A to Z Challenge: My Favorite Storytellers-- I

"I' is easy! "I" is for....

John Irving

So remember how I couldn't tell you if Bret Easton Ellis is the writer I love to hate or hate to love? Well, John Irving is the writer I LOOOOVVVVEEE and sometimes wish would shut up. Just a little.

John Irving is brilliant. When I first read A Prayer for Owen Meany, I was instantly enthralled. This is truly one of the most incredible pieces of modern storytelling I can think of. Several hundred pages long, there are moments in this book when you think "Oh my goodness, just get to the frigging point!" because it seems like SO many extraneous details. And yet, when you get the end, Irving wraps up every single detail and story arc into one evocative, astounding ending that you are nothing but ecstatic that you stuck with it.

His skill and imagination are second to none. And yet, Irving's Achilles' Heel is sometimes using his writing as a very, very preachy political platform. For instance, while I thought Cider House Rules was an amazing, beautiful book, and I actually believe in the politics outlined in it, pointing out what he believes is sometimes suffocatingly heavy-handed.

Any writers like that for you? They are brilliant, but their personal agendas sometimes color their work a bit too much?

The Space A Story Takes

There is often a tension between what a writer wants to write, and what a reader wants to read. As a writer, I hate these types of questions. I want to write what is in my soul, but that doesn't always fit into a neatly bound package or on a bookshelf.

I am struggling with this currently as I have just finished my second novel (again-- yes, I am always editing) and it comes in at 49,600 words, or about 150 book pages. Technically speaking, anything under 50,000 words (and some say 70,000) is a novella. And I am torn. This is a book I am proud of. I'm not preparing for a Nobel by any stretch, but I love moments of it and think it is a story worth telling. But what to do with a book this short? There is more story in my head, but these are extra scenes that I may clutter the book.

I have never been a huge fan of books that take up more space than is called for. I love lyrical descriptions, and poetic narrative, and beautiful writing that carries you away, but have seldom appreciated extraneous pages, unnecessary back story, or unessential detail in any book. It is a skill to balance both, a skill I will likely be working on for the rest of my career, and I err on the side of simplicity over complexity. I would rather a story live in the space it is due, be it short or long, than expand it beyond its natural borders.

This is a rather nebulous concept, I imagine. Think about this:

• A Prayer for Owen Meany may often seem that it is full of extraneous detail, but by the end you care convinced that every word and sentence is absolutely crucial. It is masterful. Many have told me I am wrong.
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a book I am not actually a fan of, but I do have to appreciate the eloquence in how sparcely written it is (so sparce he all but ignores punctuation). There is not a single word in that entire book that is not crucial to the point conveyed. No one has ever disagreed with me here.

So I ask you as readers, what do you think? Do you have examples of a story that is so well constructed that not a single word is extra? Even better if those examples are short books....

An entertaining escape...

My plan for this blog, moving forward, had been to focus on the positive things. Rather than an endless rant to let you into my world and know all about me (because hey, I’m really not that interesting) I have enjoyed sharing my positive juju with the world and planned to keep going with that.

But, in the immortal words of John Lennon “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

And so, beautiful boys (and girls), the time has come when my personal life must encroach upon my creative psyche. I found out a few weeks ago that my mother’s long battle with cancer will be ending soon. We won’t call it a loss, she fought too hard for that. We’re going to call this one a tie. Tie or no tie, nonetheless, this is clearly devastating news. I haven’t been much of a blogger as a result, opting instead to share my feelings with the world through the emerging art of text messaging.

But, ars longa, vitae brevis est. I had a recent affirmation of that, and in my faith in the power of storytelling. I hate to hear people refer to books and movies as “entertainment.” They are this, no doubt; however, I think the stories we tell ourselves and each other become a part of our cultural identity. Just as the Greeks are remembered for (among many other things) the beauty and intricacy of their mythology and epic poems, I think we will be remembered partially for our stories.

This is a scary concept, I know. I really would not want to be a member of the generation remembered for bringing The Hot Chick into our canon. But, that said, I would be proud to be part of the generation that contributed A Prayer for Owen Meany, The United States of Leland, Flight, True Blood, Braveheart and many others.

Here’s why I feel so strongly that movies are crucial: Because whether it is to make a point (like The Life of David Gale, even though I don’t agree with the point), or expose a new facet of our world to those who would not otherwise see it (Slumdog Millionaire) or simply to create a world that will allow us to marvel (bless you Harry Potter), at the end of the day all of these help us to see a world outside of our own little lives.

This weekend I had the unique and delightful opportunity to enter a world that made me forget my own. Honestly, for over a month I have had little else on my mind then my mom. It’s nearly impossible to focus on anything. And so, when I went to the movies on Saturday and sat through the entire film and realized, as I left, that I had been so completely immersed that I had gained two hours of freedom from my own thoughts, I was ecstatic.

The film, ladies and gentlemen, is Inception. The graphics and effects and cool concept will pull you in. Astoundingly good writing coupled with simply flawless acting will keep you there. When I left the theater, it felt odd to find myself simply in a parking lot looking for my car. I had so become part of this world, and been so enthralled by the story that re-entering my life startled me.

I don’t want to go too much into the plot because it is hard to explain without actually seeing it. The whole point is to experience it. Stories are what help us understand, cope, and even escape from our lives. I will be eternally grateful to this filmmaking team for helping me have two marvelous hours on Saturday. This film is what the “entertainment” industry should strive for. This is a film that, I hope, will help to define us not because it makes any bold proclamations or advances any special issues, but because it is an example of how an excellent story can hold you, keep you, and impact you.

And FYI, I am officially adding Joseph Gordon Levitt to the dreamy men list. He can chill with Ben Barnes, Brendan Frasier, Jonathan Brandis, Ryan Buell, and Robert Pattinson there for a while :0)