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Madly, Deeply

The Alan Rickman Diaries

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Madly, Deeply

By: Alan Rickman, Alan Taylor - editor, Emma Thompson - foreword
Narrated by: Steven Crossley, Alfred Enoch, Bonnie Wright, Rima Horton
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Summary

A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2022: ENTERTAINMENT
A MAIL ON SUNDAYS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022

Alan Rickman remains one of the most beloved actors of all time across almost every genre, from his breakout role as Die Hard’s villainous Hans Gruber to his heart-wrenching run as Professor Severus Snape, and beyond. His air of dignity, his sonorous voice and the knowing wit he brought to each role continue to captivate new audiences today.

But Rickman’s artistry wasn’t confined to just his performances. Rickman’s writing details the extraordinary and the ordinary in a way that is anecdotal, indiscreet, witty, gossipy and utterly candid. He takes us behind the scenes on films and plays ranging from Sense & Sensibility, the Harry Potter series, Private Lives, My Name Is Rachel Corrie and many more.

The diaries run from 1993 to his death in 2016 and offer insight into both a public and private life. Here is Rickman the consummate professional actor, but also the friend, the traveller, the fan, the director, the enthusiast: in short, the real Alan Rickman. Here is a life fully lived, all detailed in intimate and characteristically plain-spoken prose. Reading the diaries is like listening to Rickman chatting to a close friend.

Madly, Deeply also includes a foreword by Emma Thompson and a selection of Rickman’s early diaries, dating from 1974 to 1982, when his acting life first began.

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It is said that you should not meet your heroes and I think perhaps the same should be said of reading their diaries (or listening to them).
I have long been a fan of Alan’s work, and admired what I believed to be his warm heart as well as his incredible talent. I accept that these diaries are more jottings about his day, however he comes across as hugely critical of everyone and everything, including himself. His notes and criticisms have made me reassess his performance in some of my favourite films, given his negative views about other actors, directors and the end product. It could be said that these were private musings and therefore did not need to be full or even positive, but then why publish them?
All in all, I am left with the view that he was, after all, just a person like any other and my memory of him would have been richer had I not read this.

Conflicted

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I love Rickman’s work but this is read by a person who mispronounces so many words, and whose tone does not capture Rickman’s brilliance at all. Content- wise, there are so many names dropped that it will only appeal to those who recognise the characters. There are many mentions of shared meals but limited insight into characters (apart from those deemed by Alan to be open, kind and funny). I would have liked to understand more about his non- theatrical life and marriage.

Dreadful narration spoils this

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I had pre ordered this and enjoyed it immensely. I would have preferred the earlier, more random diary entries from his younger life put at the beginning though. it felt like a bit of a disjointed latch on to place them almost at the end. I can highly recommend this audio book and its a definite reread for me!

Very enjoyable

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I shall cherish this book .Love Alan Rickman.They broke the mold when they made him. Wonderfully narrated too.

A wonderful actor

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(Audiobook)

Alan Rickman shot to fame as villainous Hans Gruber in Die Hard, back in 1988. Up until then he’d done a lot of theatre, mostly in the UK. His diaries run from 1993 until his death in 2016 and offer insight into the actor’s public and private lives, the people and friends he knew and loved, as well as those he didn’t.

Some diaries are easy to read, and some aren’t. This is one that isn’t, mainly due to it being written very much as a diary, rather than notes intended for an autobiography. I chose the audiobook for this very reason and hearing the words rather than reading them does make a big difference. With a foreword by Emma Thompson and a short piece by his wife Rima Horton, most of the book is taken up with Alan’s diaries from 1993 onwards, with footnotes explaining who certain people are, which play or movie he’s referring to, etc. There is also a selection of earlier diaries from 1974 before he got into television and movies.

Though some entries are little more than ‘met so-and-so for dinner, watched TV, went to bed…’ many reveal his thoughts and concerns about his work, his criticisms/admiration of particular movies, directors and actors, as well as many entertaining stories of the people he spent his life with. Towards the end of the book, rather poignantly, many entries concern friends and acquaintances who have died, noting his memories of when he first met or worked with them, or how they were the last time he saw them.

A thoughtful and insightful book for anyone who, like me, would have been delighted simply to be in the same room as the man.

A thoughtful and insightful book

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