I will preface this with, I may be wrong; however, I think Star Wars is the only film/television series I have seen Carrie Fisher in. In truth, I didn't see Star Wars until the 2011ish era. I liked the original trilogy very much. I hated every single prequel for every reason possible. I LOVED The Force Awakens and Rise of Skywalker, and I liked The Last Jedi. With Star Wars fresh in my mind, and a great library system here in Nashville, I was able to dive into the life of Carrie Fisher by Carrie Fisher.
Over the past two days I have read (listened to) three Carrie Fisher Memoirs: "Wishful Drinking," "Shockaholic," and "The Princess Diarist." I have also read her novel "Postcards from the Edge," which I feel is more truth than fiction. I feel as though even if I were obsessed, that that would be a ton of Carrie Fisher in a very short period in time. That could just be me though. Let's take a brief look at my thoughts of the last four books I have read (currently 8/100 complete).
"Wishful Drinking" was published at the end of 2008. I found Carrie Fisher to be a riot. If she had something to say, not only would she say it, but she would say it with color. I knew nothing of her personal life so learning she had EST (electroshock therapy) to help battle depression and lost a good part of her memory... I was not only shocked, but I was intrigued and want to read more. The book felt a little manic but it really added to the urgency of the stories that she had to tell. This was a solid start but it did not blow me away earning a three and a half stars out of five from me.
Next, I listened to "Shockaholic," and I will be the first to admit that I thought she was going to talk about storm troopers. At the beginning of this book, Carrie Fisher goes into detail about her very regular shock treatments. I've got to ask, is this really a thing? And does it really work/help? It seemed absolutely fantastical. She goes more into depth regarding family and spends focused time on her father, especially towards the end of his life. This was a little calmer, had more emotional gravitas; however, it still was very Carrie, and very tell it like it was-- at least how she remembers it to be. Because it hit me in the feels a little more than the initial memoir, I rated this four out of five stars.
I took a memoir break and listened to Carrie Fisher's first novel "Postcards From The Edge." I heard it was semi-autobiographical; however, it felt mostly like a true story (and a lot of what I heard in her first two memoirs) with fictional bits about when it came to the exact conversations her main character had. Because of this, and I think reading the first two memoirs so close together, I didn't like it as much since it was basically a retelling of stuff in her memoirs. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't great. I rated this three out of five stars.
The final memoir by Carrie Fisher that I read was "The Princess Diarist". This was the most recent of her books and there was a new air of grace and maturity (and her free flowing dirty mouth). This audiobook felt as though you were sitting across from her asking her questions and her sharing stories that in forty years, have never been told. The biggest being Carrison.
Billie Lourd, Carrie's daughter reads her journal entries during the filming of the first Star Wars movie. It was nicely done. I found Carrie Fisher's poetry to be intriguing and uniquely composed. I enjoyed her rhymes. Ultimately, this was my favorite of the three memoirs and earned a five out of five stars from me.
I had considered reading the one about Debbie and Carrie that her brother Todd Fisher wrote, but I think I am Carrie'd out. She will forever be beloved. She will always be missed. May the force be with you, always.
No comments:
Post a Comment