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A review by laurieb755
Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman by Alan Rickman
3.0
In the way that running a poison ivied limb under truly hot water can feel satisfying, reading this book also felt satisfying. It is a long series of seemingly quickly jotted diary entries over the course of 1993 till 2015. As a reviewer in the NY Times noted, Rickman likely wrote his diary for his own edification, maybe with the intention of eventually returning to his words and using them as stimulus for a book.
However, after Rickman's death in 2016 from pancreatic cancer, I am surmising that his widow and lifelong partner, Rima Horton, consulted with Alan Taylor to craft this book out of Alan's diaries. For a bit more insight into Rickman, Horton and his long time friend Dame Emma Thompson, there is an insightful interview of the latter two in this June 2022 BBC Breakfast Interview, and this tribute by Thompson after the publication of the diaries.
My observations upon the Diaries - Alan Rickman was constantly on the go, either acting, directing, traveling, arranging one of his three homes (in England, New York and Italy), eating out with friends or colleagues, offering guidance to young (and not so young) up and coming (or established) actors and directors, and generally leading a very busy life.
Periodically there would be a health related issue where I would wince and hope that he would slow down and take time to recuperate, but it seemed he was eager to be off and running as soon as possible, even if that wasn't actually the healthiest thing for him to do. (I wonder what he would have made of the Covid Pandemic…) While he took vacations, over the span of the 20 plus years of his diaries they seemed to be few and far between and definitely not long enough. It was as if he did not want to (could not?) stay still for very long.
At some point reading the entries became tedious but I felt an obligation to Rickman to finish the book, and I'm glad to have stayed with it. If you are a fan of Snape or any of the characters played by Rickman, or simply a fan of the man as an actor, or curious about what goes on in the mind of an actor who has been in theatre and movies and won awards for his work, you may well enjoy (even if you occasionally become exasperated!) Madly Deeply: the diaries of Alan Rickman.
However, after Rickman's death in 2016 from pancreatic cancer, I am surmising that his widow and lifelong partner, Rima Horton, consulted with Alan Taylor to craft this book out of Alan's diaries. For a bit more insight into Rickman, Horton and his long time friend Dame Emma Thompson, there is an insightful interview of the latter two in this June 2022 BBC Breakfast Interview, and this tribute by Thompson after the publication of the diaries.
My observations upon the Diaries - Alan Rickman was constantly on the go, either acting, directing, traveling, arranging one of his three homes (in England, New York and Italy), eating out with friends or colleagues, offering guidance to young (and not so young) up and coming (or established) actors and directors, and generally leading a very busy life.
Periodically there would be a health related issue where I would wince and hope that he would slow down and take time to recuperate, but it seemed he was eager to be off and running as soon as possible, even if that wasn't actually the healthiest thing for him to do. (I wonder what he would have made of the Covid Pandemic…) While he took vacations, over the span of the 20 plus years of his diaries they seemed to be few and far between and definitely not long enough. It was as if he did not want to (could not?) stay still for very long.
At some point reading the entries became tedious but I felt an obligation to Rickman to finish the book, and I'm glad to have stayed with it. If you are a fan of Snape or any of the characters played by Rickman, or simply a fan of the man as an actor, or curious about what goes on in the mind of an actor who has been in theatre and movies and won awards for his work, you may well enjoy (even if you occasionally become exasperated!) Madly Deeply: the diaries of Alan Rickman.