Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must for all those interested in the theatre, 29 Aug 2000
By A Customer
Harriet Walter provides the reader with intelligent, erudite, honest and frequently hilarious insights into the life of a working actor. This is not an autobiography. Rather, it is the accumulation of thoughts and opinions acquired throughout a varied and distinguished career in acting. She concentrates on certain periods in her working life at times - formative experiences that are always enlightening and truthful - whilst, at other points, she focusses on various aspects of the actor's craft.This is not a pretentious book in any sense. It retains,to it's credit, an acute sense of being down to earth, whilst addressing key areas of working in the theatre.It is a refreshing blend of personal reflection, critical analysis and anecdotal recollection. It is an immensely enjoyable book about a notoriously difficult subject. Harriet Walter does not fall into the trap of theorising etc.. Instead she puts herself before you in the pages of the book - much as an actor does on stage. Anyone interested in the theatre, or indeed working in it, will be thoroughly rewarded in reading this book - excellent!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Candour and humour make for delightful company, 28 May 2000
By A Customer
Writing about the acting process is fiercely difficult process - most actors are at a complete loss for words when asked to desribe what they do - and this book is most successful when Walter is writing about her life as an actor rather than describing acting exercises. Much of the material she does include on acting technique is better covered in Max Stafford-Clark's "Letters to George". Walter herself is adamant in the introduction that this is not a manual on acting, but simply, as the title suggests, a collection of thoughts that grew out of conversations with a journalist friend.Having said that (and got my one criticism of the book out of the way) this is a really lovely read. She is a candid and vulnerable writer, with a disarmingly unselfconscious wit. I read this on the tube (London Underground) in 15 min chunks each morning and evening, and felt as though I had had a wonderful travelling companion to distract me from the sweaty, irritable hoards that filled the train. Thank you, Harriet - you have been great company.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
No pontification, lots of advice and humor..., 30 Jan 2000
By A Customer
As a actor-in-training, it is nice to pick up a book that offers a lot of profound insights on acting without being depressingly preachy and uptight. Walter offers acting exercises that she has found useful, describes her rehearsal process, and talks about her acting life in general. She also offers us some wonderful anecdotes about her life in theatre... sometimes funny, sometimes touching, always lovely to learn. Like the previous reviewer, I found this book to be not what I expected... but something a lot better. Unlike many other books on acting I've read, this one left wishing I could grab Harriet Walter and get to know her better and/or work with her (as opposed to closing the book, sighing and thanking god that I live nowhere near her).
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