Week 5: Memoirs
The tie between the idea of "fluidity" and writing memoirs is something that I find very interesting. The article reads, "There is, after all, a fluidity between who we were to other people, who we thought we were, who we think we were, and who we think we are now." To me, this is unique because when writing a personal memoir about a real life situation, we tend to incorporate all, or most of these things into the story, and into further memoirs that we write almost as if it is like a spaced out timeline of who we think or thought we were/are. In addition, this helps the writer to contribute to their voice, which is something that tends to make readers relate more to them. On the other hand, if this fluidity regarding who we are changes throughout our timeline of writing like it seemed with Elizabeth Gilbert's new book mentioned in the article, there seems to be confusion, or even a negative perspective developed by the readers. Because it wasn't Gilbert's usual content or view of herself, her readers lost that sense of fluidity regarding who Gilbert really is, which makes them feel confused and uncertain.
https://www.amazon.com/Glass-Castle-Memoir-Jeannette-Walls/dp/074324754X
Above is a link to my favorite memoir book, The Glass Castle. To summarize, the book is written about the author's childhood experiences as her and her siblings struggle with poverty, sexual abuse, parents with addiction, violence, and so much more. As someone who is very interested in the psychological aspect of traumatic events, I found this book to be very intriguing and there were many times I found it difficult to put down. In addition, the author of this book has such a clear voice, I almost felt as though I was right there with her when she was facing all of these situations, which made me feel as though I had developed a strong connection with her. However, if I were to find out that there was a "blurriness" in the story between fact and fiction of these events, I would feel much less of a connection with the author, and I would overall be less interested in her book and in her other writings as a whole. Going along with this idea of "fluidity" if the same author that wrote The Glass Castle were to write another book about how great of a childhood she had etc., I would feel betrayed, as though I have now been lied to, which is the sense I think many readers feel when an authors fluidity is broken, and which is why the idea is so important especially in writing memoirs.
Lastly, if this book was to transfer to a blog, I think that it would be broken down into the main events, which would cause a lot of the content and/or details as to what is going on in between events to be lost. While the fluidity of her stories would remain constant, I think that some of the voice and/or connection that the reader is able to build while reading the entire book would be diminished because of the loss of not only details, but also because of the time devotion to reading the actual book itself compared to reading each event separately, and not all put together.
The fluidity when writing a memoir is interesting. Being relatable in a writing piece is important. The reader wants to connect with the writing emotionally and sometimes the truth has to be bent a bit to make the story a bit more universal to the world. Our lived experience can get a bit specific to where we live or the culture we are apart of. I think writers find a way to make their personal stories more fluid, without sacrificing too much truth.
ReplyDeleteThis book does seem like an interesting topic to blog about. I wonder if the author could share these experiences with people without it getting too personal. The topics of poverty, sexual abuse, parents with addiction, and violence are so real to speak on, yet so many people around the world go through it. I'm sure there is a community of blog readers that would appreciate this content. Hopefully it would find a way to relate with folks, without making them feel even more depressed about their life. Hope there can be inspiring elements to such a serious blog.
I absolutely loved reading The Glass Castle when I was in high school! I am also interested in psychological impact from events such as those depicted in the memoir and it was such an interesting read for this reason. Because of the emotional connection to the story and the author, I agree with you that I would lied to and betrayed if the author came forward now and stated that she had a great childhood. However, if she stated that her views had changed on her childhood and she now saw the light within those dark moments depicted, I wouldn't feel that it cheapened the novel in anyway. Our views change as we grow older and become wiser, things look different when we have more life experience. So the author finding the good within the mess that was her childhood wouldn't make me trust her or connect with her less. But if she completely reversed her original narrative and said her childhood was great overall, I do agree that I would feel lost and a bit angry as I would feel like I was "tricked" in a way.
ReplyDeleteI read this one too; a powerful read. Some good reflection on blurring the lines.
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