Dickens and Prince

georgewhatup reviewed Dickens and Prince by Nick Hornby

Review of 'Dickens and Prince' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

I hate books that should've been articles, it ends up feeling like someone trying to hit a minimum word count rather than writing from a place of genuine interest.

Would've been a really enjoyable long-form article. It's an interesting topic, looking at how some peoples creative talent can be such a torrent, but that's about as deep as it goes. Plus the entire premise of 'finding all these similarities between the two artists' starts to feel stretched very quickly. When it's not generic "An artist with a rough childhood!" it's not even similar "They were both brilliant as soon as they started! (apart from Prince who practiced his entire life, released one album to mixed reception, and then made it big)"

It's weird cause you wouldn't think Hornby needs the cash.

lokroma reviewed Dickens and Prince by Nick Hornby

Review of 'Dickens and Prince' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

At first the premise seems a bit stretched: a comparison of two men who were cultural superstars within their own time, and who each produced massive amounts of work over the span of short lives. Must happen quite a bit with celebrities, right? According to Hornby, Prince and Charles Dickens are exceptions, and he thoroughly convinced me.

I love Dickens, but was never (and still am not) a Prince fan. Still, I enjoyed details that were unfamiliar to me about each of these men, and they lead me to listen to some songs that were new to me and to add books to my reading list.

Both of these artists put out product at an incredibly rapid clip, were messy and imperfect in their process, yet somehow much of their output seems perfect. In a fascinating analysis, Hornby contrasts their way of working with less prolific, more exacting creators like …

At first the premise seems a bit stretched: a comparison of two men who were cultural superstars within their own time, and who each produced massive amounts of work over the span of short lives. Must happen quite a bit with celebrities, right? According to Hornby, Prince and Charles Dickens are exceptions, and he thoroughly convinced me.

I love Dickens, but was never (and still am not) a Prince fan. Still, I enjoyed details that were unfamiliar to me about each of these men, and they lead me to listen to some songs that were new to me and to add books to my reading list.

Both of these artists put out product at an incredibly rapid clip, were messy and imperfect in their process, yet somehow much of their output seems perfect. In a fascinating analysis, Hornby contrasts their way of working with less prolific, more exacting creators like Harper Lee and explores what it says about genius. He also emphasizes that in the end it is hard, hard work that drives genius to celebrity.

ES Paulson

rated it

Jan. 5, 2023