Culture

Author: John Darnielle. (4/5)
Master of Reality is part of the long-running 33 1/3 series, in which each new entry is written by a different author about classic album of their choosing. John Darnielle has written his tribute to the Black Sabbath album in the form of a diary kept by a sixteen-year old boy placed in an adolescent psychiatric institution in 1985.
 

After being committed to the institution, Roger Painter's doctors confiscate his tapes, claiming that music like Black Sabbath's is only going to further contribute to his instability. Roger is asked to keep a diary of his thoughts, so that he can express himself in a way that the doctors consider healthy. The first pages consist solely of the words, "FUCK YOU ALL GO TO HELL". Slowly, however, in an effort to get his tapes back, Roger attempts to educate his doctors on Master of Reality. Trapped not only by his situation but also by his inability to articulate his feelings, Roger can't put into words what makes Black Sabbath’s music so great, so he focuses instead on describing how it makes him feel. Anyone familiar with Darnielle's band, The Mountain Goats, knows just how articulate and poetic he can be, but in the voice of this angry sixteen year old, he seems to be limited by his dedication to authenticity; long-winded rambles and poor spelling and grammar run rampant. This is partially rectified in the second half of the book, in which an adult Roger pens a letter to his former doctor to explain why it was so wrong to have taken his tapes away. Darnielle spent several years working as a psychiatric nurse and his anger at the oppressive institutions and the negative effects they can have on young people is ferocious here. It is tragic to see Roger age from a passionate boy with a sad life and anger issues to a hurting man who has been crushed by the system.

 
Master of Reality is likely to draw one of two responses. Those already familiar with the 33 1/3 books, and anyone expecting a well-written and researched extended essay about Black Sabbath, may feel cheated that Darnielle has used his chance to write for the series as an excuse to write his first novel. But the book is an excellent read and rather moving considering its short length. Darnielle is a great writer, even if his narrator is not. He recognises that Sabbath is better understood from the gut than from the head and the book reflects that admirably.