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emdowd's review against another edition
4.0
I can’t believe I never visited Marlene Dietrich’s grave. In my defense, I had always assumed she was buried in Hollywood.
Marlene Dietrich has always been and will always be my personal queer icon.
This book also includes some really deft, subtle discussion on biphobia within intimate relationships which, honestly, I was not expecting.
Marlene Dietrich has always been and will always be my personal queer icon.
This book also includes some really deft, subtle discussion on biphobia within intimate relationships which, honestly, I was not expecting.
amberrc's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
carolynf's review against another edition
3.0
This is a fictionalized biography of Marlene Dietrich, concentrating mostly on the first half of her life although there is an epilogue that takes the reader all the way to her death in the 1990s. There are gorgeously decadent descriptions of Weimar Berlin, which are tragically contrasted with her experiences of the city during her USO tours. I know very little about Marlene Dietrich's life, so I can't say how accurately this portrays her character or her relationships. She does feel a bit like a caricature of herself at times, and it isn't always clear whether that is a fault in the writing or the studio system at work. This author also does not shy away from the sex scenes - be prepared to hear a lot about the endowments and skills of various Hollywood celebrities, male and female.
srm401's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
katejeminhizer's review against another edition
5.0
A woman that time has forgotten. Madonna's song, Vogue is one of her lasting legacies for those who didn't live in her era. Gortner portrays a person that you'll want to loath because of her choices, you'll want to judge her because of her promiscuity but you'll also be mesmerized by her. It was a spellbinding read about someone who we can relate to if only for the fact that everything she did was to discover what made her happy. She redefined what it meant to be a woman. She challenged society as much as her challenged her. Gortner does an exquisite job of bringing this forgotten diva to life for us to remember.
speelingmistake's review against another edition
3.0
The first half of the book absolutely glows. The characters are clear, the world they live in of Weimar times and the cabarets is compelling. But once Marlene heads for Hollywood it feels a lot more like a catalogue of names and movies completed without much insight into them and they have little impact on the story other than things for Marlene to do for a page or two.
The story of her USO time is much more exciting and her reunion with her sister was interesting. I would have preferred the book to have ended at Mutti's death. That was a much more powerful ending than the one we actually got.
I would have liked this to be more about the relationships between mothers and daughters. The adversarial relationship between Marlene and her mother and then the fractured relationship of Marlene and her daughter would have been a much more interesting aspect of Marlene's life to explore in the second half of the book.
The story of her USO time is much more exciting and her reunion with her sister was interesting. I would have preferred the book to have ended at Mutti's death. That was a much more powerful ending than the one we actually got.
I would have liked this to be more about the relationships between mothers and daughters. The adversarial relationship between Marlene and her mother and then the fractured relationship of Marlene and her daughter would have been a much more interesting aspect of Marlene's life to explore in the second half of the book.
bookhero6's review against another edition
4.0
I admit I wasn't sure about this book at first. The chapters on Marlene as a child didn't really grab me. Told in the first person, and maybe young Marlene was harder to inhabit than adult Marlene. But adult Marlene was very compelling, and passionate, and where the young Marlene chapters felt like an author writing about her, the adult Marlene chapters felt like the author becoming her.
I grew up watching AMC and TCM when all they played pretty much was movies from the 30's and 40's. And those are still some of my favorite movies. I was more bedazzled by Ginger Rogers and Betty Grable than by Marlene Dietrich, so my understanding of her going into reading this book was of an acting great from Hollywood's golden age. With this book I really feel like I got to know her as a person.
She certainly had a colorful life. I had no idea how active she was in the USO during World War II, or how close she was to the Nazi horrors. In this book Marlene comes across as so human and normal despite her extraordinary life. Passionate and hard-working, aware of her flaws but not hindered by them. I ended up enjoying this book very much. And now I want to go watch as many Marlene Dietrich movies as I possibly can.
Included in the back are various non-fiction works about Marlene the author used for reference. I think I might have to check them out too. Sometimes a novelization of a real historical figure makes me wish I'd just read a biography. But this book feels like it belongs on a shelf with her memoirs and biographies.
I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads program. I'm ashamed to say it took me over a year to get around to reading it. What was I thinking?! This book is so good! Can't wait to read more by C.W. Gortner.
I grew up watching AMC and TCM when all they played pretty much was movies from the 30's and 40's. And those are still some of my favorite movies. I was more bedazzled by Ginger Rogers and Betty Grable than by Marlene Dietrich, so my understanding of her going into reading this book was of an acting great from Hollywood's golden age. With this book I really feel like I got to know her as a person.
She certainly had a colorful life. I had no idea how active she was in the USO during World War II, or how close she was to the Nazi horrors. In this book Marlene comes across as so human and normal despite her extraordinary life. Passionate and hard-working, aware of her flaws but not hindered by them. I ended up enjoying this book very much. And now I want to go watch as many Marlene Dietrich movies as I possibly can.
Included in the back are various non-fiction works about Marlene the author used for reference. I think I might have to check them out too. Sometimes a novelization of a real historical figure makes me wish I'd just read a biography. But this book feels like it belongs on a shelf with her memoirs and biographies.
I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads program. I'm ashamed to say it took me over a year to get around to reading it. What was I thinking?! This book is so good! Can't wait to read more by C.W. Gortner.
rickijill's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoy historical fiction, especially historical fiction set during World War II. Marlene: A Novel of Marlene Dietrich is mesmerizing, partly due to the setting. Berlin during the 1930's was a decadent destination with cabarets that knew no limits. I don't want to rewrite what's in the book blurb, but I will say that I was shocked by Berlin's debauched subculture that shorty preceded the rise of the Third Reich. Obviously it would have been impossible for both cultures to have coexisted.
While reading this excellent novel I kept having to remind myself that this is a work of fiction. Told from Marlene's point of view, I feel as if she is narrating her story to me. I love Marlene's voice, and Gortner succeeds in convincing me that this story and all of its details and dialogue are "fact." Only the best historical fiction can achieve this, so kudos to Gortner! I got sucked into the story from the first chapter about elementary school, and I found the book very hard to put down all the way through until the book's end, the aftermath of the war in a destroyed Berlin.
Marlene is not like the other starlets of the Golden Era of film. She is gritty, political, altruistic, and brave. She is one of the first stars to sell war bonds. Her USO tour with Danny Thomas is long and fraught with danger, and I love how she records songs in both English and German used for propaganda. Her shock at finding out her sister and brother-in-law's connection to Bergen-Belsen is ironic compared to Marlene's outspoken denunciation of Hitler and the Third Reich. I found this section of the book so compelling that I did extra research and reading on my own because I wanted to know what actually happened to her in Germany after the war.
I enjoyed Marlene so much that I plan on reading more of Gortner's novels. I'm particularly interested in reading The Confessions of Catherine de Medici and Mademoiselle Chanel. I've already put them on reserve at my library!
Disclosure: I received a copy of Marlene from the publisher via TLC Book Tours in exchange for a fair and honest review.
While reading this excellent novel I kept having to remind myself that this is a work of fiction. Told from Marlene's point of view, I feel as if she is narrating her story to me. I love Marlene's voice, and Gortner succeeds in convincing me that this story and all of its details and dialogue are "fact." Only the best historical fiction can achieve this, so kudos to Gortner! I got sucked into the story from the first chapter about elementary school, and I found the book very hard to put down all the way through until the book's end, the aftermath of the war in a destroyed Berlin.
Marlene is not like the other starlets of the Golden Era of film. She is gritty, political, altruistic, and brave. She is one of the first stars to sell war bonds. Her USO tour with Danny Thomas is long and fraught with danger, and I love how she records songs in both English and German used for propaganda. Her shock at finding out her sister and brother-in-law's connection to Bergen-Belsen is ironic compared to Marlene's outspoken denunciation of Hitler and the Third Reich. I found this section of the book so compelling that I did extra research and reading on my own because I wanted to know what actually happened to her in Germany after the war.
I enjoyed Marlene so much that I plan on reading more of Gortner's novels. I'm particularly interested in reading The Confessions of Catherine de Medici and Mademoiselle Chanel. I've already put them on reserve at my library!
Disclosure: I received a copy of Marlene from the publisher via TLC Book Tours in exchange for a fair and honest review.
krisis86's review against another edition
3.0
I am a huge fan of C.W. Gortner, but I finally found a book from him that I didn't love. I didn't like Marlene much. So this book just wasn't that interesting to me. I'd recommend it if you're a fan of hers, or if you enjoyed Gortner's book about Coco Chanel. But for me, I'll stick with his 16th century stories.
rinkitaynezha's review against another edition
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5