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A review by amandas_bookshelf
Truly, Madly: Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, and the Romance of the Century by Stephen Galloway
Did not finish book. Stopped at 34%.
Reasons why I DNF'd this:
• I expected a biography of Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, both individually as people and together as a somewhat (in)famous couple. Years ago, I read and loved Furious Love about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. I expected this to be similarly enjoyable, but I was disappointed. What I got for the five chapters (34%) I completed was a cinematic history of Leigh and Olivier with occasional insight into their personal lives and relationship. From the glimpses of the early years of the Leigh-Olivier relationship (and knowing Leigh lived with a mental illness), I'm unsure if their possibly unhealthy relationship should be romanticized and glamorized. (The same could probably be said of the Taylor-Burton relationship.)
• While the cinematic history was
interesting, I don't see why it was given so much attention. I could see how the demands of their work got in the way of their marriage, so it would be necessary to address. I did realize after the fact that the author was a longtime editor for The Hollywood Reporter, so I could assume he had a niche interest in their professions. It's as if the author was unsure if he was writing a cinematic biography of them or a standard biography of them, so we got the former. To recount the saga of casting Scarlett O'Hara in the Gone with the Wind film adaptation was just a waste of space. Other books (and a tv movie) have already done that and done it better, so why devote so much page space to it here? It's not new information and adds nothing to the exploration of the Leigh-Olivier relationship. If anyone finished this, I'd love to know if the remaining 2/3 were as focused on their professional careers as the portion I got through.
• I'm annoyed significant attention was paid to speculating about Olivier's sexuality. It's 2022. Reciting decades' old hearsay gossip is not ok, especially when the person you're gossiping about isn't alive to address it. Whether or not Olivier fell somewhere on the queer spectrum, (1) it's not something to speculate about and (2) the gossip added no additional context to the Leigh-Olivier relationship.
#TrulyMadly Rating: 🙅♀️ / DNF
• I expected a biography of Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, both individually as people and together as a somewhat (in)famous couple. Years ago, I read and loved Furious Love about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. I expected this to be similarly enjoyable, but I was disappointed. What I got for the five chapters (34%) I completed was a cinematic history of Leigh and Olivier with occasional insight into their personal lives and relationship. From the glimpses of the early years of the Leigh-Olivier relationship (and knowing Leigh lived with a mental illness), I'm unsure if their possibly unhealthy relationship should be romanticized and glamorized. (The same could probably be said of the Taylor-Burton relationship.)
• While the cinematic history was
interesting, I don't see why it was given so much attention. I could see how the demands of their work got in the way of their marriage, so it would be necessary to address. I did realize after the fact that the author was a longtime editor for The Hollywood Reporter, so I could assume he had a niche interest in their professions. It's as if the author was unsure if he was writing a cinematic biography of them or a standard biography of them, so we got the former. To recount the saga of casting Scarlett O'Hara in the Gone with the Wind film adaptation was just a waste of space. Other books (and a tv movie) have already done that and done it better, so why devote so much page space to it here? It's not new information and adds nothing to the exploration of the Leigh-Olivier relationship. If anyone finished this, I'd love to know if the remaining 2/3 were as focused on their professional careers as the portion I got through.
• I'm annoyed significant attention was paid to speculating about Olivier's sexuality. It's 2022. Reciting decades' old hearsay gossip is not ok, especially when the person you're gossiping about isn't alive to address it. Whether or not Olivier fell somewhere on the queer spectrum, (1) it's not something to speculate about and (2) the gossip added no additional context to the Leigh-Olivier relationship.
#TrulyMadly Rating: 🙅♀️ / DNF
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Bullying