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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
I liked an entry best from during the filming of Dogma, where he was diagnosed with rosacea and psoriasis. He used the word "ungetridables", and it resonated with me as I have several.
RIP Alan, you would’ve loved seeing all the people who are protesting for a free Palestine.
Alan Rickman had been my favorite actor of all time for many years prior to his death, and remains my favorite actor to this day. On the day he died, I had to turn my phone off because I was overwhelmed by the volume of calls, text messages, social media pings, etc. that were flooding in from basically everyone I knew. I loved him so much that as soon as anyone who knew me heard the news of his passing, contacting me to see if I was okay was the first thing they thought to do, even though I in no way knew or had ever met the man personally. So, needless to say, I was always going to love and cherish these diaries no matter what form they took. And I do.
Alan was well-known for his unique combination of stoicism and effusiveness. He could say or wordlessly convey so much with so little, which is what made him so fascinating to watch. His diaries read in exactly this same manner. He often wrote in short, choppy sentences or bullet points, sometimes about inconsequential daily scheduling, but often with real, personal emotion about the people around him, the projects he was working on, and the world at large. These diaries showed me that he was exactly the person I always interpreted him to be - his persona in interviews was not disingenuous and was not an act. It was who he was. And that is a huge relief to me, as a fan who saw so much good in him and admired him so deeply.
The illustrations and pictures in the photo section are beautiful, but I wish the selection of them had been larger. I had no idea before this book that he was such a talented artist, and seeing pictures from his personal collection - especially of himself and Rima - was such a gift. Wanting more in that section is one of a few reasons I'm giving the book a 4 star rating rather than a 5.
I also wasn't a huge fan of the editing. The reasons for putting some explanations in footnotes and others injected into the text were completely unclear to me, and, because I was reading an e-book copy, made settling into the reading very difficult because I was constantly having to click back and forth between footnote entries and the text of the diaries. This combined with the fact that the content of the diaries themselves probably won't mean much to anyone who wasn't already a huge fan of Alan's makes me unable to give it a 5, even though the chance to read it meant the world to me personally.
I want to say thank you to Rima and anyone else involved in Alan's estate for allowing this book to be published. And thank you to Alan for... everything. Everything that you were, every project you gave us, every moment of joy you've brought to me as a fan over the years. Thank you for being truly one of a kind and sharing some portion of yourself with the world, even six years after we lost you.
Alan was well-known for his unique combination of stoicism and effusiveness. He could say or wordlessly convey so much with so little, which is what made him so fascinating to watch. His diaries read in exactly this same manner. He often wrote in short, choppy sentences or bullet points, sometimes about inconsequential daily scheduling, but often with real, personal emotion about the people around him, the projects he was working on, and the world at large. These diaries showed me that he was exactly the person I always interpreted him to be - his persona in interviews was not disingenuous and was not an act. It was who he was. And that is a huge relief to me, as a fan who saw so much good in him and admired him so deeply.
The illustrations and pictures in the photo section are beautiful, but I wish the selection of them had been larger. I had no idea before this book that he was such a talented artist, and seeing pictures from his personal collection - especially of himself and Rima - was such a gift. Wanting more in that section is one of a few reasons I'm giving the book a 4 star rating rather than a 5.
I also wasn't a huge fan of the editing. The reasons for putting some explanations in footnotes and others injected into the text were completely unclear to me, and, because I was reading an e-book copy, made settling into the reading very difficult because I was constantly having to click back and forth between footnote entries and the text of the diaries. This combined with the fact that the content of the diaries themselves probably won't mean much to anyone who wasn't already a huge fan of Alan's makes me unable to give it a 5, even though the chance to read it meant the world to me personally.
I want to say thank you to Rima and anyone else involved in Alan's estate for allowing this book to be published. And thank you to Alan for... everything. Everything that you were, every project you gave us, every moment of joy you've brought to me as a fan over the years. Thank you for being truly one of a kind and sharing some portion of yourself with the world, even six years after we lost you.
I do feel bad rating someone’s life and their diaries as three stars, but it is weird that in this, multiple times, it says that he never meant for them to be published (obviously given how some of them are written/edited) but that he wanted them published? I just felt like there was no clear idea what Alan Rickman wanted with these. These are full of feelings that I personally cannot articulate but that I will say have impacts. I was bored with him, I cried with him, I was confused most of all because I didn’t know 90% of the people stated. Snape, to me, is a bully and I think it’s interesting how that is never commented on in his diaries, when we get literally everything else. Actually, HP in general is not a focus here and instead you get the since that he never wanted to do it and wished for it to be over.
I enjoyed learning about him away from HP and Sweeney Todd, but felt that what was included in this just didn’t give a complete picture of who he was, so I guess I’m left wondering why
I enjoyed learning about him away from HP and Sweeney Todd, but felt that what was included in this just didn’t give a complete picture of who he was, so I guess I’m left wondering why
inspiring
The kind of book that really validates your suspicions that famous people are always just hanging out together.
Can’t believe reviewers are complaining that this is a book full of diary entries when this is…a compilation of Rickman’s diaries. I have mixed feelings about supporting posthumously published diaries, but in this case reports said he’d planned on publishing them, so I’m more okay with it. Personally, I enjoyed getting to see the day-to-day life of a celebrity and take a peek behind the curtains; it’s rare to get the honesty we did here. That said, the editing seemed poorly done (and poorly explained), and I was left wondering why these specifically were the selections we were given to read. Overall, very interesting stuff.
I’d recommend this to fans of Alan Rickman, diaries, or slice-of-life works.
I’d recommend this to fans of Alan Rickman, diaries, or slice-of-life works.
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Remarkable - seeing world events play out over the course of 30 years of a person’s life would have been interesting regardless, but through the eyes and words of Alan Rickman, it was fascinating.
I’ve never looked up so many people/places/things as I did during this read.
I’ve never looked up so many people/places/things as I did during this read.