This last book from beloved Hollywood icon Carrie Fisher is the crown jewel of ideal Star Wars gifts. The Princess Diarist is an intimate, hilarious, and revealing recollection of what happened behind the scenes on one of the most famous film sets of all time.
When Carrie Fisher discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved-plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naivete, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Before her passing, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon was indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a teenager with an all-consuming crush on her costar, Harrison Ford.
With these excerpts from her handwritten notebooks, The Princess Diarist is Fisher's intimate and revealing recollection of what happened on one of the most famous film sets of all time-and what developed behind the scenes. Fisher also ponders the joys and insanity of celebrity, and the absurdity of a life spawned by Hollywood royalty, only to be surpassed by her own outer-space royalty. Laugh-out-loud hilarious and endlessly quotable, The Princess Diarist brims with the candor and introspection of a diary while offering shrewd insight into one of Hollywood's most beloved stars.
Can you imagine being 19, a goofy kid trying to figure out your place in the world and not even REALLY sure what you wanted to do with your life, then becoming one of the most important people in science-fiction... ever?
Even coming from a famous family, Carrie really got thrown in the deep end with the unexpected popularity of Star Wars. That said, The Princess Diarist is not about Star Wars. You'll get glimpses of the story and a little behind the scenes (I liked the story about her hair) but this is not an inside view, not really. The Princess Diarist is about Star Wars in as much as Star Wars defined and redefined Carrie Fisher's life. It's about how Leia became such a big part of herself, whether she wanted that eternal intimacy with the character or not.
I think that a lot of readers will be frustrated with the scattered nature of this book, but I fell in love with Carrie's voice right away. She's uncertain and snarky and uncomfortable. She felt more real that just about any writer I can think of, and I've read quite a few memoirs this fall. Carrie doesn't put on airs - she tells things how she remembers them and refuses to sugar coat it. And if it's not the fairy story you were hoping for... well, oh well.
This one captivated me, and if you like memoirs or non-fiction with clever, honest narrators, The Princess Diarist is a great book. And being a Star Wars fan doesn't hurt, either.
Blog: The Literary Phoenix
Bookstagram: @theliteraryphoenix
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22 October, 2018:
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22 October, 2018:
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