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whathappenedtoagoodbook 's review for:
My Life So Far
by Jane Fonda
Slowly but surely, I have finally finished what feels like the longest memoir ever! I am a big Jane Fonda fan - still hoping that one say she’ll make a book club! This was an enjoyable read, but not flawless. It is over 600 pages, divided into the phases of her life, and yet it was not always chronological which made it a bit confusing at points. I really enjoyed the first half of the memoir, but there seemed to be a shift in the second half. This became most obvious once her partnership with Ted Turner was being discussed, it was just extremely disjointed. A part of this is that it became much more noticeable that she was excessively self-analytical. While I understand that she has come to realize a lot of the reasons behind failed relationships or lack of fulfillment, there are less textbook-like explanations she could have used. It felt like it was directly from a therapists mouth. Furthermore, when she talked about some issues in the latter half she would end up reciting what felt like a UN informational packet to try and bring up certain issues and information. This is also information from around 15 years ago, and at times was noticeably dated. This was often the cause of the disjointedness in the latter half of the work and made for awkward stretches where I wasn’t as invested in the story. Having said that, I still have a lot of respect for Jane Fonda and the crazy life she has led, and the vulnerability that she approached this with was quite shocking. My favorite part was learning about how she became involved in activism, how it drove a lot of substantial choices in her life, and how much was going on outside of the spotlight. Also, her clear passion for films and how she analyzed the different aspects of filmmaking and her experience in the industry. There are still a lot of positives I have taken away from this work and it has now made me want to work my way through all of her films!