In an effort to spread beauty, positivity, and joy, I’ve started highlighting some of the beautiful books I read, or what I like to call “Rose-Tinted Reads”. These might be books that tell beautiful stories, share diverse perspectives, are funny as hell, or contain gorgeous word choice or prose.
I’ve linked my previous Rose-Tinted Reads at the bottom of this post, so if you’re looking for several excellent reads, check those out!
I must admit, I didn’t grow up a Star Wars fan. I had never seen the movies until several years into marriage when my husband and I made a deal to “try out” each other’s respective fandoms: he would read the Harry Potter series if I would watch the Star Wars movies. I definitely thought I was getting the worse end of the deal at the time, but of course, I ended up a fan of the franchise.
Now a full-fledged Star Wars fan, I was intrigued by this book. Fisher’s account of her affair with Harrison Ford (I had no idea this happened!) and entries from her journals she kept during the filming of the original movie? Fascinating! I knew Fisher had written books previously, but I was unfamiliar with her writing (and largely with her life story as well).
I figured, why not start with “The Princess Diarist” as she explains what it was like to become that space princess that we all know and love. It’s hard not to love Princess Leia: a strong woman who fights her own battles and somehow manages to make crazy space outfits and ridiculous hair buns look not just stylish but covetable. And as the woman who portrays her, it’s equally hard not to love Carrie Fisher. The two are inseparable. This fact even Fisher had conceded to.
The book can basically be separated into three sections:
- Section One: her life before Star Wars, auditioning for and beginning Star Wars, and her introduction to Harrison
- Section Two: the affair: this part is largely chronicled through her diary entries of the time and has a totally different feel to it than her “adult” reflections on the time
- Section Three: everything that happened after Star Wars blew up including her relationships with her own celebrity and with fans
I enjoyed listening to this book, and being able to spend time hearing Fisher’s voice made me feel wistful and sentimental. While I’d like to read more of Fisher’s writing, this was a great introduction to her “voice” and I would recommend the book, particularly the diary entries. I have just a few more abbreviated thoughts below.
- If you didn’t love Harrison Ford before, Carrie’s descriptions of him upon first meeting him will make you want to rewatch everything he’s ever done. A bit like the big-man-on-campus jock who struts around that you pray will notice little-old-you, that’s how Harrison and Carrie’s initial relationship is described.
- I really enjoyed learning about her audition story for Star Wars, which I had never heard before. It was also interesting to hear her perspective as virtually the only woman on the Star Wars sets and her experiences as a just 19-years-old newbie actress.
- The best part: her way-too-relatable poems and diary entries from her three-month tryst with Harrison, which are read by her daughter in such a pleading, young, innocent-but-resigned sounding voice. Can anyone not relate to the awfulness of loving someone at the wrong time?
If you’ve read other books by Fisher, which ones have been your favorite? I’m eager to read more about her life, particularly her struggles with addiction and mental illness. She was a great advocate for ending the stigma surrounding MI in her short time here, and I wish we all could have learned more from her.
Previous Rose-Tinted Reads:
#1: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
#2: Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
#3: All Over the Place by Geraldine DeRuiter
#4: The Truth About Style by Stacy London
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