aportablemagic's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
tacosrgr8's review
4.0
Great story. The narrator was not my favorite. Like at all. I had to speed it up to 1.6x to even pretend to enjoy it.
awellreadwitch's review
4.0
For me, seeing Tori play a live show is my church. I think I've only missed one tour. It's like seeing the ocean, it resets me. Her music has gotten me through major fixed points in my life. So when I got to the chapters regarding Mary....
See... in 2003 my father died from his second stroke. If you have lived through seeing a loved one survive and then succumb to a stroke, you know. You're part of that club. I had tickets to see the Scarlett's Walk tour three days after he passed. I hesitated to go, and after much urging by loved ones I went. I cried through most of it but it was what I needed. I'm sp grateful for that tour. I couldn't speak at my father's funeral the next week. I played Gold Dust instead.
These chapters about Mary. They bring me back and I'm grateful for those, too.
See... in 2003 my father died from his second stroke. If you have lived through seeing a loved one survive and then succumb to a stroke, you know. You're part of that club. I had tickets to see the Scarlett's Walk tour three days after he passed. I hesitated to go, and after much urging by loved ones I went. I cried through most of it but it was what I needed. I'm sp grateful for that tour. I couldn't speak at my father's funeral the next week. I played Gold Dust instead.
These chapters about Mary. They bring me back and I'm grateful for those, too.
muldr99's review
4.0
Not entirely what I had expected, but there's some great stuff on songwriting and creativity. The snapshots of her life were interesting, too.
littleelfman's review
5.0
This is wonderful. For any creatives or those who want insight into how this particular creative sees the world. I found this wonderfully uplifting.
hollydeitz's review
2.0
Started reading it and couldn't keep breading it. Not sure why. I don't know her music at all, so maybe that plays a part?
tinamayreads's review
3.0
RESISTANCE: A Songwriter’s Story of Hope, Change and Courage by Tori Amos is a memoir I’d recommend to her fans or if you’re curious to learn more about her as it’s a quick read!
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I haven’t heard any of her music before but her name sounded familiar so I thought I’d read this book especially since I’ve been really loving memoirs lately. I liked how the book was told through her songs (lyrics included) and how she talked about many different points of her life from childhood to now as well as her difficult times of failure and grief.
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I haven’t heard any of her music before but her name sounded familiar so I thought I’d read this book especially since I’ve been really loving memoirs lately. I liked how the book was told through her songs (lyrics included) and how she talked about many different points of her life from childhood to now as well as her difficult times of failure and grief.
alexampersand's review
4.0
I've long regarded Tori Amos as one of the most interesting and intricate creative minds around. She seems to view both the world, and the creative process, in such a way that very few people do. So I was very excited to dig into this, and have her focus her thoughts and opinions on the topic of Resistance.
And this book was... not exactly what I expected it to be. I'm still not entirely sure exactly what sort of book this is. I'm not sure Tori knew what sort of book this was while writing it. At one points it's a recount of war and political unrest (partially through historical recounts, and partially through a lens of a creative writer and performer living through these times). At another it's a straight up memoir about the creative process, and weaving songs together. At another it's a love letter to her mother who passed away shortly before the book was written (and I do wonder whether perhaps parts of the book were written prior to her passing away, hence the distinct feel of the latter half of the book which is very focused on her mother).
All of these parts are fascinating, and often beautiful. But it had the effect of feeling a little structurally uncertain. I feel like it would have benefitted from being split into distinct 'parts' that dealt with distinct themes, rather than simply an ongoing series of short segments, some of which flow into one another, and others which seem to take a screeching U-turn to discuss wholly different subject matter.
I also love the addition of the song lyrics to split up the segments, although, perhaps it's just me being obtuse and unable to read through Tori's deeply metaphorical lyrics, some of them I would have appreciated a little more explanation in the text for how they fit into the themes being discussed.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it as a book, but just wish it had a little more structure to it.
And this book was... not exactly what I expected it to be. I'm still not entirely sure exactly what sort of book this is. I'm not sure Tori knew what sort of book this was while writing it. At one points it's a recount of war and political unrest (partially through historical recounts, and partially through a lens of a creative writer and performer living through these times). At another it's a straight up memoir about the creative process, and weaving songs together. At another it's a love letter to her mother who passed away shortly before the book was written (and I do wonder whether perhaps parts of the book were written prior to her passing away, hence the distinct feel of the latter half of the book which is very focused on her mother).
All of these parts are fascinating, and often beautiful. But it had the effect of feeling a little structurally uncertain. I feel like it would have benefitted from being split into distinct 'parts' that dealt with distinct themes, rather than simply an ongoing series of short segments, some of which flow into one another, and others which seem to take a screeching U-turn to discuss wholly different subject matter.
I also love the addition of the song lyrics to split up the segments, although, perhaps it's just me being obtuse and unable to read through Tori's deeply metaphorical lyrics, some of them I would have appreciated a little more explanation in the text for how they fit into the themes being discussed.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it as a book, but just wish it had a little more structure to it.