Book Reviews on a Music Blog

Creators: From Chaucer and Durer to Picasso and Disney by Paul Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"All the same, creation is a marvelous business, and people who create at the highest level lead a privileged life, however arduous and difficult it may be. An interesting life, too, full of peculiar aspects and strange satisfactions. That is the message of this book."

The abbreviated biographical stories in Johnson's Creators are brush strokes in a much larger painting, individual pieces of a mosaic (pun absolutely intended). Opening the book with the notion that creativity is inherent in all human beings as a result of our own creation in the image of a creative (and yet uncreated) God, Johnson proceeds to take snapshot looks at the lives of some of human history's most well-known & notorious creative personalities (I would have liked to have known what his thought process was for selected those he did). Searching for any semblance of pattern or recurring characteristics, Johnson delves into the world of music, literature, art, and even fashion & decorative glass to see if he can't put his finger on some undeniable creative gene.

What he finds might surprise some readers, but most creative types will probably conjure up an affirmative and familiar smile & nod. Along the way, however, Johnson makes some interesting observations about the nature of creativity: that it's not necessarily tied to intelligence or genius or moral decency, that it can be both largely derivative or highly original, that it can spring of intense education & wealth or relatively little of either. His conclusion is a refreshing and satisfying one:

"The truth is, all creators are highly individual and have different views about what helps or hinders their work. Often their views are confused, or are formed so slowly and tentatively – after setbacks and failures – as to come too late materially to influence their careers, when options have closed and energy flags. It is not easy to be a creator at the higher levels, and at the highest it is often agony. All creators agree that it is a painful and often a terrifying experience, to be endured rather than relished, and preferable only to not being a creator at all."

Basking in the lives of some of humanity's most powerful creatives makes for a fascinating, interesting, and thought-provoking read. My only (small) issue with the book was the very occasional editorializing that occurred without further explanation. (I'd like to know, for instance, why Johnson seems to assume that everyone already knows that Monet and the other Impressionists were so universally "dull".) Other than that, however, I found this to be a marvelous jaunt through artistic history, even during the chapter on Dior & Balenciaga (caring about fashion is simply not my thing). And, believe me, the final chapter juxtaposing Walt Disney & Pablo Picasso serves as a brilliant payoff.

I love Johnson's writing and this book is no exception. Highly recommended, especially for artistically-inclined types.

View all my reviews