About a month ago, I somehow got bored with fiction books. I felt like reading something real, then I found this book. Perfect, biography, as real as it gets. Also, what intrigues me to read is that I don't know anything about Nick Drake, other than his three albums and the fact that he died young.
After finished reading this book, I still don't know anything about Nick Drake. Nobody really knows him. However, the author try to put all the pieces of his life together, families, friends, producers, girlfriend, acquaintance, musicians, critics... everyone contributes their thoughts about Nick Drake. So, you get the vague picture of this really tall pale man, a man with very few words, a man who plays wonderful guitar, but also a man who distant himself from everyone else... that leads to his severe depression, which more or less kills him (technically, he died of anti-depressant overdose). His whole life is a mystery, even his death is a mystery (was overdose intentional, or unintentional?). But that's what I like most. I wouldn't want to read the biography of The Rolling Stones, or U2... there's no mysteries behind their success. With Nick Drake, there's a lot of mystery behind... why he hated live performance? why was he depressed? why wasn't he successful during his time? Let these mysteries remain in the clouds of unknown, and let his sweet melodies flow into our ears.
