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.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Addition to Great Film
Review: WOW! Charmian Carr makes you a part of the whole process, taking you behind the curtain and into the film itself. It's an easy read with lots of interesting stories and secrets put in to engage you even more! A must for anyone who's ever wanted to be a von Trapp!
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