John

Cynthia Lennon's story is one that is been kept under the rug for years and is a story which has a strong possibility of captivating a wide audience whether they are fans of John Lennon or not. Cynthia let it all hang out in her book about "John", from the love they shared to her depression and anger towards John's treatment of their son Julian.

Whether you sympathize for Cynthia or not her book is well written and her story is well told. As I said earlier anyone can read this book, it is the perfect story of love, heartbreak, and a shocking ending. Cynthia goes into great detail about her relationship with John and her perspective of John throughout his life. She intertwines her life story with John's in fantastic ways seeing the true connections they shared from the time they met and the time John died.

The details of their relationship was something which was sort of under wraps unlike John's relationship with Yoko. The book is a really easy read and flows well. The book doesn't quite read like an autobiography since the focus of the story was about John of course so Cynthia does a pretty good job of leaving a lot of the minor details of her life which don't relate to John out of the story. She makes it clear that her love for John was strong and passionate and John's love for her was also extremely strong. Cynthia gives fantastic insight on John's personality like his extreme jealousy (Something which he told the world in "Jealous Guy") and his off the wall temper which could turn from happy and sincere to violent in seconds.

Even though John had blessed her with a life of extravagance for the years they spent together it is hard to deny the fact that John had treated her poorly and left her in a terrible situation. At times it seems like Cynthia makes herself out to be an all too good wife. The way she was able to forgive John for nearly anything and everything made me question her motives at times and whether or not she was truly as forgiving as she was. For instance, the way John had many affairs, he just played it off as something which was inevitable because women threw themselves at him so it was alright as long as they didn't mean anything. One thing that did feel truly authentic however, was her anger about the treatment of Julian which she harps on a lot and for good reason. She makes claims as saying how could the man who sang "Imagine", which makes claims that the world should "live as one", not even love and care for his own son. I think it really drives home the fact that you can't really effectively advocate for peace if you don't have peace within your life and that was John's major flaw.

Because Cynthia has been through so much regarding John her book needs to be taken with a grain of salt, she has a lot of pent up emotion which needed to be let out and she does so effectively. I was surprised by how captivated I was with this book and how it gave such a great perspective from a different side. By the time I was done I nearly hated the man who was sort of a hero to me. After some time away from the book I still look up to John and admire him for his work towards peace and his incredible song writing capabilities but this book did shed a more humane life on the issue of his personal relationship with Cynthia and Julian.