Memoir project
I'm taking a course next month on life writing, and there's a suggested reading list. I've tracked down all the books in some way (yes, I am such a Hermione), and I have another pile of memoirs, and am working my way through them.
*Isabel Allende, Paula - bought second hand, $12
Louise Erdrich, The Blue Jay's Dance - two-week interlibrary loan
John Bentley Mays, In the Jaws of the Black Dog - two-week ILL loan
Catherine Edwards, The Brow of Dawn (Acorn Press) - two-week ILL loan
Gillian Slovo, Every Secret Thing - two-week ILL loan
*Patrick Lane, There is a Season - bought new, $8
Andrei Makov, Dreams of My Russian Summers - two-week ILL loan
Ernest Hillen, The Way of a Boy - available at the library
bell hooks, Bone Black - planning to buy new
Isak Dinesen, Out of Africa - two-week ILL loan
Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek - available at the library
Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk - available at the library
Vladimir Nabok, Speak, Memory - available at the library
*Laurie Lee, Cider with Rosie - bought second hand, $2
Wayson Choy, The Jade Peony - available at the library
*Wayson Choy, All that Matters - bought new, $8
*Jill Ker Conway, The Road from Coorain - bought second hand, $10
*Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes - bought second hand, $12
*Books I own
**Some of these are autobiographical fiction (ex. Wayson Choy's and Andrei Makov's books).
Skimming through the books I now have on hand from this reading list, I find it interesting that the topics I thought I would find most intriguing are not the books I'm most drawn to; it's been the quality of the writing and the strength of the voice that has drawn me in, not the subject of the book or life. I reluctantly picked up Paula from a second-hand bookstore along with The Road from Coorain and Angela's Ashes, two books I'd been excited to read; it was Paula, however, that drew me in. It had an engaging voice and an interesting format and story (the books is about the author's comatose daughter; the first half is a letter for when Paula wakes up, and the second half is the mother's writings after she realizes Paula will never wake up).
I was also surprised that I started to read The Blue Jay's Dance: A Birth Year and couldn't put it down, as I have no interest in reading about new mommyhood. But this book is beautifully written and lyrical in how it describes human relationships. Half the book is, actually, about the natural world - it's not just about new motherhood. I won't know why the reviews don't mention this.
I was also unsure whether I'd sit down and read Every Secret Thing, as the topic sounded interesting, but the reviews warned that the author could come across as whiny (she was the daughter of two white Apartheid activists and was resentful that she took second place to her parents' activism). Yesterday I got the book through interlibrary loan, and WOW the writing is amazing. It is very clear and direct and forceful, and drew me in right away. I couldn't put it down and read it for a couple hours last night (when I should have been sleeping).
So that's an interesting observation: The subject itself can draw you in on its own; but the quality of the writing can draw you in even if you're not necessarily interested in the subject itself.
Another observation I've made while looking for these books is that memoirs are scattered all over many different genres. In one second-hand bookstore, I found one memoir in the "literary memoir" section (Angela's Ashes), one in the "everyday people autobiography" section (Paula), and one in the women's studies section (The Road from Coorain). Memoirs seem to be housed with their subject rather than with by format/genre.
The memoirs I've read as part of this project, started spring '09. (Reviews are linked.)
1. The Rabbi's Daughter, by Reva Mann
2. Fat Girl, by Judith Moore
3. Every Secret Thing, by Gillian Slovo
4. The Jade Peony, by Wayson Choy
5. I Could Tell You Stories: Sojourns in the Land of Memory, by Patricia Hampl
6. The Blue Jay's Dance: A Birth Year, by Louise Erdrich
*Isabel Allende, Paula - bought second hand, $12
Louise Erdrich, The Blue Jay's Dance - two-week interlibrary loan
John Bentley Mays, In the Jaws of the Black Dog - two-week ILL loan
Catherine Edwards, The Brow of Dawn (Acorn Press) - two-week ILL loan
Gillian Slovo, Every Secret Thing - two-week ILL loan
*Patrick Lane, There is a Season - bought new, $8
Andrei Makov, Dreams of My Russian Summers - two-week ILL loan
Ernest Hillen, The Way of a Boy - available at the library
bell hooks, Bone Black - planning to buy new
Isak Dinesen, Out of Africa - two-week ILL loan
Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek - available at the library
Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk - available at the library
Vladimir Nabok, Speak, Memory - available at the library
*Laurie Lee, Cider with Rosie - bought second hand, $2
Wayson Choy, The Jade Peony - available at the library
*Wayson Choy, All that Matters - bought new, $8
*Jill Ker Conway, The Road from Coorain - bought second hand, $10
*Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes - bought second hand, $12
*Books I own
**Some of these are autobiographical fiction (ex. Wayson Choy's and Andrei Makov's books).
Skimming through the books I now have on hand from this reading list, I find it interesting that the topics I thought I would find most intriguing are not the books I'm most drawn to; it's been the quality of the writing and the strength of the voice that has drawn me in, not the subject of the book or life. I reluctantly picked up Paula from a second-hand bookstore along with The Road from Coorain and Angela's Ashes, two books I'd been excited to read; it was Paula, however, that drew me in. It had an engaging voice and an interesting format and story (the books is about the author's comatose daughter; the first half is a letter for when Paula wakes up, and the second half is the mother's writings after she realizes Paula will never wake up).
I was also surprised that I started to read The Blue Jay's Dance: A Birth Year and couldn't put it down, as I have no interest in reading about new mommyhood. But this book is beautifully written and lyrical in how it describes human relationships. Half the book is, actually, about the natural world - it's not just about new motherhood. I won't know why the reviews don't mention this.
I was also unsure whether I'd sit down and read Every Secret Thing, as the topic sounded interesting, but the reviews warned that the author could come across as whiny (she was the daughter of two white Apartheid activists and was resentful that she took second place to her parents' activism). Yesterday I got the book through interlibrary loan, and WOW the writing is amazing. It is very clear and direct and forceful, and drew me in right away. I couldn't put it down and read it for a couple hours last night (when I should have been sleeping).
So that's an interesting observation: The subject itself can draw you in on its own; but the quality of the writing can draw you in even if you're not necessarily interested in the subject itself.
Another observation I've made while looking for these books is that memoirs are scattered all over many different genres. In one second-hand bookstore, I found one memoir in the "literary memoir" section (Angela's Ashes), one in the "everyday people autobiography" section (Paula), and one in the women's studies section (The Road from Coorain). Memoirs seem to be housed with their subject rather than with by format/genre.
The memoirs I've read as part of this project, started spring '09. (Reviews are linked.)
1. The Rabbi's Daughter, by Reva Mann
2. Fat Girl, by Judith Moore
3. Every Secret Thing, by Gillian Slovo
4. The Jade Peony, by Wayson Choy
5. I Could Tell You Stories: Sojourns in the Land of Memory, by Patricia Hampl
6. The Blue Jay's Dance: A Birth Year, by Louise Erdrich