Divided Soul

Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye by David Ritz

This book was good, as good as possible, but not as good as it could have been. I believe that’s because the author, David Ritz, was too close to the subject. Knowing that Ritz and Gaye had a rollercoaster relationship that included litigation and disputes over money, there was no way I can take Ritz’s biography at face value. Even though the story of Divided Soul is nonfiction, it is told in the voice of an unreliable narrator.

Don’t get me wrong. I give Ritz a lot of credit for this work. This was heavily researched and there was a lot of in depth interviews with Marvin Gaye’s close friends and family. The interviewees, including Marvin, himself, are quoted heavily. With very rare exception, the quotes work and fit seamlessly into the story.

And that story was fantastic. Tragic, but fantastic. The way Ritz was able to relate Marvin’s lyrics to his life was great. It is difficult to read this book without emoting. And very difficult to read it and not judge the people closest to Gaye—personally, I find it very hard, despite knowing that times and life were much different back then, to not judge Marvin’s mother. If this was a work of fiction, it would be a 5-star work. For much of the book, I felt like I was in Marvin’s head.

But that’s also my biggest problem with the book. I don’t trust Ritz’s version of things. I can’t. Page after page after page of Divided Soul tells tale of Marvin’s manipulations of the people closest to him and the instability of those relationships. Ritz was one of those people, one of those relationships. He and Gaye were on non-speaking terms for nearly half of the time they knew each other. I cannot fully but into his insights into Marvin’s mindset. I don’t have full faith in his portrayals of Marvin’s emotions.

Marvin’s is a story that needs to be told by an outsider, but there’s no way an outsider could know or learn all that Ritz did. In that way, Divided Soul is, I believe, the best we can get. I’m glad I read it.

C+