Non Fiction Book reviews Part 26 - Metronome, Die Hard and Sweeney Todd

Welcome to part 26 in a series of non-fiction book reviews, originally based on the idea that the books I request tell you everything you need to know about me. I have, after so many chapters of this series, realised that all these posts say about me is that this was just a place to put these reviews, but now I can see how broad my non-fiction reading is, and how many interesting, good (and sometimes not-so-good) books and topics I've had a chance to explore. Today we have another book from the Object Lessons series, which is a series of 'short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things', a book about the movie Die Hard and one about the musical Sweeney Todd.

Metronome (Object Lessons) by Matthew H. Birkhold

This might be me, or it might be the subject matter, but after reading this book I didn't feel like metronomes are particularly interesting. that might be because of organisational structure of this book - by theme (Authority, Training, Anxiety, Rebellion and Beauty) leads to some of the chapters feeling like collections of quotes and thoughts, rather than comprehensive overview of the topic. It also makes for a feeling of repetition, as each chapter moves in a largely chronological order, from the invention of the metronome.

There are some interesting facts and anecdotes, but I found this book a little dry. While the author is a (professional or semi-professional) musician, unlike some of the other Object Lesson volumes this one really is about the object and not mainly about the author's experience with it. I may be biased towards the more personal volumes. If you've ever been curious about the history and uses of the simple metronome, this volume is for you.  

Die Hard (BFI Film Classics) by Jon Lewis

                                                           

I'm generally someone who watches a film, enjoys it (or doesn't) and moves on. There are a couple of films that I watch repeatedly and Die Hard is one of them. So when a book about the movie became available on NetGalley I requested and received it. This is a book of reflection and critique, not a set of facts, or gossip about the actors. It places the movie squarely in it's socio-economic period, and discussed the important things (race, feminism, class). As someone who is not particularly interested in cinematography I was glad the book was quite short - too much more discussion about what sort of shot was used would have lost me. In summary - if you like the movie, this book is worth the couple of hours it took to read.

Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: Behind the Bloody Musical Masterpiece by Rick Pender 

This is a detailed, very detailed, some might say too detailed account of the inception of and various productions of Sweeney Todd. Some of the initial material is quite interesting, but the bulk of the book is the retelling of various productions and I didn't find that interesting at all. It's factual but not interesting.

This book read more like a list of facts than an interesting true story. Unlike the musical, it's completely apolitical. It doesn't place the musical into any greater context, or reflect how the identified themes of class, poverty, privilege etc are relevant or interest. The whole book is rather dry.