Forever Liesl: A Memoir of the Sound of Music

Rating:
Summary: You'll Never Look At the Movie The Same Way Again
Review: The Sound Of Music is a musical filled with well-thought out, and catchy songs as well as memorable characters who are easy to relate to. This book takes you behind the scenes with Charmian Carr, who played almost all little girls' favorite character in the movie, the sixteen year old Liesl Von Trapp. In this book, you will be presented with personal information about Charmian, as well as photos from the movie set, fun stories that happened while making the movie, information about the makers of the movie, how Liesl got the part, and why she almost didn't, and so much more! Though rather boring in parts, I finished this book with a smile on my face, and recommend it to everyone who loved The Sound of Music. You will never look at the movie the same way again after reading this book!

Rating:
Summary: Aimed at fans of the movie"The Sound Of Music"
Review: Thirty-five years have passed since Julie Andrews frolicked on an Austrian hillside to the Sound of Music. Now one of the actress Charmian Carr who played a Von Trapp child has written her memoirs surrounding the filming of the classic film, and what has since happened to her and her six "siblings".

Though well written and includes some interesting tidbits, this fluffy account will only be enjoyed by the movie's most die-hard fans. Everyone else will be too young, question why FOREVER LIESL: A MEMOIR OF THE SOUND OF MUSIC was published, or like this reviewer suddenly feel old and wonder where three plus decades went?

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: For all who loved the film
Review: This book is for anyone who loves the movie, and it is especially meaningful to those of us who can narrate every single word by heart (and I know there are a lot of us out there! ) The author gives insight into all of the hard work that went into making the film, and how her life has changed because of it. I also liked all of the short anecdotes between each chapter from everyday people, sharing how The Sound of Music has touched their lives. It is a MUST READ for any fan of this beautiful movie!

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Summary: Forever Grateful
Review: This book was given to me as a birthday gift this year. My friends and family know that I've loved the film, "The Sound of Music," for years since I played Rolf in a community theater production of the stage musical. My favorite character was always Liesl, though, because of her child-like innocence and wide-eyed optimism, so wonderfully brought to life by Charmian Carr. This book was a delightful read as it gives the reader a nice first-hand look behind the scenes of the film's creation and what life in Hollywood of the early sixties was like. Also, it provides some wonderful insight into this charming actress and her life, on screen and off. How nice to find that she is so much in real life as you would expect her to be, she is still thrilled with the fact that her main legacy will be her portrayal of the eldest von Trapp child and grateful to the fans who never forget her. She is a breath of fresh air, having been in show business and having avoided all of the possible downfalls of the industry. Funny, sweet and sentimental, all in all, a great book. A beautiful account without ever stooping to the common pitfalls of the typical Tinseltown "tell-all." Kudos to Ms. Carr, this book is a terrific gift to her fans and anyone who loves, "The Sound of Music."

Rating:
Summary: A must for Sound Of Music fans
Review: This is a heartwarming and sometimes sad account of Charmian Carr's rise to fame as Liesl, who was "16 going on 17".
Very well written, I have read this twice and very much enjoy it.

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Summary: A Good Look at the Sound of Music
Review: This is a very good book for people who want to know what it was like to make Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music.

Charmain Carr gives the reader information about what it was like to make this increadable movie and gives information about what it was like to work with people like Julie Andrews and the six other "Von Trapp" children.

The story is also about Charmain Carr's life. She goes into her childhood as Charmain Farnon in Chicago the middle daughter of a musician and an actress, the move when she was 10 to California and the divorce of her parents a few years later. Charmain then goes into how she got the roll of Liesl and how the producers changed her last name from Farnon to Carr because with a name like Charmain they wanted an uncomplecated last name.

After this Charmain goes into the traveling that she had to do to promote the movie, and then how she met her husband and had two daughters. This leads to the later part of her life a divorced mother of two doing decorating for Michael Jackson and meeting people like Jackie O.

One of the most interestiing parts of the book is in between the chapers. In this part Charmain tells stories that other people have told her about how the Sound of Music changed there lives. Some of them are rather interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Forever Liesl: Thank you
Review: What a wonderful experience to read a book about a story that has touched all our lives. Charmian Carr shares touching personal insights with us and reminds us that memories are usually pretty nice things, especially when they are compounded from love and good experience. This book shows that time can stand still and we can revisit the great feelings that the film brought to us 35 years ago

Rating:
Summary: Forever Beautiful
Review: When I was a very young girl, I could not help but fall hopelessly in love with the movie "The Sound of Music" and "Maria", the captivating convent novice working as a governess for 7 motherless children.

In reading Charmian Carr's "Forever Liesl"--I stopped for a moment, as though 35 years had vanished in an instant! I could but for a moment see her in the role of "Liesl" with those big blue eyes and beautiful smile. How lovely she was and to read of her memories of making that historic film, I felt I was there in Austria on location, too.

I have often wondered over these many years whatever happened to Miss Carr, having seen her in a few TV commercials; but nevertheless, I am thankful she decided to write of her life-changing experience in making such a beautiful film! I only wish she herself had pursued a musical and dance career in the theatre because of her great talent.

Thank you for sharing your experiences, dear "Lisel".

Rating:
Summary: Forever Beautiful
Review: When I was a very young girl, I could not help but fall hopelessly in love with the movie "The Sound of Music" and "Maria", the captivating convent novice working as a governess for 7 motherless children.

In reading Charmian Carr's "Forever Liesl"--I stopped for a moment, as though 35 years had vanished in an instant! I could but for a moment see her in the role of "Liesl" with those big blue eyes and beautiful smile. How lovely she was and to read of her memories of making that historic film, I felt I was there in Austria on location, too.

I have often wondered over these many years whatever happened to Miss Carr, having seen her in a few TV commercials; but nevertheless, I am thankful she decided to write of her life-changing experience in making such a beautiful film! I only wish she herself had pursued a musical and dance career in the theatre because of her great talent.

Thank you for sharing your experiences, dear "Lisel".

Rating:
Summary: Essential Reading for Any "SOM" Fan
Review: Worth the long wait (it has been advertised for months on this site), Charmian Carr's "Forever Liesl" seemlessly integrates several stories: a detailed narrative of the making of "SOM"; Ms. Carr's personal experience "being" Liesl and its impact on her life and family; the impact of the movie on her co-stars; the impact of the film on long-time fans. In fact, the variety of storylines makes for a book the interest level of which rarely flags. It is a tribute to Ms. Carr and co-author Jean Strauss that the variety makes for an organic whole, rather than just a jumble of parts. The well-organized structure of the book is, indeed, one of its strong points. This is not a mere collection of anecdotes.

The narrative of the making of "SOM" renders Julia Antopol Hirsch's ill-informed book on the same subject really irrelevant (though it has color pictures). Ms. Carr pointedly corrects several real untruths paraded by Ms. Hirsch as fact, though with characteristic class, she does not mention Ms. Hirsch or the book by name. Though she was an "SOM" insider, Ms. Carr was clearly scrupulous in her quest to get the story right, consulting archives and many of the surviving participants in the film's creation. It is a tribute to her generosity -- and seeming lack of ego -- that the book isn't just a self-centered recital of 35 year-old memories. Christopher Plummer's major contribution to the resulting book is clear, and certainly no other telling of the "SOM" story has captured his candor, wit and irreverance as this one has. No, Julie Andrews did not participate, but she is treated with the respect that her contribution to the film demands. Ms. Carr indulges in no show of pique at Ms. Andrew's current aloofness.

As interesting as is the "making of" narrative, Ms. Carr's own story packs more punch. The heart of this story is a series of "family matters," particularly those involving her parents. Not indulging in "Mommie Dearest" revenge, she narrates her parents's struggles with admirable restraint and good taste. The chapter on her mother's alcoholism is particularly moving and actually relevant, as she had a role in getting Ms.Carr an audition for the film. This later became a painful issue between mother and daughter. This chapter could have been maudlin, or melodramatic, or grossly self-serving. It is none of those. It is more touching because the narrative style in this section is so spare. In this case, less meant more (and more moving).

Where the book runs into trouble, however, is with Ms. Carr's shrewd, but less successful, tribute to the movie's many (obsessive?) fans. She is much too generous with space as she allows these fans to tell their stories. Its a strategically sound policy to play up to the fans, but the tone of some of these stories is just this side of bearable. These maudlin moments (and there are one or two in other parts of the text that made me cringe! ) are what some snotty, ill-informed critics have chosen to harp on, though in doing so they miss the point of the book as a whole. Released to celebrate the film's 35th anniversary, the book is intended as a tribute to "SOM" and not a trashing of it. Ms. Carr is too smart not to know that as a tribute -- a bit too gooey in places, thus consistent with the movie's tone -- the book will sell. The book was written to sell, just as the movie itself was. And sell, this book should, in this reviewer's opinion. Despite the lapses in taste mentioned above (a sticky gooiness in parts that actually does not infect the whole book), this is a classy book written by a very classy lady. And dumb, she ain't (she's been a successful businesswoman for years). Ms. Carr knows what most "SOM" fans want in a book about "their" movie, and she gives it to them in spades.