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A review by ineedscoffee
Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman by Alan Rickman
3.0
I don't usually read non-fiction, I like the escapism of often unrealistic situations and characters, but Alan Rickman was a force, or at least, his public persona was. A kind, somewhat stoic and extremely talented human kept his pain and illness secret from the world so that his death in January of 2016 was a shock to mostly everyone.
I wanted to read his diaries in order to understand him better, to understand how his mind worked a little and the main thing I can assess from my finishing the novel is that Alan Rickman was, at the end of the day, profoundly human, not someone to be put up on a pedestal.
He was a man. A man who didn't like everyone and didn't even pretend to, a man who often found his occupation boring, frustrating, occasionally brilliant, not glamorous as many on the outside of it would seem.
While I found the pacing of the diaries disjointed, sometimes confusing to follow, I soon found as long as I had a general idea of what year was being spoken of, I just needed to concentrate on WHAT was being spoken of. The use of initials was completely frustrating, although obviously understandable, I would often find myself googling names in conjunction with Rickman's just to work out who he was talking about.
I know neither the character of Snape well, nor was I ever a friend of the man Rickman himself (unfortunately!) but both have echos of similarity in each other and I can see that more clearly now.
Would I recommend this novel?
If you're only going to read it for Harry Potter content, then no, I wouldn't bother. There is very little in the way of BTS info, only the occasional tidbit of information here and there and what he has revealed should be easily googled. But if you're interested in understanding a little more about this wonderful man, his life, his sense of humour, his occupation, then yes, I'd say give it a go. It's quite interesting.
He is an actor that is dearly missed. I'm sure, had he been strong enough towards the end of his life, he may have shared a few more thoughts with us. Instead, we're left with the reality that memories are all we really have. Treasure them.
I wanted to read his diaries in order to understand him better, to understand how his mind worked a little and the main thing I can assess from my finishing the novel is that Alan Rickman was, at the end of the day, profoundly human, not someone to be put up on a pedestal.
He was a man. A man who didn't like everyone and didn't even pretend to, a man who often found his occupation boring, frustrating, occasionally brilliant, not glamorous as many on the outside of it would seem.
While I found the pacing of the diaries disjointed, sometimes confusing to follow, I soon found as long as I had a general idea of what year was being spoken of, I just needed to concentrate on WHAT was being spoken of. The use of initials was completely frustrating, although obviously understandable, I would often find myself googling names in conjunction with Rickman's just to work out who he was talking about.
I know neither the character of Snape well, nor was I ever a friend of the man Rickman himself (unfortunately!) but both have echos of similarity in each other and I can see that more clearly now.
Would I recommend this novel?
If you're only going to read it for Harry Potter content, then no, I wouldn't bother. There is very little in the way of BTS info, only the occasional tidbit of information here and there and what he has revealed should be easily googled. But if you're interested in understanding a little more about this wonderful man, his life, his sense of humour, his occupation, then yes, I'd say give it a go. It's quite interesting.
He is an actor that is dearly missed. I'm sure, had he been strong enough towards the end of his life, he may have shared a few more thoughts with us. Instead, we're left with the reality that memories are all we really have. Treasure them.