Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating And Memorable.
Review: "Beethoven's Hair" is a wonderful book. A little fascinating piece of history that keeps keeps the reader interested for it's entire length. What works so well about Russell Martin's book is that it combines so many story threads into one work. It convincingly explores the life of the musical genius Ludwig van Beethoven, the effect of his music in the hearts of millions, the power of music and art in general, and in a thrilling way it follows a lock of his hair through it's journey in history. There is true suspense when Martin writes about the people who tried to fight against the evil swelling up against them during World War 2 and how Beethoven's music played an important role in that struggle. Like a great detective story, "Beethoven's Hair" never reveals its secrets too quickly and keeps the reader fascinated. But the best chapters are the ones about Beethoven's life where we realize he was one of the few authentic geniuses music has produced. Fun, memorable, and sometimes moving, "Beethoven's Hair" is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating And Memorable.
Review: "Beethoven's Hair" is a wonderful book. A little fascinating piece of history that keeps keeps the reader interested for it's entire length. What works so well about Russell Martin's book is that it combines so many story threads into one work. It convincingly explores the life of the musical genius Ludwig van Beethoven, the effect of his music in the hearts of millions, the power of music and art in general, and in a thrilling way it follows a lock of his hair through it's journey in history. There is true suspense when Martin writes about the people who tried to fight against the evil swelling up against them during World War 2 and how Beethoven's music played an important role in that struggle. Like a great detective story, "Beethoven's Hair" never reveals its secrets too quickly and keeps the reader fascinated. But the best chapters are the ones about Beethoven's life where we realize he was one of the few authentic geniuses music has produced. Fun, memorable, and sometimes moving, "Beethoven's Hair" is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: INTRIGUING
Review: "Beethoven's Hair" is quite simply an intriguing masterpiece. Russell Martin has masterfully written a tale that captures your attention and does not let you go. With the overriding story of a lock of mysterious hair, the content is most beautifully presented. In balancing the love of Beethoven - the man and his work, history, and modern day medical science, the author has created very interesting literature. Just like Beethoven's masterpieces, this book is a treasure. I wish I could read it again for the first time.
Rating: 
Summary: An Interesting Account
Review: 'Beethoven's Hair' was truly a 'good read'. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed reading how the lock of hair found its way to the auction, and then into the hands of the two researchers. The structure of the book is rather humorous and relates to a musical form, tossing and turning between two different time periods: Beethoven's chronological life, and the modern (including W.W.II) time of research. Indeed, the book gives you plenty of spice and reveals much about Nazism and scientology, specific to the findings in the lock of hair, but be warned... if you expect a biography of Beethoven, the one you'll get is very weak, especially in terms of his compositions. I think, though, that this would suit any reader: teachers, music-listeners, doctors, miners, and literate persons alike that can take an interest in the history of such a great genious.
Rating:
Summary: Three-Way Fascination
Review: After Beethoven died, many Viennese music fans were able to clip a keepsake of a lock of his hair, but only one has been preserved with all the proper provenance to show it as authentic. The story of that lock of hair is the backbone of a riveting slice of history in _Beethoven's Hair: An Extraordinary Historical Odyssey and a Scientific Mystery Solved_ (Broadway Books) by Russell Martin. Martin has told three stories in his book, intercalating them in chapters that come to a pleasing whole. The first story is a fine capsule biography of Beethoven himself. Within the biography, Martin tells us much about the composer's medical problems, increasing our wonder of how such an afflicted man could have produced works of such profound concentration and joy. The second story within the book is about the fate of the wandering lock of hair as it passed to the heirs of the young musician who clipped it, and how it formed part of the story of the Holocaust, turning up in Denmark in 1943. Eventually it was sold at Sothebys in 1994, to a couple of non-musician fans of Beethoven, one of whom donated his share to the university Beethoven center he had started, and one who made his strands available for medical testing. The hair snipped by Beethoven's young friend was able to tell its story a hundred and seventy years later, giving a probable explanation for Beethoven's ailments.What a story for a lock of hair, how full of amazing personalities and significant historical events. And how well told; Martin has used Beethoven's life, the travels of his lock of hair, and the scientific investigations to jostle and play off each other, putting the different parts of the story in relief. It makes for a richly satisfying musical, historical, and scientific encounter.
Rating: 
Summary: False Advertising
Review: Anything of value that, this book has to say, could have been put into ten pages. The writer sucks one in, hoping that the highly touted scientific evidence will reveal something about Beethoven; it doesn't. Ludwig may have suffered from lead poisoning and did not use opiates at the end. That's it. The author inadvertently presents some important issues, having nothing to do about Beethoven, but showing us how 9/11/02 was and is nearly identical to Germany in January and February of 1934 and that there were some decent people in Denmark and Sweden during WWII. The rest is mostly irrelevant minutiae of the most boring sort, an insult to both Beethoven and the writing of history.
Rating:
Summary: Ode to Boredom
Review: As a Beethoven enthusiast and musician, I eagerly bought this book and thought that I wouldn't be able to put it down. Unfortunately, I put it down many times...and put it down about 3/4 of the way through and haven't picked it back up since. Its not as much about Beethoven as it is a flowery excursion into what might have happened with people who might have come into contact with the lock of his hair. It is all speculation and lots of back story, which drowns any seed of interest I had in it.
Rating:
Summary: Ode to Boredom
Review: As a Beethoven enthusiast and musician, I eagerly bought this book and thought that I wouldn't be able to put it down. Unfortunately, I put it down many times...and put it down about 3/4 of the way through and haven't picked it back up since. Its not as much about Beethoven as it is a flowery excursion into what might have happened with people who might have come into contact with the lock of his hair. It is all speculation and lots of back story, which drowns any seed of interest I had in it.
Rating: 
Summary: Beethoven's Hair
Review: Beethoven's Hair by Russell Martin was an educational book. It was about a musician named Beethoven when he was older. He was sick with a terrible illness. His liver was smaller than a healthy one, and he coughed up blood from his windpipe. The day after his death in 1827, a man named Ferdinard Hiller snipped off a lock of hair and put it in a wooden locket to keep as a keepsake. It was somehow meant to be in the town of Gilleleje and was given to a local doctor named Kay Fremming. After his death, his daughter had possesion of the locket, and she put it up for sale at a store named Sotheby's. There, two of Beethoven's enthusiasts, Ira Brillant and Che Guevara bought it in 1994 and tried to find the cause of Beethoven's bad health. I read this book because I enjoy learning about composers. Music is my passion and I want to learn more about the theory behind music. It's enlightening to see how many composers had difficulties and still made up beautiful music. Some were blind and some were deaf. Their music inspires me a lot. My favorite part of the book was when Kay Fremming's daughter put the locket up for sale at Sotheby's. After it was purchased by Ira Brilliant and Che Guevara, it was in better hands. Beethoven had trusted them and they were a big help to him. They motivated him to do better and encouraged him to put enthusiasm into his music. They were trying to find the cause of Beethoven's bad health and to maybe cure it. By doing this, they could prevent the other people from having the same illness than Beethoven had had.
Rating:
Summary: There stands a great man!
Review: I always thought of Mozart as the most prolific classical composer of all time. But I have changed my mind after I read this book on Van Beethoven. Before I read this book, Beethoven was just another classical musician who wouldn't dare to compare himself to the great Mozart. But when I found out the hundreds miseries(maladies and deafness) Beethoven went through while was writing his pieces, I was amazed.How can one write a piece like the 9th symphony while being deaf. To me, this is just inconceivable. After reading this book, I become not to see Mozart no more as the greatest but as great since the great Beethoven stands next to him. If you are a friend of the Classicals and you haven't read this book, get to it as fast as you can.
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