Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Norman who???, 14 Aug 2009
More often than not a biography is bought because of an interest in the life of the famous subject. To be honest, when I bought this book I had heard the name of Norman Lewis, but could not pick him out in any 'virtual' identity parade. Because of the subject's involvement with motor racing and Spain in the 1930s, amongst many other things, I bought this book on a whim and am very glad I did.
Some 800 odd pages later, I can say that I know an awful lot about someone who led the sort of life that will never be seen again. If you like 'getting under the skin' of the subject, Julian Evans biography of Norman Lewis is pretty much as good as gets.
Forget the fact that the subject is not an 'A list' celebrity, there is more to life than that, just buy it for the superb writing and the collection of odd people that you will come to know via this book. Possibly the best biography I have read in years.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Admired but not Famous, 24 Jul 2009
I had already read some of Norman Lewis works starting with 'The Honoured Society' and have found him to be a rewarding and highly interesting man and writer. His experiences, travels and exploits could make you feel inadequate however!
This is an excellent biography and can hopefully further elevate Lewis's stature as a traveller and writer because up to now he has probably been more 'admired than famous'. It is a convincing and comprehensive account of his life and works with great detail, lots of adventure, anecdotes and vignettes. By the end I seemed to have been reading this work for weeks because it is a long book and not one to skim read, but I can honestly say that getting to the end was hardly a goal - I could have carried on reading it for months. A fine achievement from Julian Evans and it has inspired me to read even more of Lewis's works.
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Singular Biography of a Singular Man, 20 Jun 2009
I first came across Norman Lewis's work just over ten years ago, looking for something a little different in the local library, I came across a tatty copy of his book Naples '44 and somehow or other (not the cover, it was an early Eland paperback edition fronted with just text) I picked it up. Returning home I made a cuppa, rolled a fag settled back and was quietly stunned by the quality of the vivid, shrewd, observational writing. This was something special and as far as N.Lewis non-fiction went I have read everything available since with great joy.
Ten years later - I notice someone has writing a biog of N.Lewis, some fellow called Julian Evans (never heard of him) and it suddenly struck me how little I actually knew about N.Lewis life. Having been credit crunched I had to restrain myself until the paperback edition came out, fortified by memories of reading awful biogs of good writers in the past.
I pre-ordered my copy from Amazon, and waited expectantly for it to arrive, which it eventually did two weeks after the publication date. Not Amazons fault, but rather the local Royal Mail seem to be returning to pre-industrial work rhythms; somehow appropriate given the subject of the book.
Again I settled back, and started Semi-Invisible Man with some trepedation which turned out to be entirely unwarranted. Julian Evans captures Norman Lewis's singularly strange life marvelously, it is neither a hatchet job nor hagiography but a serious, sympathetic look at one of Britains best twentieth century writers. It fills in the blanks in Lewis's fascinating but far from comprehensive autobiographical writings; puts things into order (as far as it is possible when one considers Lewis's full and somewhat complex life), places him in the context of his family life (which I didnt know the half of), the publishing world, his business world (which I knew nothing of) and his many other pursuits.
Lewis comes across as an occasionally prickly, but essentially humane man. There is plenty in the book to laugh with and occasionally to make your eyes moisten, as well as spade loads of intelligent insight into Lewis's character which is suitably restrained and in no way overbearing. It also made me think of reading his fiction works, and Evans book provides a good background to them. I had somehow gained the impression that he wrote his fiction to fund his travels (possibly their covers which give off the impression of popular thrillers), but it is clear that Lewis for long periods of his life considered fiction his main ambition. Lewis's main achievement was bringing to light the plight of indigenous peoples across the globe which Evans covers well.
In short if you have read Norman Lewis already this is essential, if you haven't buy it any way - his is a life worth knowing in itself, and I'm sure Evans's book will stimulate an appetite to read the mans many fantastic works. Excellent.
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by Norman Lewis
by Norman Lewis
by Norman Lewis
by Norman Lewis
