Total Recall

Total Recall is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s autobiography, and it’s a big book, well over six hundred pages, the kind of doorstop that takes a little resolve to sit down and read all the way through. I’ve skimmed it instead of reading it cover to cover, so this is a personal impression instead of a full review. But what I’ve seen, and what I know of the man, points the same direction.

Arnold has had a wonderful, incredible life, the kind people dream of, and that life is the reason the book is worth the time it asks. I rate it an eight, on the strength of an extraordinary story told by the man who lived it.

The arc of his life is the selling point. Not many people can write an honest autobiography that runs from a poor Austrian village to the top of three completely different fields.

An extraordinary life

What makes the book absorbing, even on a skim, is simply the magnitude of the life it covers. Schwarzenegger went from a small Austrian village in a year of famine to becoming a world bodybuilding champion, then one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, then the governor of California, and on to whatever he’s turned his attention to since.

That’s three or four careers instead of one unusual one, each improbable on its own. How a single person willed his way through all of them is the interesting part.

Few autobiographies have this kind of raw material to work with, and the book draws its power from the undeniable, almost unbelievable trajectory of the man telling it. The life makes the book.

Why I have always liked him

I’ve always liked Arnold, and that colors my read. I’ve enjoyed his performances across the whole span.

The early ones where he was plainly not yet an actor and wrestling with the accent. The later, polished work, where he grew into a real screen presence. There’s something likable about watching someone improve so visibly and never stop pushing. I even enjoy his commercials, though I’ll admit some of them are a little stupid.

None of that is literary criticism. It’s still part of why the book appeals to me. This is the life story of a public figure I’ve watched and rooted for over decades, and the affection makes the autobiography more engaging than the same story from a stranger would be.

The real caveat

The real caveat is the one I started with: it’s a very long book, and that length is a real commitment. A six-hundred-plus-page autobiography asks for a serious investment of time, and that’s exactly why I’ve skimmed instead of fully read it, the confront of sitting down with something that size is real, however interesting the contents.

For a reader interested in Schwarzenegger, the length is a feature, more of a great story, but for a casual reader it’s a barrier, and I wouldn’t pretend otherwise. My eight reflects the extraordinary life and my liking for the man, tempered by the admission that I’ve sampled instead of finished it, and that its sheer size is something to know going in.

Is Total Recall worth reading?

It’s an eight, on the strength of an extraordinary, almost unbelievable life, from a poor Austrian village to bodybuilding champion to Hollywood star to governor, told by the man who lived it, and on my own long-standing affection for Arnold and his work. I’ll be straight that I’ve skimmed instead of fully read it, so this is a personal impression, and that its considerable length, well over six hundred pages, is a real commitment that takes some resolve.

For anyone interested in Schwarzenegger, or simply in how one person willed his way through several improbable careers, it’s a rich and interesting story, with the length its main barrier. An unusual life, well worth the time for the right reader.

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