Hilarie Burton Morgan: „The Rural Diaries“ – it’s all about compassion, empathy and the will to change

„First of all, you don’t know me.

Second of all, you don’t know me.“

Any of you One Tree Hill Fans out there will definitely know these words spoken by one of our favorite characters, Peyton Sawyer.

With that comes the question: When do we really know one person?

I am not silly to think that 100% knowledge about one person exists, but it is always great to get to know and understand a fellow human who inspires you and who is a good influence in your life a little bit better.

So here comes: The Rural Diaries

Have you ever felt really invited into someone’s life without feeling awkward about it?

Hilarie Burton Morgan has been a positive influence and inspiration to me for a long time – not just because she is one hell of an actress (f.e. she worked on Lethal Weapon, Forever, White Collar – just to name a few), who has found her women empowerment roles in christmas movies, but because she is walking the walk of doing good things for her community, encouraging others to do the same and changing her life when she needed it the most. Now she is happily married to Jeffrey Dean Morgan, loves her two children, Gus and George, dearly and is a farm lady who is just is as tough as they come with a heart of gold.

„Love is like farm work. It requires consistency, and imagination. Your body will ache and you will be fatigued, but there is no greater reward than seeing the fruits of your labor.“

(Hilarie Burton Morgan: The Rural Diaries, Preface, page x)

When I first heard about Hilarie writing a book, I was definitely in for pre-ordering it. There was just no other way. Then, when the time of the book-release came closer I was really excited, because not only was a convention planned in May in Paris with Hilarie attending, it was also the weekend before the official release date – and my hopes were high that she would bring copies to sign.

In the times leading to this, the Corona virus hit the world – and the convention was postponed. So I really couldn’t be more excited when Hilarie announced that she would partner with her community bookstore, Oblong Books and Music, to send out signed copies of „The Rural Diaries“. It was a natural thing to order and to support small shops who were having a hard time during the lockdown.

Only two days apart the copies arrived – one pre-ordered book and one signed copy from Oblong Books and Music in Rhinebeck.

Since I was so looking forward to reading her story and getting to know her a little bit more, a few days earlier I purchased the audiobook – and it was just as amazing as I thought. On my way to work and back home I listened to Hilarie telling me about key moments in her life, from loosing a good friend during the war in Iraq to meeting Jeffrey Dean Morgan, to getting pregnant the first time with Gus and feeling lonely in Los Angeles to battling depression after her first miscarriage to finally becoming a mom to sweet George and marrying Jeffrey in 2019.

The most wonderful thing about this audiobook: you can hear every emotion Hilarie wants to share, the good, the bad, the funny and the ones that nearly make you cry.

„The next morning Jeff made coffee and we opened gifts. Gus tore into his presents, and then I got up to make breakfast, feeling the letdown of a holiday ending.

‚Hold on, there is something in the tree,‘ Jeffrey said.

I looked and there was a white envelope that read „Hilarie“. I opened it up, thinking it was a gift certificate. But inside was a piece of paper that read „Morgan“

I turned around, and Jeffrey was down on one knee with the ring.“

 (Hilarie Burton Morgan: The Rural Diaries, page 59)

 All these moments play a vital part in Hilarie becoming the wonderful human she is today – and in her book she also shares her stories of failure and how it is good and healthy to embrace these moments, learn from them and go on in your life being stronger and more self conscious than ever.

For the food-lovers – there are some great receipes in „The Rural Diaries“, which are on my list to try out some time soon. Also Hilarie shares her insights and learnings about being a farm lady and caring for ducks, cows and alpaca.

 „Sunny walked me through how to give them their deworming shots once a month, and I went to school on alpacas. I learned that, thankfully, they are the least-high-maintenance animals on the planet.“

(Hilarie Burton Morgan: The Rural Diaries, page 91)

If you are like me and are interested in reading reviews before you order a book – you probably won’t find anything negative while doing your research – because there just isn’t.

„The Rural Diaries“ is just that – honest words about a life lived through changes, through challenges, through dark days and losses but always with a heart full of longing and hoping and fighting for better days.

 „I’m sorry,“ he said.

Jeffrey had finally seen me. We talked about our grief. We talked about how we both felt like failures. We talked about how lonely we were.

Suddenly, with his hands in his pockets, Jeffrey was a different person. He was incredibly vulnerable. He talked to me about how much he valued me and that this was home and that it was worth any fight.

And as we talked, he started helping me. He stood and went to get a whole bunch of rocks, laying pathways through the garden for me. Each path was a manifestation of what he was saying.

We worked on this garden together.“

(Hilarie Burton Morgan: The Rural Diaries, page 199)

 „The Rural Diaries“ is not just about family moments, its also about life-changing and positive moments regarding work: Hilarie tells about her work with organisations like Astor Services for Children and Families, which is a treatment center for children with behavioral issues. Becoming involved with renovating the floors and working for the well-being of the children not only helped her personally but also brought her and Jeffrey closer together.

„Jeff started doing a lot of press with me to promote Astor. […] He’s incredible generous with himself. So when he’s home, that’s his time to recuperate.

Watching him use his reserves to promote Astor made me fall in love with him all over. He knew it was important to me, so it became important to him. Jeffrey had shown up, and I knew that meant we were going to push through the shitty stuff together and keep going.

From that moment on, we were stronger than we’d ever been. In working for others, we found ourselves again.“

(Hilarie Burton Morgan: The Rural Diaries, page 210)

Another important part of her life is Samuel’s Sweet Shop and in telling how they met Ira Gutner, to mourning his sudden death which then leads to buying the sweet shop to save it – it’s also another story filled with love, compassion and the will to work and help when others are in need to be saved.  

There is so much more I could say about this diamond of a book – but I really would like to encourage you to read it and to see for yourself – or hear, if you prefer the audiobook, which is a real treat. (And with that coming from me, who is not a big fan of audiobooks in general, you could definitely trust my words with that one.)

 And – if you ever feel stuck in life, I would like to share a saying of Hilarie’s father, that is an important one in every aspect of living: „The Want-To creates the How-To“ – or as Hilarie has put it in words a while ago: If you want something bad enough, you will find a way to make it happen. If not, it just wasn’t the right thing for you.

 So – I really hope you will read this book and hopefully it will enrich your life in many aspects.

„All the lessons we’d gathered from living here, from buying Samuel’s, from engaging with our neighbors and celebrating their talents – we wanted to share that.

The same way I had been inspired by other people’s stories when I was low, I wanted to pay it forward and continue to message:

Try. The want-to creates the how-to.

And if all else fails, just fake it. But for God’s sake, at least try.“

(Hilarie Burton Morgan: The Rural Diaries, page 254)

 

You can find everything about Mischief Farm on their website here.

And if you want to check out Hilarie and Jeffrey on Instagram, you can do it here and here.

~ Christopher Eccleston: „I love the Bones of you“ ~

Euch allen ein schönes neues Jahr – ob mit Lesevorsätzen oder nicht 🙂

Ich habe mir keine Vorsätze für mein Lesejahr genommen – nur eins ist mir diesbezüglich wichtig: selektives Auswählen, regelmäßiges Ausmisten und ansonsten: Schauen was 2020 so bringt.

Ich habe bereits einige Bücher, die ich mir näher anschauen möchte und demnächst werde ich auch diese kurze Liste auf den Blog stellen.

Nun gehts aber rasch zu einem Buch, welches mich über den Jahreswechsel begleitet hat – mit Lesepausen zwischendurch. Gestern hab ich es beendet.

Wish everyone a really wonderful year 2020 – if you have resolutions on what to read or not 🙂

I don’t have any intentions for the year ahead when it comes to reading – but one thing is really important to me this way: choose wisely and selective what to read, clear out your stuff every now and then and that’s it. Let yourself get inspired by what will be published 2020 and enjoy. 

So far I have a short list with some books I will have a closer look at this year and one of the next articles will be about this short list. Stay tuned!

Now let’s go to a book which kept me company before and during the turn of the year, until I finished reading yesterday. Surely I did some pauses in reading – like I do with with every book.

Liebhaber von „Doctor Who“ werden ihn kennen und für seine Darstellung des Zeitreisenden lieben. Wären die Voraussetzungen anders gewesen, wäre er vielleicht länger in die Rolle des Doctors geschlüpft. Aber das alles ist Vergangenheit.

In „I love the Bones of you“ nimmt uns der Schauspieler mit in sein eigenes Leben, seine Kindheit, sein Aufwachsen, seine Vergangenheit.

Fans of „Doctor Who“ will know and love him for his portrayal fo the time-traveler. If the conditions of filming would have been different, maybe he would have been „The Doctor“ for a longer time. But all this is past.

In „I love the Bones of you“ the actor takes us on a journey through his life, his childhood, his growing up, his past.

„I grew up believing I had choices.“

(Christopher Eccleston: I love the Bones of you, page 40)

 

Wie der Untertitel schon zeigt, dreht sich das gesamte Buch größtenteils um das Verhältnis von Christopher Eccleston zu seinem Vater Ronnie. Wie in jeder Familie gab es gute und weniger gute Momente, sonnige Tage und Regenwetter. Doch eins ist von Anfang an klar: Ronnie Eccleston hat eine immense Rolle im Leben seines Sohnes Christopher gespielt – und dieser hat ihm mit „I love the Bones of you“ ein Denkmal gesetzt, das Höhen und Tiefen einbezieht, jedoch immer die Liebe spüren lässt, die der Schauspieler für seinen Vater hatte.

Like the subtitle mentions, this whole book is mainly about the relationship between Christopher Eccleston and his father Ronnie. Like in nearly every family there have been good moments and the not so good ones, sunny days and rainy spells. But one thing is for sure from the first page on: Ronnie Eccleston did have an immense role in the life and growing up of his son Christopher – and with „I love the Bones of you“ the actor raised a written monument for  his dad, which included highs and lows but always makes the reader feel the love of a son for his father.

„Crosswords were our thing. They were how we expressed our love.“

(Christopher Eccleston: I love the Bones of you“, page 53)

 

Die Zeiten, als Christopher Eccleston aufwuchs, waren anders als die heutigen – und das zeigt er auch in seiner Biografie. Es geht um Geldfragen, um das Berufsleben seiner Eltern, welches andere Prioritäten hatte als in der heutigen Zeit – und um die Frage, wie man drei Kinder ordentlich erzieht und ein gutes Beispiel für sie ist. Der Schauspieler entführt uns in die Arbeitswelt seiner Eltern, wo es weniger darauf ankam, was dich interessiert und was deinen Fähigkeiten und Talenten entgegenkam, sondern es einzig um die Geldbeschaffung ging. Manchmal ist diese Sichtweise nicht ganz so weit weg von der heutigen, obwohl die Dinge im Umbruch sind.

The times in which Christopher Eccleston was growing up were different from ours today – and that is showing in the biography. It’s about money, the working life of his parents, which had different priorities than today – and about the question how to raise three kids properly and set a good example for them. The actor shows us snippets of the worklife of his parents where the focus was less on what interests you have and what abilities you own, but more about just getting paid enough to pay for your living. Sometimes this view is not that far away from todays time, even though things change.

„Dad’s frustration came from a restless intelligence, and intelligence not being met. You got the best of him when he discovered something new, be in via a documentary or a book. Then you would see his sense of amazement.“

(Christopher Eccleston: I love the Bones of you“, page 61)

 

Christopher Eccleston erzählt auch von seinen eigenen beruflichen Tätigkeiten, von Entscheidungen für oder gegen Projekte, von persönlichen Tiefschlägen und von der eigenen Kraft, sich aufzurappeln und vorwärts zu gehen.

Der Schauspieler, der die Kraft hatte, sich selbst Hilfe zu suchen, als er seine tiefsten und schwärzesten Tage erlebte, schreibt offen über seine mentalen Gesundheitsprobleme, über seine Erfahrungen mit Anorexie und die Diagnose einer schweren klinischen Depression, die lange Zeit sein Leben und seine Gedankenwelt beherrschte.

Christopher Eccleston also tells us about his own professional work, about the decision for and against projects, of personal deep hits and of the own power and will it takes to get back to yourself and start going forward.

The actor, who had the incredible strength to go and look for help when he had his lowest low and the blackest of days, writes openly about his mental health problems, his experiences with anorexia and the diagnosis of a severe clinical depression, which was part of his life for a long time – and some aspects still are.

„I’d lived fight or flight for three years, some might say fifty the way I am. Chemically and neurologically, I had nothing left. All there is then is death.“

„You’ll be all right, Chris.“, she said. […] You knocked on the door. That’s an indicator of strength. You knew you were ill. You realised you needed help and you went and got it.“

(Christopher Eccleston: I love the Bones of you“, page 133/ 139)

Und noch eines zeigt „I love the Bones of you“ deutlich.

Christopher Eccleston ist ein Mensch, der Wert auf Manieren und positiven Umgang miteinander legt – und der sowohl bei der Arbeit, als auch im sonstigen Leben viel Wert auf Instinkt und Intuition legt. Dies und ein ausgeprägter Gerechtigkeitssinn sind nur einige Stärken, die man über diesen Mann erfährt, der schon in so vielen Rollen gelebt hat und sich bei der Rollenauswahl (im Rückblick gesehen) manchmal verschätzt hat, manchmal genau das Richtige auswählte, und mit einem Großteil seiner Entscheidungen zufrieden ist.

And one thing is also obvious when reading „I love the Bones of you“:

Christopher Eccleston is a human being, who makes a point of having good manners and a positive contact with people – and also one who emphasizes the importance of instinct and intuition during work and also in your everyday life. This and a distinct sense of fairness are just some strengths you get to know about this man who portrayed so many characters – some of them were good choices, some of them not – but it seeems he is at peace with his decisions.

„If a director, or anyone else on set, comes in and has bad manners, then chances are they’ll hear from me.“

„I don’t play any part with my head; I do it with my heart and my body, exactly how I would on a building site or in a war zone.“

(Christopher Eccleston: I love the Bones of you“, page 173/ 246)

Natürlich dreht sich das Buch auch um die Demenzerkrankung seines Vaters und die Herausforderungen, die sich daraus für die gesamte Familie ergaben. Diese Erfahrung hinterließ doch einen gewaltigen Einschnitt und Veränderungen in der Eccleston-Familie.  Christopher Eccleston erlebte die Hingabe und Liebe seiner Mutter bei der Pflege seines Vaters, während dieser langsam alles um sich herum vergaß. In der Danksagung am Ende findet er auch Platz, um denjenigen zu danken, die Angehörige pflegen, wenn diese an Demenz erkrankt sind.

For sure this book is also about the illness of dementia which his father got and the challenges this meant for the whole family. This experience clearly left a mark in the lives of the Ecclestons. Christopher saw the love and compassion with which his mother Elsie took care of his dad, while he was slowly forgetting everything in life he once knew. The acknowledgements at the end of the book show his appreciation for those who care for dementia patients, may it be homecare or the care in facilities.

„I would like to thank the countless millions who each day provide care unseen, unacklowledged for those they love afflicted by the terrible illness of dementia. They are the ones who truly deserve our respect and accolades.“

(Christopher Eccleston: I love the Bones of you, page 325)

Nicht in jedem Buch würde man solche Sätze finden. Dies ist ebenfalls ein Zeichen dafür, dass Ronnie und Elsie Eccleston ihren Sohn gut erzogen haben, ihm Manieren und ein Gefühl für Dankbarkeit und das Richtige und Wichtige im Leben mitgegeben. Dieses Buch ist sein Dank.

You wouldn’t find these sentences in the average biography. This is for sure a sign that Ronnie and Elsie Eccleston raised her son the right way. They taught him manners and a feeling for gratitude and things that are right and important in life. This book is his Thank-You to his parents.

David Suchet & Hercule Poirot: Wenn ein Charakter dich mehr als 25 Jahre begleitet (When a character escorts you for over 25 years)

Manche Schauspieler sind so versiert in ihrer Arbeit, dass man sie in unterschiedlichen Charakterrollen sieht und immer wieder begeistert ist, wie manigfaltig und überzeugend sie ihre Kunst ausüben. Und manche Schauspieler scheinen – neben vielen weiteren guten und erinnerungswürdigen Rollen – eine „Stammrolle“ zu haben, auf die sie immer wieder angesprochen werden und die einfach nicht aus ihrem Leben zu denken ist. Sie ist wie eine zweite Natur desjenigen Menschen, der den bestimmten Charakter durch sein schauspielerisches Können zum Leben erweckt hat.

Some actors are so adept that you can see them play various different characters and are thrilled to see how convincing they are every single time. And some actors seem to have – while also have different other wonderful and memorable roles in their career – some kind of a role to which they are signed for life. They are nearly always asked about that one role and how it influenced the lives of so many people, including their own. These roles are like a second nature of the actor, who had in them to portray and „live“ this specific role.

So ist es auch mit David Suchet. Der 1946 geborene Schauspieler hat jahrelange Theatererfahrung (u.a. „All my Sons“), hat in diversen Filmen und Serien mitgespielt (u.a.  „Doctor Who“ und „His Dark Materials“) und für seine Arbeit hohe Anerkennung bekommen. Und auch er gehört zu denjenigen, die eine „Paraderolle“ haben, die sie jahrelang begleitet hat und auf die sie immer angesprochen werden.

That is the thing with David Suchet. The actor – born 1946 – has many years of different experiences in various fields of his career path, may it be theatre (like „All my Sons“), movies and television series (like „Doctor Who“ and „His Dark Materials“). And for all his work he got many compliments. And he is also one of those who has a „role for life“ which accompanied him 25 years of his life and career. And it is the one he is always asked about or recognized for.

In seinem Fall ist es die Rolle eines kleinen Belgiers mit Schnauzbart, der von einer großartigen Schriftstellerin ins Leben gerufen wurde und schon in mehreren Verfilmungen von namhaften Schauspielern verkörpert wurde, u.a. von Peter Ustinov.

Hercule Poirot.

In his case it is the portrayal of a little Belgian with a moustache, brought to life first by a wonderful author and who we have seen in many movies before with well-known actors, such as Peter Ustinov.

Hercule Poirot.

Und David Suchet hat es meisterhaft verstanden, die Rolle nicht nur mit Leben zu füllen, sondern seinen Poirot auch so menschlich sympathisch zu gestalten, dass er viele Herzen eroberte.

David Suchet managed not only to give life to this character, but also made him as humanly as possible and so many viewers worldwide got hooked by this little Belgian.

In diesem Buch nimmt uns David Suchet mit auf die Reise von den Anfängen seiner Arbeit an Poirot bis hin zum letzten Atemzug der Rolle, die in mehr als 25 Jahre begleitete. Wir bekommen einen Einblick in die Gedankengänge, die mit der Entwicklung von Poirot einhergehen – so wie er ihn darstellen wollte: nämlich getreu dem Werk von Agatha Christie.

In this book David Suchet takes us with him on the way from the first thought about playing Poirot to the last breath of the „role of a lifetime“ which escorted him more than 25 years of his own life. We get to see the thoughts that went along with creating the Poirot he wanted: portray him like Agatha Christie would have wanted him to be seen.

David Suchet erzählt von Begegnungen u.a. mit Peter Ustinov, an dessen Gespräch er sich erinnert, kurz bevor die Sache mit Poirot ernst und greifbar wird:

David f.e. remembers talking to Peter Ustinov a while ago, and his words came to Davids mind shortly before the talking about him playing Poirot became real and serious:

„But, during a break in the filming one day, Peter did say to me, ‚You could play Poirot, you know, and you would be very good at it.'“

(Poirot and me, page 22)

Er erzählt auch von den Freiheiten, die er in der äußerlichen Gestaltung von Poirot hatte, immer mit dem Gedanken im Hinterkopf, ihn so getreu wie möglich zu verkörpern im Hinblick auf Agatha Christie’s Vorlage. Wir begleiten ihn durch die Dreharbeiten zu verschiedenen Folgen, zittern mit ihm, wenn nicht sicher war, ob eine weitere Staffel Poirot geordert wird und sind mit jeder weiteren Seite des Buches dabei, den Charakter Hercule Poirot noch ein wenig mehr kennenzulernen und zu lieben.

He also talks about the freedom he had to create the outer appearance of Poirot, always thinking about what Agatha Christie had written in her novels about the little Belgian. We get to accompany Suchet to the work on different episodes, tremble with him when it is not clear if another season is to come to life and so with every turn of the pages of this book we get to know Hercule Poirot a little bit better and got to love him a little bit more.

„The more Poirot welcomes his fellow characters, the more the audience sympathise with him, and the more he extends his gentle control over everything around him, as if wrapping it all in his own personal glow. I believe he is unique in fictional detectives in that respect, because he carefully welcomes everyone – be they reader, viewer, or participant character – into his drama. He then quietly explains what it all means and , in doing so, he becomes what one critic called ‚our dearest friend‘. – That was exactly what I was trying to do […] ‚In large part it’s the contradictions Suchet has given the character that make him so appealing. Poirot dislikes so many things, so craves perfection in his own life, yet Suchet’s interpretation feels such deep caring and empathy for humanity. […] (Poirot and me, page 95/96)

 

Schwarz-Weiß-Bilder runden die Reise in die Vergangenheit ab – und David Suchet spricht auch schon hier von seiner Passion für Fotografie, die er in seiner erst kürzlich erschienenen weiteren Autobiografie mit dem Titel „Behind the Lens“ weiter ausführt.

Auch dieser Band befindet sich bei mir und wartet darauf, gelesen zu werden.

***

Wenn ihr einen Eindruck von David Suchet bekommen möchtet, folgende Seiten haben interessante Artikel über ihn:

If you are interested in getting to know a little bit more about David Suchet, the following pages have some interesting articles on him:

* Yorkshire Post: David Suchet on family, religion, acting and life without Poirot

* NewsLetter: David Suchet on life after Poirot

* Sunday Post: Meet the author: Behind the Lens writer and actor David Suchet

* The Herald: David Suchet: I feel like an outsider in my own country

***

David Suchet: „Poirot and me“ ist ein Liebeserklärung an einen fiktiven Charakter und gleichzeitig ein beeindruckend persönliches Buch eines großartigen Schauspielers über seine Arbeit, die Liebe zum Detail und wie stark die Bindung zu seiner eigenen Kreation sein kann.

David Suchet: „Poirot and me“ is a love-letter to a fictional character and at the same time an impressively personal book of an excellent actor about his work, the love of detail and the strong binds you have for your own creation.

Definitiv eine Leseempfehlung – und natürlich auch eine Seh-Empfehlung 🙂

Definitely a reading recommendation – and a recommendation to have a look at the series 🙂

~ The Time of My Life ~

Nachdem ich im Februar ein Stöckchen aufgefangen und mich zu meinen Leseplänen 2016 geäußert hatte, bin ich nun einen Schritt weiter.

After getting a little stick with a question about what to read this year earlier in 2016 I have finished another „milestone“.

„Our Song“ von Dani Atkins habe ich ja bereits gelesen.

I have already read „Our Song“ by Dani Atkins.

Nun widmete ich mich einem Buch, welches auch schon eine Weile im Regal steht und das ich nun endlich auch gelesen habe. Allerdings gehört zu diesem Buch noch ein weitere Teil, ein Nachfolger sozusagen, den ich mir als nächstes anschauen werde.

Now I have finished a book which lives in my bookshelf for quite a while. But this book has a second part – if you would say so – and this will be the next on my to-read-list.

„Nobody puts Baby in a corner.“ (page 137)

Dies war und ist einer der berühmtesten Sätze aus einem Film, der Millionen Fans hat und Patrick Swayze und Jennifer Grey zu weltbekannten Namen machte.

This was – and is – one of the most popular sentences from a movie which is adored by millions of fans and made Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey famous in the whole world.

Richtig. You’re right.

„Dirty Dancing„

Allerdings mochte Patrick Swayze diesen Satz nicht besonders, obwohl er im Film seine Wirkung nicht verfehlte.

But Patrick Swayze didn’t like this sentence that much but it worked well in the movie.

***

2009 verstarb der bekannte und beliebte Schauspieler an Bauchspeicheldrüsenkrebs – wie auch schon Michael Landon.

In 2009 the well known and beloved actor died of pancreatic cancer – just like Michael Landon some years earlier.

***

In „The Time of my Life“ erzählt er kurze Zeit vor seinem Tod von seinem Leben: seiner Kindheit und Jugend, in denen er Football spielte und eigentlich eine sportliche Karriere anstrebte; wie es war, als er seine Frau Lisa kennenlernte und wie seine Karriere sich auf die schauspielerische Ebene verlagerte.

In „The Time of my Life“ he tells the reader about his life: his childhood and young adult-years when he played football and wanted to be an olympic sports star; what happened when he met his wife Lisa for the first time and how his career turned into the way of acting.

„I never believed that people could like me for myself;

I always felt I had to win them.“

(page 24)

Auch Schauspieler sind normale Menschen und so fiel es Patrick zunächst nicht leicht, Lisa seine Gefühle zu offenbaren.

Actors are people like you and me and so Patrick had quite a difficult time to show Lisa his feelings.

***

Er erzählt auch von der gemeinsamen Liebe zur Natur und zu Pferden, von seinen Filmen – und von seinen Verletzungen, die ihn ein Leben lang begleiteten.

He also tells about his love for nature and horses, the movies he had done – and of his injuries that accompanied him for life.

Natürlich erzählt er auch von den Dreharbeiten zu „Fackeln im Sturm“ und „Dirty Dancing.“ Wir erfahren, welche Szenen er und Lisa – und auch Jennifer zum Film hinzufügten, um mehr Tiefe in die Charaktere zu bringen – und auch, dass Jennifer bei manchen Szenen ziemlich viel und immer lachte, so dass diese wieder und wieder und wieder gedreht werden mussten.

For sure he also tells the reader about the shooting for „North and South“ and „Dirty Dancing“. We get an insight in the way it worked out for the cast and that Jennifer used to laugh pretty hard in some scenes, so these had to be shot again and again and again.

„Throughout the filming, we kept inserting little touches to help flesh out the characters and their relationships.

There were times when Jennifer giggled uncontrollably, not as part of the script, but because she was just plain giggly – and those moments made it into the film.

For the scene where we’re dancing and I draw my hand slowly down her arm, she nearly drove me crazy – she literally couldn’t shoot that scene without giggling all the way through, so we had to retake it about twenty-five times.“

(page 137)

Er erzählt auch von den nicht so rosigen Zeiten, als seine Schwester Selbstmord beging und sein Rhodesian Ridgeback Cody an Krebs starb. 13 Jahre begleitete er Patrick durch sein Leben und sein Tod ließ den Schauspieler vieles neu sehen und sein Leben neu ordnen.

He also tells about the times that were not so good: when his sister committed suicide and when his Rhodesian Ridgeback Cody died of cancer. 13 years he was there for Patrick and Lisa and his death let Patrick think in new ways of his life.

„When those you love die, the best you can do is honour their spirit for as long as you live. You make a commitment that you’re going to take whatever lesson that person or animal was trying to teach you, and you make it true in your own life. […] With everything that happened over the previous couple of years, Lisa and I started to seriously reevaluate how we were living our lives.

For too long, we’d been running in the whirlwind, taking on too many things at once and ignoring the needs of our spirits. Together, we decided to simplify things, to get back to the basics.“

(page 203)

In der Folgezeit hat Patrick ziemlich viel Glück, dass er zwei Mal dem Tod entgeht, der doch im Rückblick gesehen, immer irgendwie auf ihn gelauert zu haben scheint.

In the following times Patrick was really lucky to escape the fingers of death two times.

Auch hatten er und Lisa Schwierigkeiten in ihrer Ehe, die sie aber überwunden – nur um sich dem zu stellen, was ihre größte Herausforderung werden würde: der Krebs.

Lisa and Patrick also had to battle with some serious problems in their marriage but managed to solve them and grow stronger and more in love than before. But nothing could have warned them what came with a simple gastrointestinal procedure: cancer.

„I don’t remember much about that conversation, but when he told me I had pancreatic cancer, my first thought was, „I’m a dead man.“ The only thing I’d ever heard about pancreatic cancer was that it’s incurable and it kills you very quickly.

I just stared at him in shock.

I had gone in for a simple gastrointestinal procedure, then all of a sudden – surprise! You could be dead before springtime!“

(page 236)

Im Sommer 2008 erneuerten beide ihr Ehegelübde und diese bewegenden Worte der beiden beschließen diese Lebenserinnerungen.

The summer of 2008 there came a day when both of them renewed their wedding vows and these lovely and sweet and caring words mark the end of this book.

„The Time of My Life“ ist ein wunderbares Buch voll mit Erinnerungen an das Leben eines Mannes, der viel erreicht hat und doch immer wieder NUR auf ein oder zwei Filmrollen begrenzt wird.

„The Time of My Life“ is a wonderful book full of lovely memories of the life of a man who has done so much but is most of the time limited to one or two movie roles.

Dabei ist das Leben und die Leistung von Patrick Swayze mehr als nur „Dirty Dancing“.

But the life and work of Patrick Swayze is more than just „Dirty Dancing“.

Und dieses Buch ist eine Erinnerung daran, dies nicht zu vergessen und sein Leben und Wirken als Ganzes zu betrachten.

And this book is a good thing to remember that – and not to forget to see his life and his works as a whole thing.

„The Time of My Life“ kann ich nur empfehlen.

I can definitely recommend reading „The Time of My Life“.

***

Zu den besten Filmen von Patrick Swayze gehören u.a.

• King Solomon’s Mines
• One last Dance
• Letters from a Killer
• Three Wishes
• To Wong Foo
• Stadt der Freude
• Gefährliche Brandung
• Ghost
• Dirty Dancing
• Fackeln im Sturm

 

Welche davon habt ihr schon gesehen und wie ist eure Meinung dazu?

Which of them you have seen and how do you like them?

Erste Ansichten zu Kevin Sorbo’s „True Strength“

Bereits vor kurzem habe ich euch kurz über Kevin Sorbo‘s Buch „True Strength“ berichtet, welches seinen Weg in meine E-Book-Kollektion gefunden hat.

***

Nun habe ich angefangen, es zu lesen – und bin begeistert!

In Mr. Sorbo’s Buch wechseln sich Passagen des chronologischen Geschehens ab mit Rückblicken aus seiner Sicht sowie aus der Sicht seiner Frau Sam. Was ich zum Beispiel vorher nicht wusste (weil ich mich nicht umfassend beschäftigt hatte, sondern meist nur Herkules genossen habe) – seine Frau hatte auch in dieser Serie einen Gastauftritt – und dort verliebten sie sich. Sehr schöne Geschichte und nett zu lesen – man bekommt dieses „Ooh, wie niedlich“-Gefühl und kommt nicht umhin, beiden alles Gute zu wünschen.

***

Ich bin jetzt im zweiten Abschnitt des Buches mit Titel „Titanic“ angelangt und kann es kaum erwarten, weiter zu lesen.

***

Der sympathische Schauspieler (der übrigens auch im Film Soulsurfer mitspielt, den ich mir demnächst gönnen werde) hat eine sehr gute Wortwahl gefunden – auch seine Frau Sam schrieb an dem Buch mit – und es ist sehr entspannend, in seine Lebenswelt einzutauchen. Auch die Beschreibungen seiner Qualen während der wahrscheinlich schlimmsten Zeit in seinem Leben sind ergreifend und nachvollziehbar.

Auch der Humor kommt nicht zu kurz, auch wenn hier wieder der Ausspruch stimmt: „Es wird erst viel schlimmer, bevor es besser wird.“

So beschreibt er zum Beispiel ein Gespräch der Ärzte, bei dem festgestellt wird, dass ein Schnitt in der Schulter ungünstig wäre, da eventuell ein Atemnerv verletzt werden könnte mit den anschließenden Worten: „I kind of like breathing.“ (S. 82)

***

Wenn ein gesunder und kräftiger Mann im Alter von 38 Jahren einen solchen Schlag erleben muss, wird alles andere belanglos. Man muss sich auf das Gesundwerden konzentrieren und sich schonen – und genau das fiel Kevin Sorbo ziemlich schwer, war er es doch gewohnt, täglich das Fitnessstudio zu besuchen und ordentlich zu essen.

***

Auch die Rückblicke seiner Frau Sam lassen ihr liebevolles Verhältnis zueinander lebendig werden.

Auch zu Beginn ihrer Bekanntschaft war Humor ausschlaggebend:

„I don’t date actors. I don’t date long distance. And I don’t date guys with long hair…“ – „Well I changed all that for her…“ (S. 75)

***

Kevin erlebte auch die negative Gefühlspalette, die mit einem längeren Krankenhausaufenthalt einhergehen – Selbstzweifel, Pessimismus, Angst und Paranoia waren seine Begleiter. Und die Frage: Warum soll ich weitermachen?

Darauf gab es für ihn nur eine Antwort: Sam.

„But she is the only reason I am rousing my energies each day.“

***

Ich bin als Leser jedenfalls gespannt, wie sich das Lesevergnügen weiter gestalten wird und werde bei Beendigung des Buches noch einmal kurz Notiz davon geben.