Scan barcode
A review by leweylibrary
Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman by Alan Rickman
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I'm having a hard time rating this book. It was difficult for me to stay engaged because Rickman's diaries weren't exactly pages of his thoughts and feelings, more like a planner listing stuff he did (everything from dentist appointments to Broadway premieres) with some nuggets of funny or insightful stuff interspersed throughout. The problem was the nuggets weren't consistent of course, so the list nature made it easy to miss the good bits (like him making dick jokes with Helena Bonham Carter on the HP set lmao WHAT 😂). I feel like this would've been more interesting as a primary source document not an audiobook. It would've been easier to skip over the mundane bits. But then I also get that the mundane bits are interesting because they show how very human and normal he was despite being such a big name in the acting world.
I also think there could've been a lot more context given for many entries--it was hard to keep it all straight, especially all the names of people, places, and plays. I almost wish it would've been more focused on the context and then included snippets of his diary to illustrate certain things and show his voice. But then I also get that would detract from it being his life in his voice. I don't know! I really am torn here on how I feel about it. It definitely wasn't my favorite audiobook, that's really the only thing I know for sure 😅
Overall, he was so snarky in his diary entries lol and whenever he talked about politics the snark percentage went up about 394%. He really just used his diary mostly as a place to bitch or make snide comments. There were happy or funny things in there too, they just seemed much fewer and farther between and were breezed over quite quickly. It was also interesting to see some of his relationships with other celebrities like Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Ian McKellen, and Kate Winslet (the first one I knew obviously but the latter ones I had no idea).
Also, if you're reading this as a HP fan, don't lol he really doesn't talk about HP much, and when he does it's more often to bitch about the producers or being annoyed that's all anyone wanted to talk to him about. Same goes for Die Hard.
I also think there could've been a lot more context given for many entries--it was hard to keep it all straight, especially all the names of people, places, and plays. I almost wish it would've been more focused on the context and then included snippets of his diary to illustrate certain things and show his voice. But then I also get that would detract from it being his life in his voice. I don't know! I really am torn here on how I feel about it. It definitely wasn't my favorite audiobook, that's really the only thing I know for sure 😅
Overall, he was so snarky in his diary entries lol and whenever he talked about politics the snark percentage went up about 394%. He really just used his diary mostly as a place to bitch or make snide comments. There were happy or funny things in there too, they just seemed much fewer and farther between and were breezed over quite quickly. It was also interesting to see some of his relationships with other celebrities like Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Ian McKellen, and Kate Winslet (the first one I knew obviously but the latter ones I had no idea).
Also, if you're reading this as a HP fan, don't lol he really doesn't talk about HP much, and when he does it's more often to bitch about the producers or being annoyed that's all anyone wanted to talk to him about. Same goes for Die Hard.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer