Just moments ago I heard on the news that a person in Antarctica had stabbed a co-worker for spoiling the ending of a book he was reading. The news story was about workplace stress. But I was more interested in the obvious investment the stabber had in his reading material. I wonder what book it was?
Although this actually happened in 2018, it still begs the question, how attached was this scientist, a 55 year-old man accused of attempted murder, to his books? The book spoiler was allegedly a repeat offender, spoiling the ending of every book, over a period of four years. Which book made the scientist snap? In fairness, that would potentially cause me to become homicidal, too.
When I read a book I develop relationships with the characters. Sometimes I cry when I finish the book. Often it’s because the story is sad and has moved me. Occasionally it’s because I’m anticipating the loss of my newly developed connection with the characters. Some characters are still sitting in my heart 30 years after I’ve finished the book. Some characters have been there even longer.
While I’ve been writing my story, I’ve read a lot of other people’s stories. I love reading memoirs. The emotional investment is different because you know the story is, for the most part, true.
This year, I’ve read a lot of craft books on how to write memoir. As a writer, connecting with your reader is important. This is one of the most difficult things about writing memoir. Finding your true voice. Digging down into your deepest truths. Some of the great memoirs I have read recently do this so well.
Annie Ernaux’s Happening taught me to chose my words wisely, not just throw them all down on a page. Joan Didion’s A Year of Magical Thinking made me realise how essential truth and authenticity are in writing memoir. Maggie Smith’s You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir, showed me how important it is to write in the voice that is your voice and how to protect those close to you. Greenlights, by Matthew McConaughey, that there are no rules. It’s your own story you’re telling. You can tell it however you want.
Reading Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World, by Anthony Doerr, was a revelation that the descriptive narrative in a memoir can be as enthralling as that in a novel. The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World’s Most Glorious — and Perplexing — City, by David Lebovitz made me salivate and laugh out loud at the same time. Helen Macdonald wrote of grief opaquely in H is for Hawk, but her message was unambiguous.
Theodore Fontaine wrote Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools, A Memoir. Although far from literary, this book made me cry when I read it, and then sob uncontrollably when I learned he had died during COVID. His voice was so strong and I was so invested in his story, he felt like a friend. I had met him in my favourite bookshop in Winnipeg, McNally Robinson. He signed our book, and Stu and I chatted to him about the unsurprising similarities with the residential schools in Canada, and the Stolen Generations, in Australia. His voice will always remain in my memory. As will the voices of the other memoirists I have read. Like a city you get to know while travelling, an authors voice leaves an impression in your soul.
So, how do you raise the stakes? I think it’s by capturing all of the above mentioned elements in your story. These memoirs speak to me because these authors have made an impact or impression on me. I am invested in their narratives.
How high must the stakes have been for the scientist, Sergey Savitsky, who actually stabbed a fellow human, Oleg Beloguzov, for ruining the ending of the book he was reading? With a kitchen knife…through the heart. Was it a memoir, a novel, maybe a cozy crime, or thriller? Who knows. I think every writer who can pull you in and make you care about what is happening on the page has done their job, and has raised the stakes sufficiently. Whatever the genre.
Armed with this knowledge, I continue to dig deep, into the depths of my memory and my truth, to try to put it into words on the page. I am working to raise my stakes, and make you care.
Which books have you read that will stay with you forever, and why did they impact you like they did?
Kylie Eklund-Denman 