As life-long book lover,I don't have books in only one place.
There are books I have left like some old skin behind me in Amsterdam and London. Than there is a book collection in Croatia, which I always cherish once I return from my sailings. Once somebody on a ship asked me "but... why don't you just throw them away once you read them?" (this was a lady who was buying her paperback novels at the airports and using them as paper tissue,once used, she would simply throw them away) - I love books too much to simply throw them away & know myself too well, in a future I might read them again from different perspective. Yes,its a pain in the ass to carry all these books in a luggage but I manage. I sweat and swear through airports and promise myself never to buy so many (around 12 is what I can manage to carry in a backpack) but good read is worthwhile and it makes my life richer. Than I bring them back like some squirrel and glow over my collection. Sure there are some duplicates and occasional dud that makes me wonder what was I thinking. Far too many celebrity biographies that I explain with my "journalistic curiosity". And there is sometimes, an old friend that I re-visit and marvel how good it is, I read it now as completely different person.
Completely different from usual movie biographies that mostly serve as narcissistic celebrations of vanity,this one is a memoir of one actual artist who had something interesting to say. The name of Simone Signoret might not be so well known today by kids who are fed on celebrity gossip, but during 1950s and 1960s she was one of the biggest international movie stars and often used her fame to openly confront injustice - in tandem with her husband Yves Montand, Signoret would petition, sign and use her name to protest against than current political regimes (her signature would be next to Simone de Beauvoir, Marguerite Duras, Jean-Paul Sartre and biggest names of french public life). Never a member of any party (and often criticized for her political involvements) Signoret was always provocative, intelligent and compassionate - and ironic enough to be aware that any time she would visit a prison or join a street protest, some would see it as a photo opportunity. As a first european actress who won "Oscar" she is also surprisingly clear-headed about her professional success and laughs at mistakes.
I had read this book long ago, when I was much younger and my curiosity was mainly focused on what she had to say about her husband affair with Marilyn Monroe - today I am older and far more interested about everything else Signoret had to say. How difficult was to be jewish and deprived of work during WW2. Her early life and how it blossomed and changed once she met Montand who was her life partner in every meaning of the word - she writes far more about him than about herself, clearly she is delighted with his success far more than with her own.
How they both travelled trough Eastern Block and met Khrushchev, Tito, local politicians and her impressions of them - and how it all basically blocked her entry to U.S. where she finally got opportunity to work in Hollywood and international recognition. Endearingly free of typical movie star's anecdotes but full of interesting perceptions about people around her, political opponents, cowards and hypocrites, Signoret lived dignified life and her memoirs are brave, inspiring read.
Memories of WW2:
"The battle for Arnhem was in a full swing. We were sandwiched between Allied and German armies. Than, for two or three days we lived without friends and without enemies - except for one, a poor fifteen or sixteen year old boy who hid in the woods. He got riddled with a shot from local commando; they had gotten together twenty or so guys to shoot him down and drag him into town hall as a trophy. He died in his oversize uniform like a little dog."
"We take no orders or instructions. We move when the heart is stirred."
No comments:
Post a Comment