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Red Army Faction Blues by Ada Wilson (view source)
Revision as of 07:45, 18 February 2012
, 07:45, 18 February 2012no edit summary
But the aspect of the novel which gives it a radically additional dimension from the 'factional' insider account of the events in 60's Germany is the intriguing evidence that the mental breakdown of Peter Green, ex-guitarist of Fleetwood Mac, came shortly after his visit to Berlin where he met with members of the group. The mystery of these events takes Wilson/Urbach into a parallel investigation of pop music and commercialism, of the fame and drug-fuelled egotism of the rock star, and to the connection between the world of music and politics which was so evident in the 1960s. It is a thought-provoking direction to take, and raises questions about the mix of politics, alienation, drugs and music that was encapsulated by Berlin in 1967.
Ultimately I am not sure that the complexity of the issues and directions here can be truly bourn borne by the Peter Urbach character, and such a situation called for a more subtle observer. For some, the conclusion may be rather trite, but the novel inspired me to undertake more background reading on Baader-Meinhoff and Green, so full marks for working with a theme to capture the imagination of at least this reader.
The novel for me definitely kindled a desire to find out more about the complex events of the Baader-Meinhof group and that 60's Germany which spawn them, and for that, one of the classic texts must be [The Baader-Meinof Complex by Stephan Aust], at 500 pages a detailed documentation of the whole phenomenon.