Touching from a Distance: Ian Curtis and Joy Division

by Deborah Curtis

Book Overview

The only in-depth biographical account of the lead singer of Joy Division, written by his widow. Revered by his peers--Bono described his voice as "holy"--and idolized by his fans, musician Ian Curtis... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0571207391
• ISBN13: 9780571207398
• Release Date: April 1996
• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Debbie's POV which is valid, but don't take as gospel

As a massive JD fan, I've read nearly every book out there. As with most people/couples, there are three sides to every story. With Ian no longer with us, I recommend that if you read this book and decided that Ian was a total jerk, that you read Mick Middles' "Torn Apart." It is as close to Ian's side we are ever going to get. Both sides deserve to have their stories heard.

Closest Perspective to a man in Isolation

"Touching from a Distance" is an interesting book written from the most intimate persective possible. Ian Curtis is held in a very high regard by his fans and some strange mythology has evolved around him. He is often viewed as someone who was above human nature and above his fellow artists. His anti-glamorous appearance and epilepsy as seem to have given hima light of meek innocence by his most subjective of historians, his die-hard fanbase. I am a die hard Joy Division fan but I am in no way surprised by the violent controlling behavior of Ian Curtis as described in this book. So I guess he was (and is) toching from a distance but up close he was a troubled individual. While I am sure that that Deborah Curtiss, is still working out the trauma of a relationship that ended abruptly 25 years ago I certainly don't think the story is exaggerated. I found it amazing that even though she allowed him to follow his ambitions, she wanted to remain a normal family and did not become a "rocker wife". This book is a fine and interesting look into the life of a troubled soul and how fame was the catalyst for his final decision. I recommend the work highly and it is a must read for JD fans as well as anyone who is trying to figure out the Artist-Suicide connection. I thought Repeatedly about Sylvia Plath, Elliot Smith and, of course, Kurt Cobain while reading it. I Found a couple things particularly interesting about the book and the first one is that Mrs. Curtis repeatedly blames Ian Curtis' behavior on managers, band mates and record execs who want to exploit or simply influence him. I couldn't tell if this was some sort of strange apology for his behavior or simply that she loved him too much to see reality as many abuse victims do. In reality there should be no excuse for his bahavior but admitedly Curtis was a visionary who really worked toward his singular goal of making music. From reading this work and reading between the lines I get a feeling that he was emotionally despondent and all together unsympathetic as a man and even had his managers not pushed him toward it, he would have certainly still not been the family man Mrs. Curtis wanted him to be. I am sure that he had emotions of love, I have heard his music, I think the problem was in the expression. Interestingly my struggle with Deborah's portrayal of her husband didn't get in the way my apreciation for how she portrayed him tenderly even while she described his affair. Another thing required for discussion is Curtis's alleged right wing affiliations. The Author and his wife explains his (...) fascinations and his love of order and organization but any definite (...) relation is only alluded to requiring a cognitive leap to make the connection. By this logic Michael Jackson too should be a die hard (...) Many artists and thinkers who grew up in the wake of WWII were deeply affected by the tumult of the war and what facist governments were. By writing songs such as "They wal

Exceptional

This is brilliant. For the first time, Joy Division fans are given an insight not only into Ian Curtis, the mysterious captivating frontman of a band, but also Ian as the person; the family man, the human being.This isn't (as other reviews might suggest) the memoir of a bitter and resentful wife, desperately wanting a small piece of the limelight that her husband so coldly denied her. She gives credit where it is due. She continually refers to Ian's 'caring and generous' side, the love she felt for him before and during their marriage, and how lost she felt when her love eventually wasn't returned. The reader is taken on a journey through the life of Deborah Curtis after she met Ian, how she was made to feel at the different stages, what it felt like to be caught in the trappings of mundane 'everyday' life as her childhood sweetheart realised his dreams of a successful band. It is true, Ian was a troubled person. Deborah Curtis, instead of pretending to understand the motives for his actions, tells the situation from her point of view; she felt alienated, misinformed, lied to, isolated, abandoned. She doesn't pretend to know her husband well enough to be able to say 'this WAS the reason he did this' etc. Although she was his wife, the closest person to Ian, she, like everyone else, ultimately had no clue as to what went on in his sadly tormented mind.A common problem I've noticed with books such as this is that, when the 'facts' are not entirely clear, the author will infer truths and make it dramatic. This doesn't happen in this book. When Deborah is sure of what happened, she writes it. But so often, she seems as alienated as everyone else in Ian's life, and she expresses this also. This is effective because it makes the book so real. When a person, especially a successful musican, commits suicide, it's so easy to get caught up in what THEY must have been feeling at the time. This book makes such a topic all the more 'real', because it shows exactly how others close to the person can be affected. It's a sad read, at times confusing, and entertaining. But above all, it is honest.Essential.

Sorry, That's Life

Realistic fans of Joy Division will love this book for the intimate window it provides on a troubled but brilliant man. Silly groupie-types who prefer the doomed-angst-angel myth that has grown around Ian Curtis will be outraged, because the book portrays him as he was: a flawed human being. I suggest these kids stick with their fantasies. Reality is so much more fascinating, though. Deborah Curtis writes with great economy, fairness, and insight, and her book is a godsend to the serious alternative music fan.

A personal view which we as fans never knew

I read Deborah Curtis' book a couple of months ago and have been surprised that I have not felt the same about the memory of Ian Curtis that I had since I heard he had died so many years ago. I saw Joy Division in concert when I was 15 years old in London and a couple of times on TV, I was hooked. I grew up wondering what kind of life this man had, what he was experiencing, what made him so bizarre on stage (see the video "Here are the Young Men"). I have grown up and for the most part still wondered about these unanswered questions. I hoped that reading Deborah's book would help me understand a bit more and I was not disappointed. The book was not about the music, but about the man, his dreams and his failures. This is what we as fans did not see, we only saw this pail white man with thrashing arms singing about stuff that we did not necessarily understand, but knew he saw singing for us. Thank you Deborah for a wonderful insight into your life with Ian Curtis. Hopefully he can now rest in peace.