Book stores "won’t know whether to file this novel under fantasy or tragedy..."The relationship between *Peter Hook* and Bernard Sumner has never been easy.
The two may have helped steer Joy Division and New Order to international acclaim, but internal division saw New Order disintegrate on multiple occasions.
Now estranged, the two only ever seem to engage via barbed comments in press interviews. Bernard Sumner's autobiography 'Chapter And Verse' is forthcoming, with fans led to ponder if it had been written in response to Hooky's own tomes - such as the Hacienda themed 'How Not to Run a Club' the Joy Division memoir 'Unknown Pleasures.
*Billboard* asked Peter Hook to review his former band mate's book. Typically caustic, here are some choice selections:
"I enjoyed reading about Bernard’s early life in Salford. Indeed, personal prejudices aside, as we have both been a huge part of each other’s lives for some forty odd years and it was nice to hear more about his childhood..."
"When we arrive at the New Order section, this is where, in his own words Bernard “unleashes the gates of hell.” This section jumps about in time, at one point by some six years, but some of the stories shocked even me..."
"I found Bernard often very contradictory and his narration towards me is cruel and spiteful. We all have different memories and we all remember things differently. However Bernard only ever seems to remember the things that suit his purpose. This, in many ways, seems like an effort to sideswipe a “problem bassist” out of history, or at least his history."
"It is a shame, not just for us and the fans, but maybe also for the book stores who won’t know whether to file this novel under fantasy or tragedy. Doing my New Order book as I am now, I have come to realise that in the early days we did achieve a hell of a lot together, we started New Order from nothing and made it successful against all the odds. We had a really good time doing it, loads of daft adventures. It’s a real pity that it’s ended like this. Realising how good we were, when the two of us argued, for the sake of mankind, maybe we should carry on arguing."
Check out the full review *HERE.*
Photo via Peter Hook.
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