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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
I feel bad for not liking this book more. I mean, Alan Rickman didn’t write it for other people’s consumption so why should he care if it was an absorbing page turner or not while he wrote it?
The trouble with this, and honestly, any diary turned book, is they just aren’t very interesting most of the time. There were only so many passages about dinner with this or that random British actor I could take, really.
That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it. I liked quite a bit about it. I never knew how intelligent Alan Rickman was. He even had me grabbing the dictionary for some of the words he used, which is always fantastic. He was also so very passionate about the art of acting and had many strong opinions on directors and what they’re job is on set. I particularly loved his quick movie reviews and coulda used a bunch more of those. They were always short but cut right to the good or bad so elegantly.
Unless you have a really good working knowledge of British stage and screen actors, directors, writers, and producers, however, a lot of these entries won’t interest you. I’d say that was the biggest problem with the collection. It made it extra skimmable at times.
And the biggest let down was how very little he had to say about his work on Harry Potter. A handful of stories on set at most. Usually it was complaints about the amount of press.
Alan Rickman was a great actor and it seemed like a good friend. He was well known for his privacy and while this book was a peek behind that curtain it still left a lot to wonder about. I’d only recommend it if you’re a huge fan of his work. It’s not a casual kind of read.
The trouble with this, and honestly, any diary turned book, is they just aren’t very interesting most of the time. There were only so many passages about dinner with this or that random British actor I could take, really.
That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it. I liked quite a bit about it. I never knew how intelligent Alan Rickman was. He even had me grabbing the dictionary for some of the words he used, which is always fantastic. He was also so very passionate about the art of acting and had many strong opinions on directors and what they’re job is on set. I particularly loved his quick movie reviews and coulda used a bunch more of those. They were always short but cut right to the good or bad so elegantly.
Unless you have a really good working knowledge of British stage and screen actors, directors, writers, and producers, however, a lot of these entries won’t interest you. I’d say that was the biggest problem with the collection. It made it extra skimmable at times.
And the biggest let down was how very little he had to say about his work on Harry Potter. A handful of stories on set at most. Usually it was complaints about the amount of press.
Alan Rickman was a great actor and it seemed like a good friend. He was well known for his privacy and while this book was a peek behind that curtain it still left a lot to wonder about. I’d only recommend it if you’re a huge fan of his work. It’s not a casual kind of read.
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
It’s best to read when you have an understanding of Alan Rickman and his work, and friends to follow what’s happening. All of his diary entries are quick, blunt, and moving on, he really wasn’t detailed in the entries. If you were hoping to read about his feeling and full thoughts of his characters like Snape, you will not find that here. He’s gotten more into detail about his smoke alarm going off than a night out with Emma Thompson.
He does speak in code, so might be hard to follow. In conclusion he is a very British English man, quite the critic but proper and poised.
He does speak in code, so might be hard to follow. In conclusion he is a very British English man, quite the critic but proper and poised.
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
His death is a creative loss to the world. So much talent and humanity.
First, realize this review is coming from someone who typically reads fiction so this is out of my wheelhouse. I always loved Alan Rickman as an actor. These diaries are nothing like what I expected, and yet they were still wonderful. What I expected was insight into movies and shows he did. Like a deep dive into a behind the scenes account of his experiences. While there are many glimpses of those, it was more about his everyday life. Lots of references to dinners out, friends he saw, homes he purchased, travels he had, frustrations with flights or struggles within himself. What I found eye opening were things like how he never seemed to believe he was good enough. Or that he struggled with his own tendency to challenge directors he worked with. Or how he knew if a show or movie was well received or not based on if his phone rang a lot (good reviews) or not at all (bad reviews) the day after its release/debut. It took someone I’ve always looked at as a star and humanized him. It reminded me that deep down we humans are all more similar than we are different.
Was less edited than I expected... Lots of shorthand notes versus longer form narratives. A fun perusal but many names I didn't recognize and limited details that didn't really solidify into anything interesting. Not something to read back-to-front but a fun snippet to look at while waiting for an appointment or filling a few brief minutes between things.
funny
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced