Marlene Dietrich by Maria Riva Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Marlene Dietrich
Book Review: Rare biography written with intelligence
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the best biography ever written. Much better than most of the biographies written by those famous bio writers, as it is written with intelligence (or as Dietrich will say "superior intelligence"). This is written without the usual self-pity you would expect from hype and with great insight and information. I enjoy this book very much.Book Review: Refreshing and candid.
Summary: 5 Stars
A favorite passtime of mine is browsing my corner bookstore in my lunch break, and I have a weakness for biographies. Can't seem to get enough of them! But I am reasonably clean when it comes to other dangerous addictions.
While daydreaming, I stumbled over a biography written by Marlene's daughter, Maria Riva.
It was (surprisingly) well written, and I ended up skipping lunch altogether to read instead.
Apparently some talent from mom's boyfriends has rubbed off on Marlene's daughter, Maria.
I was especially intrigued by the relations to Erich Remarque;-- that affair of Marlene's might have been one of the longest relationships in her glittering gallery of affairs.
I read a lot of Remarque's books in my young days, and I still return to them from time to time.
Actually, Remarque is the reason I was reading anything about all of this in the first place.
Review by Palle Jorgensen, September 2004.
Book Review: Riva Is A Great Storyteller/A Must Read!
Summary: 5 Stars
I usually don't like biographies because they are so boring-no flair. But not with this one!
Even with the borning details that few care about, Riva found a way to unfold the story that kept you interested. Instead of just stating facts or rambling them off like a child, she took time to find new and interesting ways of giving you dates and specifics that few give much care.
Then when it comes to all the good stuff, that ability really shines thru. I dunno why Riva didn't become a great Author. Her style of story telling is just plain great and this is a book I read over and over and always find fascinating!
Quick! Buy the book! You won't be disappointed.
Book Review: Self-Pity and Bitterness
Summary: 1 Stars
Undoubtedly, Ms Riva had greater access to the details of her subject's life than most biographers, inasmuch as Marlene Dietrich was her mother. What is distressing about this sad book is the picture it gives us, not of Ms Dietrich, but of her embittered, peeved, self-pitying and unforgiving daughter. Doubtless, Marlene Dietrich's flaws were as large as her outsize personality, but Ms Riva's insistence on seeing these failures as conscienceless personal attacks on her and her sanity is wearisome and, in truth, a banal and hackneyed cop-out for whatever feelings of inferiority she suffered through the early years of her life. This is the biography of beautiful, selfish woman by her plainer, self-obsessed daughter. It leaves a very bad taste in the mouth and a feeling of true sorrow that Ms Riva could not resolve her scarcely ambiguous dislike for her mother outside the pages of a book.
Book Review: Too long and disorganized
Summary: 3 Stars
This biography is far too long, repetitive and at times innundated with unnecessary details. One does not want to know every time Dietrich consumed epsom salts or had a fight with a lover or a filmamker. The material is not always well organized and it is not always clear. For example Dietrich moves from one place to another during the war and it's not always clear when she is in Germany and when in France. Riva's jelousy of her mother is also too obvious and so one highly suspects that the portrayal is biased. Still, the book manages to give one a good idea what kind of person Dietrich was and what kind of life she had. While Riva comes off as angry and sarcastic, one often feels sorry for her mother. Dietrich herself seems to have grown up in a family where emotion was not freely displayed or encouraged. So she did not know any better. But while many other stars neglected and abandoned their children, she at least was always dragging her daughter along. And in her own way, she remained loyal to the husband and the daughter throughout her life. She supported them financially, she wrote to them, telephoned and brought them to her at least when she needed them. And that seemed often. As Remarque said, she loved her family the way she knew how. I think Marlene's chasing after so many men, and according to Riva, not for sex, shows her insecurity and her insatiable need to be loved. Riva would have preferred to be a daughter of a stay-at-home mother who bakes cookies and takes her kids to school. I am sure many other kids would want a movie star for a mother. Marlene at least seems to have cooked plenty of goulash. I think that Riva devoted too much time to herself in this book, portraying herself as a victim, only to appear weak. She is not the only child of oppressive and selfish parents, but many others have rebelled and left the situation as soon as they grew up. Riva remained an obedient child all her life, silently seething and taking her revenge after her parents' death. Too late, I'm afraid. With a better editor, this could have been a much better biography.