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Introducing Graphic Guides

by Michael White

An illustrated introduction to one of the most controversial figures in the music world.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Philosophy, History, Comics, Art

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Michael White was a British writer who was based in Perth, Australia. He studied at King's College London (1977–1982) and was a chemistry lecturer at d'Overbroeck's College, Oxford (1984–1991).
He was a science editor of British GQ, a columnist for the Sunday Express in London and, 'in a previous incarnation', he was a member of Colour Me Pop. Colour Me Pop featured on the "Europe in the Year Zero" EP in 1982 with Yazoo and Sudeten Creche and he was then a member of the group The Thompson Twins (1982). He moved to Australia in 2002 and was made an Honorary Research Fellow at Curtin University in 2005.
He was the author of thirty-five books: these include Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science; Leonardo: The First Scientist; Tolkien: A Biography; and C. S. Lewis: The Boy Who Chronicled Narnia. His first novel Equinox – thriller, an occult mystery reached the Top Ten in the bestseller list in the UK and has been translated into 35 languages. His non-fiction production included the biography Galileo: Antichrist. Novels following Equinox include The Medici Secret, The Borgia Ring and The Art of Murder.
White wrote under two further names, Tom West and Sam Fisher. He used the latter pseudonym to publish the E-Force trilogy, State of Emergency, Aftershock, and Nano.
A further novel by White, The Venetian Detective, features characters including Galileo and Elizabeth.
White wrote a biography of Isaac Newton, The Last Sorcerer. He was both short-listed and long-listed for the Aventis prize. Rivals was short-listed in 2002, and The Fruits of War long-listed in 2006. He was also nominated for the Ned Kelly Prize for First Novel (for Equinox in 2007).

Reviews

[Jim Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent biography of a great opera composer but a terrible person.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

As far as I recall, this is the second book I read in this series. And it's the second time the anti-semitism is whitewashed. In this case, it becomes explainable. And Wagner, one of the exponents of Romanticism becomes from a pro authoritarian figure, no less than a libertarian!

The text is choke full with dubious statements like "Wagner’s operas understood psychology before it was invented" Well, there seems to be such a thing as psychology, but so far is much based on anecdotal evidence and only in the last decades experiments started to appear. Those experiments are of dubious quality, the double blind standard being mostly an utopia in the field. So it's hard to say that people understand it in 2017. Also, it was not invented, but rather discovered as humans have not developed the brain areas to support it in the 19th century. And, of course, the operas are abstract streams of sounds. At best, they can be the sum of the musical notes printed on paper. Yet, for the shallow mind of Michael White, that does not stop the paper to understand concepts.

[Brian Mikołajczyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard Wagner was a brilliant composer and librettist who also held anti-semetic views.
This short biography dives into the themes and beliefs Wagner held and how it reflected in his operas.
A very great read.

[Introvert Insane · Rating 4 out of 5]

So... I picked this out on a whim. Knew nothing about the guy, never even heard his name. But yeah, fascinating figure, really just a shit person tho. But hey, he contributed something to history and art so that counts for something.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great palatable Wagner biography. With pictures! Also funny.

[Coenraad · Rating 5 out of 5]

White and Scott provide a solid yet light-hearted introduction to Wagner, giving the most important facts about his life and works. They touch on sensitve issues, like his personal ideology and ethics, the Nazi obsession with Wagner's music, his debt status, the multi-interpretability of his genial compositions. The book is not intended to be comprehensive, and as such does an excellent job of introducing a flawed giant in the history of music.

White en Scott se visuele teks oor Wagner bied 'n fassinerende inleiding tot hierdie komplekse kunstenaar en komponis, sy werk, sy impak en sy kontroversiële nalatenskap.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another informative and interesting book in this series. I'll admit other than some concerts and a couple of Bugs Bunny cartoons I was not very knowledgeable about Wagner and his music. Apparently, he was very talented, and he changed the landscape of opera during his lifetime. He was also horribly anti-Semitic and blamed the Jews anytime something went wrong in his artistic endeavors or Europe. He even wrote several treatises about it. That was probably the reason his music and ideals were used so much by Hitler and the Third Reich.

[Peter Zalmayev · Rating 3 out of 5]

i love the "introducing" series, but as this one testifies, they can be a hit-and-miss affair. while the treatments is mostly competent, some of the drawings in this one are downright weird, as when Siegfried is drawn as a handsome youth but in one he comes out looking like an ugly, hook-nosed dwarf.

[Dfordoom · Rating 1 out of 5]

The usual rubbish people written about Wagner by people with no understanding whatsoever of the man or the music. With the usual "Wagner was responsible for the Nazis" nonsense. Aside from that it's just more Politically Correct drivel.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! It's hilarious, a great intro to Wagner.