vital senses. It is an old conundrum as to which sense is most or least important,usually discussed by the clear-headedness of the intact. This is very personal to Nick Coleman's story. His professional loves, skilled writing are fortunately backed by his family with a clearly wonderful wife. His readings of the passion of music he has minced in his mind and their repurcussions are an inspiration. His story is not without humour or hope. Listening and articulating about music is a gift and a pleasure. The world has millions of sufferers. Few get the chance to summarise their problems. Nick explains the effect on his life. No sympathy requested: get on with it as best. Many are born or have acquired disabilities. This ,hopefully,addresses their difficulties and reinforces the help required in amenities etc. As a medical doctor with a psychology degree and first hand family problems of this disorder, I can only recommend this in the highest terms.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I lost fifty per cent of my hearing three years ago, after having inflenza, and I am only 42 years old. The hardest thing for me to accept was how I thought I could never listen to music again, due to the massive distortion. I am a huge music lover, so it broke my heart when I could not even recognise favourite songs. I am still learning how to adjust how and what I can listen to.
This book was a huge comfort to me, as none of my friends, family, or even the professionals, understood how tremendously difficult this last three years have been for me.
I wish to give a huge thanks to the author, as I no longer feel alone.
This book was a huge comfort to me, as none of my friends, family, or even the professionals, understood how tremendously difficult this last three years have been for me.
I wish to give a huge thanks to the author, as I no longer feel alone.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Extremely interesting angle, but poorly proof read
This book comes at hearing loss from an entirely new angle, which I really enjoyed despite knowing little about the music genres Nick Coleman prefers. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Dr. W. E. J. Leverton
Too little of the hearing loss, too much of teen angst
I came to this book fascinated by Coleman's radio interview & an earlier piece (in the Telegraph perhaps? Read more
Published 3 months ago by D. Wyatt
Superb
Nick Coleman used to write for Time Out (perhaps he still does?) and I always used to like his stuff. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Thomas Raymond
Details disrupt
This is a great book, don't get me wrong, but I was thrown by a few of the details which, to me, seemed wrong. Read more
Published 4 months ago by R. I. K. Pipe
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