Memoir Blog Idea

It's quite interesting being a person who is adopted.  I can quickly have people gathered around me to hear all about my experience and how it has had an impact on my life and the life of my family.  Questions flow, and all that jazz.  I think it would be fun to do a memoir about my adoption story; I would interview my mom and perhaps other family members to get an account of what was happening with the Anderson family in 1985 (a year before my adoption).  I have sweet family photos, legal documents, and other fun things that should make this interesting for myself, my family, and others to look at.

Memoir Writing and Ethics - Essex County

In the NPR interview, Frank Stasio talks of the news that the memoir, "A Million Little Pieces" by James Fry, was not 100% fact, and that much of it was fabricated, borrowed and expanded upon.  After interviewing a few folks, the prime argument is that when reading a book that claims to be a memoir, the reader believes it (as well they should) to be true, whereas, when a book is labeled as Non Fiction, the reader just takes it for what it is, and rolls with it.  I can get behind this, and perhaps if I were reading a memoir which I had close emotional attachment to (like some may with "A Million Little Pieces") I may feel more strongly about finding what that what I believed was true, was in fact, a lie, or someone else's story to tell.  If anything, I would no longer trust the author of the book, and if the writing was good, I'd probably still read his or her work, but wouldn't believe that things were true even if the author said so.

Jeff Lemire's, Essex County, is a fantastic story with characters who weave together to create a whole "family tree" so to speak.  Often, I found myself sort of saying, "Ahhhh..." as one character's life made way for another character's life, and I was intrigued by all of it; the story telling was phenomenal and kept my attention.  I felt sad for many of the characters, and those who I felt okay about, I had moments where I felt sad for them too.  This isn't a bad thing at all, the characters were just relatable and easy to empathize with.  Would I be super bummed out if I learned that Lemire borrowed this story and made things up?  Not at all, the writing and the illustrations are so good that I'd just think, "well, that guy makes up some fascinating stuff."

Again, if I was reading a memoir about an adopted kid from Central America, and learned that the author made it all up, maybe I'd be a hint upset, but it would only be fleeting and then I'd be okay with it.  I guess I don't feel like I know published authors well enough to get offended by their mistakes, and lies.  When I open a book, I read it for the story, if it's true, great; if not, that's great too.

Black Friday, A Child's Perspective

As an American, I have only thought of Black Friday as the day after Thanksgiving, when people stand in lines for HOURS to spend bucket loads of money on things that they may not necessarily need.  After reading Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, my idea of "Black Friday" has markedly changed.  In Iran, "Black Friday" refers to the events that occurred on September 8, 1978 in Jaleh Square in Tehran, Iran.  On this day, thousands of people showed up to protest the Shah's regime, and on this day, the military opened fire against the protesters, killing and wounding several people.  This day is marked as extremely important in the Iranian Revolution as it marks the "point of no return," and in this moment, the people realized that there was no "hope for compromise" between the people and the Shah's regime.

In Persepolis, this event is told from a child's perspective.  This is important because it is honest and yet innocent.  Satrapi attends this protest with her maid, unbeknownst to her parents.  (They leave to protest when Satrapi's parents leave the house.)  Both Satrapi and her maid are yelled at and punished by Satrapi's mother, and it is mentioned that this was indeed a bad day to protest because it was "Black Friday."  The BBC paints a different, more journalistic picture of this day; photos are shown which are unforgettably gruesome, and it's enough to incite the viewer to protest the Shah.  As it happens, the shooting not only came from the military, but from inside the crowd as well.  Satriapi illustrates this day, and the BBC provides the viewer with photographs and news coverage (the number of dead reported varies from one media outlet to the next.)

Sources: 

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York, NY: Pantheon, 2003. 39. Print.

"Black Friday (1978)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 14 Feb. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(1978)>.

Understanding Comics & Fun Home: Non-Visual Self Awareness

Chapter Two of Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud, discusses the Vocabulary of Comics.  In this chapter, McCloud references the phenomenon of Non-Visual Self Awareness in relation to our whole bodies, he states that we are aware of ourselves, our facial expressions, etc even when we cannot see what we look like.  This can be something that is picked up by the body language and expressions of those around us, but is also something that we are constantly aware of.  McCloud also mentions another form of non-visual awareness, wherein people utilize inanimate objects and those objects become an extension of the person (McCloud, p. 37-39).

In Alison Bechdel's, Fun Home, this use of non-visual awareness is present in the father with his obsession with rebuilding antiques into shiny beautiful things to be admired like objects in a museum; and the family's ability to be "ideal" like the house and objects in the house.  The family has become an extension of the father's "ideal home" and all are simply a cover up for the family's dark secret.  If outwardly, people see a perfect family, and a perfect home, they are less likely to believe anything could be amiss.

Bechdel, A. (2006). Fun home: A family tragicomic (pp. 16-17). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

McCloud, S. (1994). Understanding comics: The invisible art (pp. 37-39). New York: HarperPerennial.

Four Women: Frames/ Panels

 Sam Kieth's "Four Women" showcases an exemplary panel layout.  I was given Volume #4 (of 5) and  this was my first time reading the comic; as such, I was not very familiar with the story and relied heavily on the layout and images for narrative and filled in the blanks with a story of my own.  

I was particularly drawn to panels that were on full pages.  The first was a panel with a hand holding a pipe. I found this particularly eye catching because of the angle used, and the use of black space around the arm; and was additionally drawn in by the shape of the lines around the arm.  The lines are crooked, and come to a point at the end which to me indicates aggression or conflict.  

The second panel to catch my eye was another full page panel; this one simply had the word "WUNK" written in distorted and bloody letters.  This was both eye catching and told a narrative in relation to the previous hand and pipe panel.  The pages to follow were rather gory, as one may imagine.

My favorite panel in the book takes up two pages; unlike the previously aforementioned panels, this one uses straight lines and remains confined to the rectangular shape of the book itself.  The first panel is both beautifully illustrated, and also does an excellent job telling a narrative.  The detail of the drawing is phenomenal, from the nail polish on the women's fingernails, to the shards of glass on the door.  This to me conveys movement and when I look at this panel, I feel like I can hear all of the characters as they make their escape from the crushed car.  The angle of the car is also extremely useful to the narrative; it allows the viewer to look at it as if the viewer is outside of the car looking on as the women escape.  The second panel on the two page spread is also very evocative, the expressive faces on the characters are very well done and the manner in which it is laid out, much like the car panel, allows the reader to look on almost as if the reader were there.

Images from Four Women #4 by Sam Kieth  (p.12, 15, 21-22).  Story and Art: Sam Kieth.  Colors: Alex Sinclair.  Lettering: Sergio Garcia.  Edits: Scott Dunbier