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A review by rosemarieshort
Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman by Alan Rickman
4.0
I remember first watching Sense & Sensibility and being enthralled by the quiet, painful journey Colonel Brandon underwent - all brought beautifully to life by Alan Rickman. Of course when Harry Potter came along I enjoyed his portrayal of Severus Snape, arguably a scene stealer which is saying a lot when so many stellar actors graced the Hogwarts Halls. In the years since I've seen a lot of Rickman's work, so when I heard his diaries were being released (apparently he consented to this, and I don't believe his widow would have gone ahead if he hadn't) I was keen to see inside this immensely talented, but rather impenetrable, man's head.
At first, I struggled with this read. There are times where you feel you've spent far too long reading an endless list of restaurants, cities, famous names - without really knowing anything more about Rickman as a person in reward. He seemed to have lived a life not unlike a socialite at times - bouncing from dinner to party to social engagement, meeting endless streams of people from the Art world (and political, owing to his wife's profession), constantly on planes or trains. There are times in the entries where Rickman himself acknowledges this coyly. It was in the midst of one of these that I wondered why the editor hadn't used a little more intention - indeed, other than the occasionally footnote explaining who a long list of celebrity names were, it's hard to see where the editing took place.
However, there are gems to be found. Every time he took part in a theatre production especially I found myself fascinated by his observations and thought processes. He is acerbic and sometimes a little unkind (again, he admits this himself more than once) but so ruthlessly honest - it's something he didn't show to the public in life, and I enjoyed this insight into him as a person. When he admires someone he is full of praise - Lindsay Duncan, Natasha Richardson, Richard Griffiths all instantly spring to mind as just a few of many.
There is also a rhythm which I found around page 200 which I think was my finally "clicking" with Rickman as an author. He didn't live to self-edit these, and presumably just wrote as he felt and thought. That can mean a challenge as a reader, to wholly give yourself to another's perspective. Once I did, it felt like a tete a tete, a secret stream of conversation - imagine Alan Rickman sending you voice notes on his unfiltered thoughts and feelings. Sometimes he's critical, at others he's generous - there's pride and also self-consciousness, stubbornness and flexibility. Emma Thompson in her foreword refers to him as mercurial and his diaries support this - it makes him all the more human.
It made coming towards the close of the entries, knowing how long he had left and also seeing each instalment becoming shorter and more perfunctory as he grew more ill, very moving. It seems that until almost the very end he lived a life he loved to its fullest. The afterward from his widow is simple and short, yet from this alone I felt the beautiful and unique connection she and Rickman had.
I did bemoan not having more of his beautiful illustrations - there are some in the cover which show not only did he write his diaries. He expressed in colour and artwork, referencing his Graphic Design background pre-acting. I would have enjoyed seeing more of this as I can imagine the added vibrancy would have helped in some places.
Overall, if you're a fan of Rickman or a fan of practically unedited streams of consciousnesses of people of note (a very specific genre, I admit) then I would tell you to give this a read. He was without doubt a complex and brilliant person - imperfect and yet all the more interesting for it.
At first, I struggled with this read. There are times where you feel you've spent far too long reading an endless list of restaurants, cities, famous names - without really knowing anything more about Rickman as a person in reward. He seemed to have lived a life not unlike a socialite at times - bouncing from dinner to party to social engagement, meeting endless streams of people from the Art world (and political, owing to his wife's profession), constantly on planes or trains. There are times in the entries where Rickman himself acknowledges this coyly. It was in the midst of one of these that I wondered why the editor hadn't used a little more intention - indeed, other than the occasionally footnote explaining who a long list of celebrity names were, it's hard to see where the editing took place.
However, there are gems to be found. Every time he took part in a theatre production especially I found myself fascinated by his observations and thought processes. He is acerbic and sometimes a little unkind (again, he admits this himself more than once) but so ruthlessly honest - it's something he didn't show to the public in life, and I enjoyed this insight into him as a person. When he admires someone he is full of praise - Lindsay Duncan, Natasha Richardson, Richard Griffiths all instantly spring to mind as just a few of many.
There is also a rhythm which I found around page 200 which I think was my finally "clicking" with Rickman as an author. He didn't live to self-edit these, and presumably just wrote as he felt and thought. That can mean a challenge as a reader, to wholly give yourself to another's perspective. Once I did, it felt like a tete a tete, a secret stream of conversation - imagine Alan Rickman sending you voice notes on his unfiltered thoughts and feelings. Sometimes he's critical, at others he's generous - there's pride and also self-consciousness, stubbornness and flexibility. Emma Thompson in her foreword refers to him as mercurial and his diaries support this - it makes him all the more human.
It made coming towards the close of the entries, knowing how long he had left and also seeing each instalment becoming shorter and more perfunctory as he grew more ill, very moving. It seems that until almost the very end he lived a life he loved to its fullest. The afterward from his widow is simple and short, yet from this alone I felt the beautiful and unique connection she and Rickman had.
I did bemoan not having more of his beautiful illustrations - there are some in the cover which show not only did he write his diaries. He expressed in colour and artwork, referencing his Graphic Design background pre-acting. I would have enjoyed seeing more of this as I can imagine the added vibrancy would have helped in some places.
Overall, if you're a fan of Rickman or a fan of practically unedited streams of consciousnesses of people of note (a very specific genre, I admit) then I would tell you to give this a read. He was without doubt a complex and brilliant person - imperfect and yet all the more interesting for it.