|
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details
|
Product Description
Review
Actor and director Richard Attenborough is a giant of British cinema - and one of the best connected men in the world of showbusiness ... Now he's tellling his extraordinary story ... Moving and enthralling --Daily Mail
Classic Attenborough... So riveting that I was up till 2am reading it --The Guardian
Richard Attenborough s autobiography is the most compelling you ll read all year. The narrative is packed with big name anecdotes and insights into acting, film making, family life, love and personal tragedy. It s funny, entertaining and very moving. --Sainsbury's Magazine
Classic Attenborough... So riveting that I was up till 2am reading it --The Guardian
Richard Attenborough s autobiography is the most compelling you ll read all year. The narrative is packed with big name anecdotes and insights into acting, film making, family life, love and personal tragedy. It s funny, entertaining and very moving. --Sainsbury's Magazine
Review
`Classic Attenborough'
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting - but flawed,
By
This review is from: Entirely Up to You, Darling (Hardcover)
This is a very interesting book, but rather flawed.From the book front cover you may believe it is Richard Attenborough's life story, but look closely at the bottom of the front cover, and in small writing it says "and Diana Hawkins" From that I assumed she had ghost written the book, as often happens with these life stories of the famous. But in fact it is both their life stories running side by side. Diana Hawkins worked with Richard as publicity manager on many of his films such as Ghandi, Chorus Line and so on, so they shared many areas of their life. I believe the book is flawed for two reasons: Firstly, the text alternates between Richard and Diana. Text for Richard begins "RA" and he writes for a page or two, then we get "DH" and Diana writes for a page or two. This itself is a bit disconcerting, just as you are getting used to what Richard is saying we switch to Diana, then back again. This is not too bad when they are discussing the same topic, such as the making of Ghandi, or the publicity tour for Chorus Line, but can become annoying when they are discussing different phases of their lives. The second "flaw" is that the book follow no logical sequence. It starts with a detailed look at how Ghandi was made, but then Richard starts talking about his early life, and Diana starts talking about her early life (at which point one asks "do I care"). We then go back to Ghandi, then we get Richard talking about his life in the war and his early career, and Diana talking about her marital problems, then we go on to Chorus line, and so it goes on. So it is bad enough we are jumping back and forth between Richard talking, then Diana talking, but we are also jumping back and forth between the background to making a particular film, and then some aspect of their personal lives. At times I almost feel as though Richard wrote his sections in two page chunks, and Diana wrote her sections in two page chunks, then they threw all the pages up in the air and put them together in random order. There is a good book in here waiting to get out (maybe two), and the behind the scenes stories about the making of his most famous films is fascinating, but I am afraid trying to tell two life stories side by side in same book just does not work for me. A book by Richard and Diana JUST about making the films would have been good, or a book JUST about Richard's life would have been good, but a book combining everything is too much. Having said all that, Richard comes across as an wonderful person (as do his parents and family) and it certainly made me feel very guilty when I saw how much work Richard and his family have done to ease the suffering in the world. Sum up: Amazing man, flawed book.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Oddest autobiography,
By
This review is from: Entirely Up to You, Darling (Paperback)
There are some very interesting stories about the struggles of film making hidden away in the most bizarre structure for an autobiography I've ever come across. The timeline jumps about erratically, and much of the book is written from the perspective of RA' s publicist / co-producer. What do I care about DH's marriage problems 30 odd years ago, particularly when they are interrupting a story about getting Gandhi made? What we get here is effectively half a book from RA - and the sense that we are missing out on many aspects of a very interesting life.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Beautiful Friendship, An Excellent Read,
By Stealthoneill (Plymouth, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Entirely Up to You, Darling (Hardcover)
From the outset you believe this book to be one thing; an autobiography of Richard Attenborough. However what you find is a charming story of how two people become lifelong friends in an industry focused on being out for yourself. Some people may feel cheated when chapters deviate from Attenborough to Diane Hawkins for the first time, as I was, but I endured and was well rewarded towards the end when these two seemingly individual stories begin to intertwine with each other.As a long time fan of Richard Attenborough I knew I would enjoy this insight in to his life as would any of his followers. But what this also offers is a look inside the monster of Hollywood from someone who is widely known for his smaller acting roles rather than his prolific work directing the film `Gandhi (2 Disc Special Edition) [1982] [DVD]'. Friendship, Laughter, Pain, Success and Sorrow. This book has everything you want.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
