This Searing Light, The Sun and Everything Else: Joy Division: The Oral History
Faber & Faber
Joy Division aficionados would be intimately familiar with the movie on the band from 2007, which was meant to portray the story of the band channelled through their own lenses, substantiated by input from other contemporary witnesses.
Jon Savage's approach to this tome on the history of Joy Division was informed by interviews the content of which never made it into the narrative of the aforementioned movie, backed by accounts of over fifteen witnesses including but not limited to Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner, Annike Honore, Deborah Curtis, Paul Morley, Tony Wilson, Rob Gretton and Martin Hannet.
The result is a less linear complementary piece, shedding light on the band’s genesis via their rise to their eventual tragic demise set against the backdrop of dreary post-industrial Manchester, which could be interpreted as what you would get in addition to the movie’s director’s cut.
Now, if you are a hardcore JD fan, it’s unlikely that this book will deliver never heard before facts, however, it is definitely a well written collection of interviews that aid in adding yet another facet to the unique outfit that Joy Division was – specifically when it comes to the different perspectives contributed by those who were actually involved.
An insightful ode to the creation of the monument of original and extraordinary creativity that was Joy Division and one that remains unrivalled to this day.
