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Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:12 am Post subject: Memoir
Hello,
I'm relatively new here and after looking around the nonfiction forums, I have made a couple observations. One--there seems to be several fiction books suggested or commented about on these nonfiction forums. And two, the Memoir genre is mostly lacking. Isn't anyone reading memoir?
Over the years I have read numerous excellent memoirs, the most recent "A Long Way Gone: memoirs of a boy soldier" by Ishmael Beah. The story of a boy soldier caught in war torn Sierra Leone. Not only do I find reading good memoirs worthwhile--there are a lot of bad memoirs out there--but I am in the midst of writing my own memoir, a book about time, place, culture--growing up in late fifties, early sixties in rural upstate NY. If one is writing a book in a given genre, it is a must that the writer read extensively in that genre.
So just curious--anyone reading memoir? Recommendations???
Before anyone asks: yes, these might probably partly qualify for the fiction forum, but however strange stars may be, I found things of interest in the books.
Now, for her brother Peter I'll copy a review I wrote on another site:
Quote:
* Don't Tell Dad
* A Memoir
* By Peter Fonda
* Paperback | 0671018094 |
The cover of my copy boasts that Peter Fonda has "written this entirely by himself!".
Lucky we are that he did not choose writing as a career then. Jane Fonda, with a similar background as an actress, has written a memoir that is infinitely more interesting.
To be fair, the beginning, about his childhood, has some good passages.
Most of the book is about his love life (compared to this, President Sarkozy is a paragon of monogamy). First I thought it was because he was writing about his student days, but it didn't seem to be getting better.
My impression is that he wrote because he had been offered over 2 million dollars to do so, and did not have much more of a reason. He wrote about himself, yet did not want to write about anything that really mattered to him-- the paradox of selling your memoirs while protecting your privacy .
The one thing that really interested me, of course, was what he would be writing about "Easy Rider".
Needless to say, this was dealt with in less details that his love affairs, but it did contain one gem.
Did anybody ever wonder about the scene with the rednecks at the cafe, just before they were all killed by some of the citizenry?
I always wondered how they had found such good actors that were looking so convincingly mean .
Fonda reveals in the book that they were working on a very small buget, so the restaurant was a real one; as for the actors, they just asked some of the patrons to play a scene with them, telling them that the three bikers had raped a white girl, and filmed what they got!
This one bit made it worth the money I spent on the book.
Interesting comments on the Fonda memoirs. I've always been interested in Jane Fonda, but never read her memoir. I did used to love her films, though. What other Hollywood star memoirs have you read? I tend to read memoirs about the common man--not exclusively because I did read Katherine Graham's "Personal History" and Tom Brokaw's "A Long Way From Home". Also, I read about the lives of others from other cultures such as the Haitian author Edwidge Danticat and recently read "Infidel" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
When I mentioned on the last post that I noticed fiction titles commented on in the nonfiction forum, I was not talking about memoir. Memoir is a part of nonfiction. But if I remember correctly, even "Kite Runner" was mentioned in the nonfiction forum--and this is a fiction book. Much of fiction is autobiograhpical. In fact, I have often heard the comment from authors, "all fiction is somewhat autographical."
About memoirs, I've been trying to remember what else I have read but nothing has surfaced yet.
I know I have two in my stack of unread books, but they're in French.
Jane Fonda's book is a pleasant and informative read, one can see that a lot of work has gone into it.
My next star was Mia Farrow.
One thing those three books had in common was people being treated in hospitals in the 1950's: only through memoirs can you get the insider's view of the paptient, hospital life is one of those subjects that is never treated and I find it important to know about it.
What happened in the 1950's sheds a light on how the minds of the medical staff were formed, what is happening now being a milder (an improved ) version of the 50's.
So sometimes you read about say, a star, and you find things that you din't expect that concerns the common man.
I read A Long Way Gone and really enjoyed it. While I was reading it I was considering the fate of several child soldiers who are currently being held in Guatanamo Bay.
Just a few weeks ago I read some controversy about Ishmael Beah's recollection of his life as recorded in his memoir.
You can read the entire controversy at Slate. article
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 7:26 am Post subject: memoir
Hi jales4,
Although I haven't checked out the controversy yet, I just want to say memoir writing is subject to controversy. If writing is based on memory, it sometimes includes conjecture and "the way it should have been or must have been"--that is a touch of imagination. This happens because memory is imperfect and subject to multiple interpretations--it depends on who is remembering. No two people will tell the same story. The closer to facts (truth) a memorist comes, the better the memoir.
there seems to be several fiction books suggested or commented about on these nonfiction forums
Up until a few months ago the additional fiction and non-fiction book discussions were combined into one big forum. When I separated them I didn't finish going through all of the past additional book discussion threads and putting each discussion thread into the proper location. But now that you mention it I will do so now. Thank you!
And if you happen to notice any fiction discussions still in the non-fiction forum after today please let me know so I can move them. I might accidentally overlook some as I go through the process of moving them this morning.
I can share Ophelia's confession. I too have been sucked into the Hollywood memoirs this year. Jane Fonda's memoir sounds very interesting. I'll keep an eye out for it.
I recently finishd reading A Paper Life by Tatum O'Neal. Some people haven't heard of her, but she was the youngest Oscar winner in history for her role alongside her father Ryan O'Neal in Paper Moon. She was thrown into adult Hollywood at the age of 8 and she reflects on her experiences. I'm very aware that memoirs can contain much bias and many lies but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I liked the fact that she was willing and able to admit her short comings. She didn't blame others for her mistakes and she went into detail with things that may have been more comfortable for her to gloss over. Having said that, it's easy to see how being her father's party companion from age 8 and all that she was exposed to messed her up.
Another memoir from recent memory is Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. I liked the humor that he was able to find from his miserable, impoverished childhood in cold, wet Ireland, but overall I didn't love the book, although many people do.
