Customer Reviews

Shattered Love: A Memoir

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4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Its always hard for someone who is gay to live his life secretly especially if he's in the entertainment world, where everything and anything he does is up for scrutiny by the public. I always admired Mr. Chamberlain for his acting ability and his looks. Thornbirds and Shogun were my favorite tv series, which I think were his most popular and best performances. But -- would he have gotten those parts if his sexual preference was common knowledge at the time?? Would he have been believable in those parts? Sadly, probably not.
Like other famous gay actors/entertainers, of that time, Rock Hudson, Danny Kaye, Randolph Scott etc. it was necessary to hide it while playing leading men. Had it been known, his career may have taken a different turn entirely. Keeping the secret probably made him more famous than he would have been otherwise. But I'm glad that he is now happy and fulfilled in his life and accepts it as his destiny.

In his memoir, Richard Chamberlain describes the early feelings of inadequacy and need for love that lead him into acting, his break-through role as "Dr. Kildare" and later success in Shogun and The Thorn Birds, but the book is mostly about his spiritual journey, especially his experience with transcendental meditation.

Chamberlain comes across as an intellectual and well-spoken man; unfortunately, I found his lengthy discourses on meditation and the essence of Truth and Love confusing and repetitive. I was hoping for more about his acting career. The book contains many professional and personal photos.

Richard Chamberlain tells in this book of his poignant struggles of growing up in an alcoholic home, dealing with fame (and when it deals with him), as well as his spiritual search to live an authentic and truthful life.

Many, I imagine will pick up this book with an eye for sensationalism and gossip over the revelation of his sexual preference. Yet they will be sorely disappointed that there is neither sensational and illicit tales, nor gossip to titillate. No, what the reader will find here is a book about a very thoughtful and spiritual man, who happened to act for a living, trying to navigate his way toward love and finding his true and openhearted self.

Though, given the sometimes glossed over and fast-forwarded events in his life that take place in the book, one can't help but wonder if there is another book in the offing or if much was edited out of this one. Yet the spiritual and philosophical ponderings were delightful to read and filled the heart. I am glad that Mr. Chamberlain wrote it and allowed himself to be so vulnerable and open.

On a personal note, I applaud Mr. Chamberlain's courage to write the truths revealed in the book but also wish to add that it makes no difference to me one way or another and it shouldn't to anyone who reads this book. He simply is what he is and approval is not required when reading. Acceptance however, is a bridge to understanding.

You could learn a lot about not only Richard Chamberlain in this book, but yourself as well.

Cheers to the years together, Martin and Richard!

I thought this book was great. I just sat there after I finished it and did a lot of thinking. He has a lot to say about his family and I felt like taking a particular chapter about his father and mailing it to several members of my own family.

I totally respect Richard Chamberlain for coming out of the closet. Most stars of his generation and age usually die before it is talked about openly. (Think Raymond Burr) It is great he feels comfortable enough to "come out" and I applaud him.

This book, however, is totally misrepresented by the description on the book jacket and even on this website. This is NOT a book full of information on Richard's career and experiences. This is really a new age self help book about how to get over being angry with your family and being at peace with yourself.

Due to the fact that Richard fills every chapeter with his ruminations on love, sense of self and spirituality the true stories of his life never get explained. Everything in his life is still at "arm's length" for the reader.

For example he tells how much he loves Martin but never really explains in detail how they met, how it felt to fall in love, the details of their romance or potential problems. You don't get any sense of who Martin is at all. I got more info looking at his picture in the book than anything Richard says.

Richard has worked with so many interesting people and legends it was unfortunate he shares so litte of it all. All he says about the "Thorn Birds" is really that Rachel Ward is lovely and Barbra Stanwyck a hard worker. Less info than I would get from an issue of People magazine.

I definately think that if you are looking for a new age spirituality book or trying to deal with getting over a bad family situation this book could be helful. For everyone else who wants to read an autobiography I would skip this book.

I respect Richard and the fact he came out but I wish he would have spent more time talking about his life and less about the beautiful scenery and/or his spirituality.

He used to have a "mask" hiding behind his straight leading man image. Now he is using the "mask" of new age dogma to again reveal very little of who he is.

I opened this ready to find out about what it was like being in the closet in Hollywood, the fake marriage, all those Doris Day movies, and of course, all the notorious "boys only" parties around his hilltop pool in Beverly Hills. There's not much about this in there at all, and he hardly talks about his film career. It is introspective and interesting, but he doesn't really discuss his career much at all. It was like it was not even written by him.

I was all excited to read this book when I started. After all Richard Chamberlain had worked with many big names in Hollywood. It was not as good as I thought. One reason is that throughout the book Chamberlain seems to be embarrassed to just say what happened and seems to use innuendos rather than to intricately describe a lot of things that happened.

Also, he dated/accompanied many big name actresses/royalty. You are expecting a lot of detailed observations about these times (for instance when he went out with Joan Crawford) and maybe some interesting antedotes but they are not there.

Even in his male/male relations Richard talks like a sheltered "princess" not really telling you anything "juicy." Also, there are several letters and poems that he includes that for the most part I found boring. Richard talks about living his life with the public's "perfect" image in mind instead of the way he wanted to based on his own feelings. It seems like the way he wrote this book, he was too concerned about his image to present a no-holds barred account of himself.

The best parts of the book are when Richard describes a 17 day spiritual workshop he took and his work on the Shogun miniseries. Both of these chapters are worth the whole book! In the workshop, Richard finally got the courage to face the world with his "own" desires. The Shogun miniseries was full of problems during the production, mainly due to culteral difference between the Japanese and American culteral crews.

Chamberlain has experienced a very full life and I am sure if he tried he could redo this book and make it great.

I've never been a fan of Richard Chamberlain the actor. I never questioned his talent, but he plied his trade most successfully in "Shogun" and "The Thornbirds," TV mini-series that didn't interest me, and in lame-brained big-screen blockbusters like "The Towering Inferno" which interested me less. Therefore, I was suprised at how much I enjoyed his well-written memoir, "Shattered Love." The dramatic title does not refer, as I initially thought, to a romantic relationship gone wrong, but to Chamberlain's belief that we are all splinters - pieces, rather than products - of a loving God. I'm not sure I accept that theory but Chamberlain is obviously sincere in his philisophical and spiritual beliefs, and they have no doubt helped heal his damaged soul.

Part of that damage resulted from his long repressed homosexuality, but though Chamberlain's "coming out" was used to promote the book, it is but one piece of the whole, just as he regards his sexual orientation as just a piece, and a mundane one at that, of his entire being. This is not a lurid confessional but a heartfelt account of Chamberlain's search for truth and self-acceptance based on the quality and content of his soul rather than the size of his fame and popularity.

Of course, Chamberlain takes time to reflect on his acting career, but avoids back-biting and gossip, finding only kind words for co-stars like Raquel Welch whom he and the other cast members of 1974's "The Three Musketeers" were predisposed to dislike but found adorable, and Barbara Stanwyck, whose professionalism impressed him when they co-starred in "The Thornbirds." But when he turns his attention to show-biz, Chamberlain mainly focuses on how he learned his craft, and how his inhibitions and insecurity were hurdles he had to jump before he could excel at his art.

"Shattered Love" is an inspiring and worthwhile read, even if, like me, you were never really a fan of the actor who wrote it. By the final chapter, you may be one.

I was a boy when i realized i was gay. Now i'm 55. I watched Dr. Kildare every week as a kid and had this secret love-affair with him in fantasy. When i got older i had the honor to see him live on stage and i was even more impressed and more in love with him. After reading this book and seeing how much my life had changed unknowing that what Richard was doing with his spirtual life i was doing pretty much the same i feel like i love him more. Of course now it's not a sexual love but a love of on a much more broad and very grand scale of life. This book even though i have always believed in basically the same things has answered questions that i had but didn't know how to get the answers. I almost feel like Richard in some way is like my little angel who has given me more insite to all that has gone on in my life from performing in live theatre to an accident i had that ended that part of my career to how i have grown spiritual from the first time i ever saw him on TV. This is a very powerful, uplifting, soul-searching, kind, loving book. People with any insight on what is good will enjoy Richard's stories. I hope that he continues to write. He's a very talented man.

I thoroughly enjoyed the contents of the book by Richard Chamberlain, Shattered Dreams. I fell in love with Richard when the played the role of Father Ralph in the Thornbirds so I had a strong desire to learn more about him in his book. His book not only focuses on the intricacies of being human but ultimately the many avenues and tools that have enabled him to enjoy life more deeply and spiritually. He also assured us that we are all "God" in the human form. I started the book yesterday and I finished this morning because the book was filled with so much knowledge and sharing of the joys and the difficulties of his journey. I am in my 60's, too. I could relate to the times when margarine had the little yellow spot in it for us to mix. I know when you reach this age that you are certainly cognizant of the fact that our journey here can end at any time. I feel that the content of his book is comparable to the life he has chosen to live in Hawaii-one of peace and gratification for all his divine blessings. I hope that Richard reads the review on the book. I feel like I know him now after reading his book, the harsh relationship with his father, his fears of letting the public know about his preference for a mate, his relationship with Martin, his love for his mother, and most of of his inherent skill as an actor and his determination to live his dream. I highly recommend Richard Chamberlain's book, Shattered Dreams. I wish him many more years of walking along the ocean as the sun goes down. Dolores F. Curry