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sculpthead's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
lelia_t's review against another edition
4.0
This is a great analysis of what makes personal narrative or memoir most effective and meaningful. Gornick and Mary Karr have a similar belief that the writer has to get behind the social mask they feel most comfortable presenting to the world. But Gornick adds that the narrative voice that works best is the one that tells the story that needs to be told, not necessarily the most wholly representative of the author. And sometimes the truth the writer is revealing is unconscious - it’s the act of writing that leads writer - and then the reader - to understand. The best personal narrative inquires deeply into who the self is and in the process the narrative voice becomes the story - the way they deliver their story, the things they don’t say, the surprising exclamations all reveal who they are and how they are shaped by experience and convention and/or are learning to resist those forces.
I’ve read very few of the essays and memoirs Gornick mentions, but her exploration of these works was meaningful anyway, and now I’ve got several new additions to my TBR list.
I’ve read very few of the essays and memoirs Gornick mentions, but her exploration of these works was meaningful anyway, and now I’ve got several new additions to my TBR list.
aliceboule's review against another edition
2.0
Elegantly written but encumbered with an excess of literary criticism which takes away from Gornick's overall argument.
josephtrinidad115's review against another edition
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
a re-read. surprisingly not a banger, still good tho. didn't realise its blindspots i.e. race, specifically essayists and memorists using pocs as pawns to self-implicate. it was okay when orwell did it (i think?) but do we have to do it again and again and again and again? god forbid writers grow and try something new, something less icky lol
smuds2's review against another edition
3.0
UNFINISHED
REVIEW RATING SYSTEM - [ 1 = FELT DECEIVED, 2 = NOT WHAT I EXPECTED IN A BAD WAY BUT WASN'T A WASTE OF TIME, 3 = WHAT I EXPECTED FELT LIKE MY TIME WAS USED AS EXPECTED, 4 = PLEASANTLY SURPRISED, 5 = THINKING ABOUT IT MONTHS LATER ]
RULES : (1) can not give anything a 5 outright, must either be a re-read or a update to score, (2) can not give incremental ratings, except for 4.75 which is functionally a "revisit in case it is actually a 5", (3) I should always end with a "this leads me to think" of 2-3 ideas this book roused in me.
I'm not sure what i thought this book was going to be going in to it, so it's tough to say it "met my expectations." I think this book could be read by a wide variety of people, not just those interested in personal writing. for example, people who are interesting in coming up with a slightly more systematic understanding of "why" they like certain personal writing over others.
Gornick is, of course, Gornick. Her voice itself is so strong in the writing. If you like her writing, you'll probably be able to coast along through this book.
The selection of writers analyzed and reviewed, IMO, was fairly limited to a pretty boring subset. I guess that just goes with the territory.
Roughly, I got the message that memoir, essay, personal writing, is more of a halfway between nonfiction and fiction than something like pure nonfiction, and requires skills that are closer in line with fiction than nonfiction, but the subject matter falls more in line with nonfiction.
The idea, for example, that in memoir writing, the voice and the other are both the author.
REVIEW RATING SYSTEM - [ 1 = FELT DECEIVED, 2 = NOT WHAT I EXPECTED IN A BAD WAY BUT WASN'T A WASTE OF TIME, 3 = WHAT I EXPECTED FELT LIKE MY TIME WAS USED AS EXPECTED, 4 = PLEASANTLY SURPRISED, 5 = THINKING ABOUT IT MONTHS LATER ]
RULES : (1) can not give anything a 5 outright, must either be a re-read or a update to score, (2) can not give incremental ratings, except for 4.75 which is functionally a "revisit in case it is actually a 5", (3) I should always end with a "this leads me to think" of 2-3 ideas this book roused in me.
Gornick is, of course, Gornick. Her voice itself is so strong in the writing. If you like her writing, you'll probably be able to coast along through this book.
The selection of writers analyzed and reviewed, IMO, was fairly limited to a pretty boring subset. I guess that just goes with the territory.
Roughly, I got the message that memoir, essay, personal writing, is more of a halfway between nonfiction and fiction than something like pure nonfiction, and requires skills that are closer in line with fiction than nonfiction, but the subject matter falls more in line with nonfiction.
The idea, for example, that in memoir writing, the voice and the other are both the author.
ericfheiman's review against another edition
4.0
A surprisingly engaging treatise that will surely help anyone trying to write essays or memoirs.
traceyo's review against another edition
5.0
In pretty much every workshop I've attended, this book tops the recommended reading list. I don't know why it took me so long to follow the advice.
Maybe I wasn't ready for it. I'm not sure how we know something like that, as readers, but I believe there's something to it.
Gornick notes: "The inner life is nourished only if it gets what it needs when it needs it." I was ready. I've been nourished.
Maybe I wasn't ready for it. I'm not sure how we know something like that, as readers, but I believe there's something to it.
Gornick notes: "The inner life is nourished only if it gets what it needs when it needs it." I was ready. I've been nourished.