James Rhodes

Thank you Lucky. He comes across (also in interviews on camera) as a thoroughly likeable person. However the damage that was done to his psyche as a child is irrefutable. How very, very sad. No wonder he is angry.

Yes - the first book ended on a high with his new wife - but sadly that came to grief too.

He has also written another book called How to Play the Piano - it takes you through from total ignorance to playing a Bach prelude, so is suitable for people who cannot read music and have never touched a piano. Interesting.

This is my review of Fire on all Sides (his second book) - several asterisks as it is for the parish mag!!:

Fire On All Sides by James Rhodes

Three years ago I favourably reviewed Instrumental, international concert pianist James Rhodes' first book. He has followed this up with Fire On All Sides (the title is from a stage direction in Don Giovanni), another extraordinary book, based on his concert tours of 2016.

Rhodes was seriously physically abused in the worst possible way for many years from the age of 6, resulting in the need for spinal surgery and a lifetime of mental illness and failed relationships. He identifies the central cause of his problems as an inability to trust others – and who can blame him?

His writing style is exceptionally fluent and powerful, enhanced rather than spoiled by frequent use of the “f word” and other expletives. He has earned the right to express himself with vehemence and passion. Each chapter is prefaced by an exposition of one of the pieces he is playing on the tour. We are transported into the lives of the composers, and his bar-by-bar journey through each piece graphically demonstrates the transforming power of music for the composers, for Rhodes himself, and potentially for us all; and especially for young people. He has no patience with the educational politics that sideline and under-fund music and the arts. One of his concerts is at a grammar school, unusual for its excellent musical tradition: “Music is running throughout the fabric of the entire school, just as it should be. Music is thriving, the students are thriving. (politicians, please notice the connection here, you ** idiots.)”

Equally moving are his lengthy real-time “stream of consciousness” passages, detailing the agonies of self-doubt, obsession, fear, sorrow, anger and sheer mental pain that have dogged his life. We see him in the depths of despair one moment, the next convinced he has got this misery licked, only to plunge back down again. His distress is tangible; although his ability to stand aside from what he is enduring and analyse where he is going wrong is clear, as is his impotence in the face of the ever-present and fundamental lack of trust that is central to his being. We are led to a better understanding of the profound psychological damage that is inflicted by these crimes against innocence. It is impossible not to think about the recent football coach convictions and to commend the bravery of the former young footballers who have come forward. Impossible too not to despair at the current state of mental health services – I doubt whether Rhodes would still be with us if he had been forced to rely wholly on the failing and under-funded mental health arm of the NHS.

Do not be put off this book by the raw pain; nor by the apparent self-indulgence and egocentricity, of which the author is fully aware. Here we have mental illness laid bare; and the revelation of how close it is to “normality” - his obsessive rituals a mere exaggeration of “touching wood”, his inner loneliness a small step away from the empty place that most people are equipped to keep at bay. But there is plenty of wry humour and wit here too, each chapter being prefaced with a trite and hackneyed aphorism beloved of self-help books, followed by his pithy “translation.”

His punishing concert tour schedules engender both stress writ large, alongside fleeting moments of real human communication when he is at one with his attentive audience. A difficult balance to strike. Throughout the tour, Rhodes is also plagued by communications from his lawyers about the legal proceedings surrounding his second divorce. He wryly refers to this as the “parking ticket”.

This is an excellent and moving book. He can aptly now be described as “concert pianist and writer” rather than a pianist who writes books.

Hi Lucky I loved Instrumental. (I used to work for the psychiatrist whom James credits with saving his life). The sexual abuse he suffered was horrendous, brutal.

I didn't know he had written a second book. He writes well. I was sorry to hear him say in a recent interview that his second marriage had also ended.

Will look for the book.

lucky I'm waiting to collect the book from the library _ I'm sure it will be a harrowing but fascinating read.