Light My Fire
by Ray Manzarek
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ray ManzarekEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-10-15
ISBN: 0425170454
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Book Reviews of Light My Fire
Book Review: "Light My Fire" will light your fire!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ray Manzarek, the author of Light My Fire, used literary devices in his book effectively to tell the story of the crazy life of the Doors. The dialect, flashbacks, and the characters in the story all give a genuine feel for what life was like living in the sixties and forming one of the first psychedelic rock bands. The dialect of the novel is one of the predominate devices to show the language of the 1960's when the book took place. Words like man, groovy, brother, love and anti-establishment are seen throughout the book. For example When describing their new tape recorder Robby Krieger exclaims "'Wow, eight tracks. That's groovy,(p. 254)'" And again when Ray tells Jim Morrison " This music, our music, is called...psychedelic.(p. 102)"
In addition the characters also represent the time well. The members of the Doors lived the life of rock stars. Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore were all dynamic characters. Each of these characters live the average life of a kid, but with the band they made many changes. Along with playing their music they would drink, smoke joints, occasionally trip acid, and Jim would even take trips to the desert to smoke peyote. Along with the drugs, the band also had many women. Groupies were always following the band trying to meet the members. (The changes they made in their liberated lifestyles allowed them to create songs listened to by generations, and also to create a new type of music the nation had never heard, psychedelic.)
While telling the story Manzarek used the flashback style. He began by describing the death of Jim Morrison and wrote " We would always have a piece of us missing. For the rest of our lives.(p.18)" Then he began to describe his life and how e came to be part of the Doors. "I didn't even know that piece was going to be missing back on the corner of bell and 34th avenue in Chicago Illinois, the city of my birth-on February 12, 1939-and the corner of my home and my grammar school. All I knew was that I was alive and the adventure began at that intersection.(p. 19)"
Another device Manzarek used is when telling his story is he adds a couple of lines from different songs. These lyrics coincide with the specific event happening at that point in his life. For example he hoped that someday everyone would live together in harmony. He then has this quote from a song:
Let's reinvent the gods.
All the myths of the ages.
Celebrate symbols from deep, elder forests.
Light Fire My is definitely worth reading. The reading is enjoyable and it is very interesting. I liked the book a lot. The literary devices used add greatly to the reality factor of the novel. Manzarek presents the time and the life of the band very accurately, and being such a wild group of musicians it was intriguing. Not only is a lot learned about the Doors but it also depicts the era of the sixties historically.
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