Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I take it we are discussing works printed originally as nonfiction? As such, then, they are lies. Is there some reason for not publishing as fiction, to begin with? True books sell better?
We can see the appeal of this idea when we go to the movies and see that something is "based on a true story."
Based. It means the story you see on the screen is not necessarily what happened, but a Hollywoodized version of it, but people eat it up.
The Frey book... this book would NOT have made best-selling novel. It was a decent story, but the idea of this kid going through what he did and still making good is what sold the book. There are dozens of novels with roughly the same plot, but no one really cares about them.
Ironically enough, Frey has a new book coming out this Summer. Fiction. Street Date of May 13th.
Why was The Painted Bird challenged? It was fiction, after all, and he's certainly written enough that he's proven he CAN write. I've also had people who lived through post-war Europe tell me that's as close to what it was like as could be.
Yes. This seems an astute assessment of Kosinksi, who truly seemed to be a victim of the Holocaust, and how The Painted Bird came to be. In June 1982, the Village Voice revealed that Kosinski (for whom English was a second language) had made extensive use of translators and collaborators to write all his books, and then had concealed the fact. George Reavey, a poet who was embittered by his own lack of literary success, complained to anyone who would listen that he wrote The Painted Bird. But Reavey was only one of several who could have made the same complaint, and not only about The Painted Bird. Being There so closely resembled a prewar Polish bestseller called The Career of Nikodem Dyzma as to deserve the charge of plagiarism. Kosinski never fully recovered from the Voice's expose.
The rest of the essay is much kinder to Kosinski, and explains a lot about the man.
Quote:
I don't necessarily believe everything I read and never did, but truth is still stranger than fiction.
It's not possible to really uncover the truth, but I do believe Kosinski himself had many ways in which to express his view of truth. Apparently he did so in a series of interviews that revealed just a little more of himself in which he was quoted, out of context:
Quote:
he continuously created myths and legends around himself. His truth, which is difficult to separate from fiction, which he himself called autofiction
Anyone who writes fiction, and attempts to write it around a personal incident, will find themselves in this muddy area, a quagmire of where truth and fiction merge, often to make a better story, occasionally to incite, ignite or stimulate the reader, and even to bolster their own view of the event.
I don't consider these frauds, but dramatic interpretations or re-interpretations. In my view, it is fraud when one conjures up total fiction and calls it truth.
Excellent points, on the road. I have often wanted to write about my growing-up but have refrained from doing so, as, 1) my parents are still living and I am not about to 'get into it' with them and 2) thought to myself, 'who'd believe it?' I've also wondered if my siblings would object to some things being made public.
Piqued your curiosity now? I have also come to the conclusion that there were actually fewer "Beaver Cleaver" families out there than I supposed, and more dysfunctional ones like my own.
There are so many different ways of approaching the subject, too, methinks, and my favorite seems to be in the vein of a James Thurber story, like "The Night the Bed Fell." I mean, if it is to be totally disbelieved, questioned perhaps, anyway, why not publish it as fiction to begin with?
I do think writers
. . . "find themselves in this muddy area, a quagmire of where truth and fiction merge, often to make a better story, occasionally to incite, ignite or stimulate the reader, and even to bolster their own view of the event."
Several ways to approach a semi-autobiographic story is to make it funny, and letting the reader see it for its humour and at a distance.
Just recently I saw Manhattan, When Sally meets Harry and Woody Allen's possible tour de force, Annie Hall.
Years after I left high school I learned Mr. Allen's sister was in my graduating class, but she was totally unknown to me in a class of more than 2,000. However, it didn't totally surprise me because of all the autobiographical material in Allen's films that could have been incidents in my own life. One of the scenes in Annie Hall that always brings me back to about age 7 is where the Allen character is visiting his parents and the cyclone is either visible or heard in the background. It is Coney Island (NYC). My family lived in Coney Island in the 30s and 40s, and one of my Aunts, sister to my father, lived one or two streets from that very cyclone. Whenever my cousin and I tried to have a conversation during its running season (Spring to Fall) we'd have to put our hands on our ears and shout.
Allen made it funny. He made it appear surreal, but trust me, it was his truth and mine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RDSLOTS
Excellent points, on the road. I have often wanted to write about my growing-up but have refrained from doing so, as, 1) my parents are still living and I am not about to 'get into it' with them and 2) thought to myself, 'who'd believe it?' I've also wondered if my siblings would object to some things being made public.
Piqued your curiosity now? I have also come to the conclusion that there were actually fewer "Beaver Cleaver" families out there than I supposed, and more dysfunctional ones like my own.
There are so many different ways of approaching the subject, too, methinks, and my favorite seems to be in the vein of a James Thurber story, like "The Night the Bed Fell." I mean, if it is to be totally disbelieved, questioned perhaps, anyway, why not publish it as fiction to begin with?
I do think writers
. . . "find themselves in this muddy area, a quagmire of where truth and fiction merge, often to make a better story, occasionally to incite, ignite or stimulate the reader, and even to bolster their own view of the event."
I don't see what difference it makes whether the work is truth or fiction or what the author claims it to be.
The price of the book is the same either way, and if I enjoyed it, I got my money's worth.
I certainly don't read with the intent of internalizing the author's life experiences to influence or change my life. I have my own life experiences for that.
Cottonwood 2420: I was in high school when World War II took place. My relatives served in Europe. Of course, it happened. It was a terrible time in the World's history. The appeasers thought if we kept quiet when Hitler marched out of the Rhineland, he would not attack us. If you keep feeding the tiger, when you are out of food, he will eat you. Hitler had marched into France and bombed London before we got smart. It took the attack on Pearl Harbor to wake America, the sleeping giant. I met one of the persons selected by our country to travel under darkness and by reading the stars to penetrate into Germany. The Nazis had changed all street signs, so our spies had to know and read the stars. My friend, one of six with those skills, said when he was a couple of miles or so from Auswich,, he knew the story was true. The stench was so bad. He could not believe his eyes, he hid in a pile of bodies. He said one body was still warm, it was a dying young woman whose baby had been torn from her womb. He said, he lay perfectly still, played dead. He and the other five Americans were debriefed on a small island off New York. It took three months of counseling to help him deal with what he saw. We must never forget. Just tonight, I received a Snoped message from a friend, noting that General Eisenhauer ordered photos, movie accounts of the horror his troops encountered, the ovens, the dead, the tortured et. cetera. Because he knew it was so horrible, time would dull the senses and future like thinking people would not want us to believe it could happen again. I am not of the Jewish faith, I am a Catholic, a lover of history and believe like someone said. "If we do not learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it." We need a strong leader, this time around, in the presidential selection. We cannot have someone who wants to disarm America. "George Washington said, never be afraid to have a standing militia, the time it takes to assemble one when attacked, will cost many lives." I am sure it was he who said it, but time does dull the memory. Israel is important to the United States. It is called "Balance of power." Yes, the United States seems to think it must lead in these kinds of situations, but it was Rose Kennedy who said, " To whom much is given, much is required." God Bless America. Cast out G-Damn America and bless America one hundred fold! P.S. Use your favorite search engine and type in " video...52 seconds with Obama" Scary, isn't it" Haven't made my choice yet for November. I know it won't be Obama! You must see the video. Disregard fake authors who are more interested in making money using their talents for writing to make a fortune instead of helping all of us save humanity from radical religious groups who believe that anyone who is not one of them must be eliminated. What if they choose you?
Last edited by Friendly blogger; 03-26-2008 at 01:04 AM..
I do have a problem with an author misrepresenting his work, like Frey did with his Million Little Pieces. After it was revealed the work was largely fiction, I just never understood why he didn't publish it as fiction to begin with -- was the perception that it carried more weight as nonfiction?
I am not a BIG Oprah fan, but I did applaud her making him squirm in the chair across from her.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
However, it didn't totally surprise me because of all the autobiographical material in Allen's films that could have been incidents in my own life. One of the scenes in Annie Hall that always brings me back to about age 7 is where the Allen character is visiting his parents and the cyclone is either visible or heard in the background. It is Coney Island (NYC). My family lived in Coney Island in the 30s and 40s, and one of my Aunts, sister to my father, lived one or two streets from that very cyclone. Whenever my cousin and I tried to have a conversation during its running season (Spring to Fall) we'd have to put our hands on our ears and shout. 
