It’s rather a rarity in my case for me to pick up (or even gloss
over) an autobiography. Yet there was something about this book that tempted me
to it. Something strangely intriguing, and admirable much like the author’s
many on screen personas.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has always divided
opinion. Some view his work as tactless and wooden, brutish and annoying, even stiff or shallow. Whereas others mention his bizarre charisma, the way he is
able to stand and mesmerize on screen, or how he embodies the American dream,
of a young Austrian who through his own tact and determination became a self
made man.
I myself of course, have my own opinion. I’ve always
enjoyed his on screen roles. Even from a young age I can remember watching his
performances in the first two Terminator movies and being mesmerized by a man
who, through his physical presence, was able to convince me he was a machine.
Even taking into account his more comedic roles, I think it shouldn’t be
doubted that from his performances in Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2 (1991)
that Schwarzenegger is a talented actor who can well and truly embody a role.
But to be fair, this book isn’t about Arnold
Schwarzenegger the actor – it’s about Arnold Schwarzenegger the man. Who is he?
Where did he come from? And what happened in-between? These are all reasons
that would usually put me off reading an autobiography. But it’s Arnold, and there
is just something so unique about him, his charisma and his personality that
just draws me in.
The book itself is split into three sections,
covering the three main passions of Arnold’s life: bodybuilding, acting and
politics – with each covering roughly a third of the books length.
In the first third, the narrative is able to
grab and engage you in a subject that’s considered quite fringed in the subject
of bodybuilding. Yet from Arnold’s perspective he is able to ground us on his
level. Through his telling of the story, we are able to understand his passion
and love for the sport of bodybuilding. This energy and enthusiasm flows
through the reader as you read about his struggles and triumphs, and ultimately we empathies with his desire and determination to succeed.
When later in the book we reach his
recollection of his acting career he is honest about his goals and
determination to where he wanted to be. We see how many people in Hollywood
didn’t take him seriously, and how through being tactful in choosing roles that
worked to his strengths and personality, he was able to achieve those aims.
Not to say that Schwarzenegger didn’t put in
the necessary effort to study and perfect his craft. Arnold made a strong
effort to learn from everyone he could to improve his performance. Whether from
acting teachers, fellow actors or members of the production crew, he made it his goal to learn
from those who could (and were willing) to make his performances better. Not
only that, but he would also pay attention to audience reactions and made a
direct effort to understand particular box office trends.
The book tells of Arnold’s business skills and
studying throughout. He see’s himself as a self-made man and in particular, he
discusses how he pushed himself to learn and succeed in numerous ventures. He’s
someone who doesn’t hold back on his dreams and in the third section we are
told how and why this lead him into politics. Arnold is a large personality
with a strong sense of morals, and he explains how he wasn’t afraid to go off
party line to do what he thought was right.
Like the rest of the book, the section on
politics is interesting, but I think in realty this has more to do with Schwarzenegger’s
personality shining through than the political content being exposited. Because
of this, I’m not really sure how well this book would come across to others. For
myself, the most interesting autobiographies are often those where the story being
told shines through. The sense of engagement with the narrative and what is
going on as you read the pages should pull you in a way that you feel as though
you are almost an accomplice to the story. And yet with this book it’s not
necessarily because of the content, but more through the charisma of the
narrator that the story continues to be engaging. Less the story, and more the man telling
it that makes it what it is.
That isn’t to say it’s a bad story, it’s an
interesting one at that; it’s just to say that it might not live up to what
some people would probably expect.
(I
myself on the other hand, really liked it.)
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