Is “Heavier than Heaven” a biography on the life of Kurt Cobain or an explanation for his death?
It’s almost a guarantee that anyone who has listened to rock music during the early ’90s has heard a recording or two from the grunge band Nirvana at some point. At the heart of this highly successful rock band was Kurt Cobain, the lead vocalist for the group. Since his death on April 5, 1994, there have been a number of pieces on his life, delivering to curious fans and readers various summaries of Cobain’s life. However, none have gone quite as in-depth on the downside of Cobain’s life as “Heavier then Heaven” by Charles R. Cross.
The book was completed in 2002 after years of research that included more than 400 interviews and access to Cobain’s private journals. The biography serves a detailed summary of the musician’s life, and the development of Nirvana. Cross’ version of the life of Kurt Cobain is detailed and in-depth, especially on the pre-fame years of Cobain’s life. Cross does a thorough job of covering Cobain’s childhood and home life.
However, the book seems to have a biased outlook on the singer’s life. The book presents graphic details of Cobain’s troubled youth and depression issues. Cross focuses mainly on how Cobain was an outcast, and was constantly moved from one family household to the next. The pre-nirvana section of the book was stretched longer than necessary.
Cobain’s life came to an end in 1994 by his own hand. Cross spends a major portion of the book explaining Cobain’s supposed unhappiness with life, and continuous family troubles. Unhappiness seems to become the center focus of the novel, and not so much other aspects of Cobain’s life. After the first couple chapters, the biography shapes itself to be more an explanation for Cobain’s suicide, rather than a summary of his life. At about the midpoint of the biography, Cross seems to focus only on Cobain’s unhappiness, leading to the suspicion that the author’s only concern is to justify his suicide. After finishing the book, readers may find themselves thinking, “Well of course, he committed suicide.He had such a terrible life and was always depressed.”
Readers seeking to find the inspiration in Cobain’s life or other exciting aspects may be disappointed. “Heavier than Heaven” only seems to focus on the negative areas of Cobain’s life and not so much his accomplishments with the band and its musical inspirations. The piece does include a fair amount of detail on the band and its rise to fame, but the majority of the book discusses Cobain’s reasons for unhappiness, his heartbreaks and his acts as an outlaw. All this negative focus found in “Heavier than Heaven” only shapes the book as not a biography but an explanation for suicide.
