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thatokiebird 's review for:
My Life So Far
by Jane Fonda
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Jane Fonda is a fascinating human with an extraordinary history, and in this memoir, she has shared the first "three acts" of her life in this very hefty 21.5 hour audiobook/600 page book. Yet, it is a captivating read, and tight and well-edited. The book starts in childhood, which is often unbelievable, and takes us right into acting, activism, marriages, all with beautiful self-reflection and healing throughout.
This book was published in 2005, and does not feel very dated reading it even 20 years later. I was entertained, scandalized, googled constantly when she referenced a movie or person I was unfamiliar with. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Jane Fonda herself, while following along in the book. I loved there were photos throughout the book, not just a single glossy photo section in the middle. So I was able to enjoy the photographs in real time as she spoke about different occasions or movies or people or haircuts. (Obsessed with her 1970s chop!)
This book isn't just a memoir, it's a call to activism. And her sharing all the hiccups, messy parts, learning, unlearning, and relearning of her activism is so inspiring. There's also long long chapters of the book digging into the Vietnam war, from multiple perspectives, and so it's also a fascinating history lesson from someone who lived it.
I didn't know much of anything about Jane Fonda before reading this book, just a glimmer of a memory of the Jane Fonda Workout leg warmers. I'm so glad she shared her story in such detail, with such heart and vulnerability.
"On the one hand, films can put out powerful images and messages that have a deep impact on people; on the other hand they are only images, not actions in themselves. There's something fundamentally superficial surrounding the profession -- not the art of it but the celebrity, the self-promotion, the rarefied atmosphere. I'd had it all my life, first through my father, then on my own, so I hardly noticed it."
This book was published in 2005, and does not feel very dated reading it even 20 years later. I was entertained, scandalized, googled constantly when she referenced a movie or person I was unfamiliar with. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Jane Fonda herself, while following along in the book. I loved there were photos throughout the book, not just a single glossy photo section in the middle. So I was able to enjoy the photographs in real time as she spoke about different occasions or movies or people or haircuts. (Obsessed with her 1970s chop!)
This book isn't just a memoir, it's a call to activism. And her sharing all the hiccups, messy parts, learning, unlearning, and relearning of her activism is so inspiring. There's also long long chapters of the book digging into the Vietnam war, from multiple perspectives, and so it's also a fascinating history lesson from someone who lived it.
I didn't know much of anything about Jane Fonda before reading this book, just a glimmer of a memory of the Jane Fonda Workout leg warmers. I'm so glad she shared her story in such detail, with such heart and vulnerability.
"On the one hand, films can put out powerful images and messages that have a deep impact on people; on the other hand they are only images, not actions in themselves. There's something fundamentally superficial surrounding the profession -- not the art of it but the celebrity, the self-promotion, the rarefied atmosphere. I'd had it all my life, first through my father, then on my own, so I hardly noticed it."