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It occurred to me then that I will never be the writer Neil is.
I brooded on that a moment and it came to me:
If God wanted me to be another Neil, he would have made him twins, right? :-)
So I guess we all will have to strive to be the best writer we can be in our own right.
Yesterday, I also wrote on the importance of fiction and its heroes.
Neil ... I can call you Neil can't I? You've shared some of my best times with me after all.
Neil in his non-fiction book asked its readers:
"Why do we need the things in books?
Stories are lies after all, tales of people who never existed and the things that never actually happened to them.
Why should we read them? Why should we care?
Fiction gives us empathy:
It puts us inside the minds of other people, gives us the gift of seeing the world through their eyes.
Fiction is a lie that tells us true things, over and over."
Samuel McCord in my DEATH IN THE HOUSE OF LIFE speaks of the same thing:
We live in an ocean and
hours are the islands, linked in ways we cannot imagine while we are traveling one
from the other. It is only in looking
back that we can see the path we took … and whether it was a wise one or not.
The Lakota call God the
Great Mystery. I do, too. I am a man or
I once was. What I am now is a mystery
to me. And maybe to the Great Mystery as
well.
But men are creatures who
tell stories. This is a gift from the Great Mystery, who spoke our species into
being, but left the end of our story untold. Perhaps that is why the Lakota
call Him The Great Mystery. Anyway, that
mystery troubles us. How could it not? Without the final part, how are we
supposed to make sense of all that went before: which is to say, our lives?
So we make stories of our
own, in stumbling imitation of our Maker, hoping that we'll tell, by chance,
what God left untold. And in finishing our tale, come to understand why we were
born. Maybe it will work. Maybe not.
Only the Great Mystery knows, and He comes by His name naturally.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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Hi Roland - if we didn't have books we'd never learn about people, the world and others' thoughts ... perhaps that's why towards the end of our lives (or earlier) we try and tie some of those threads together.
ReplyDeleteSome people realise early they can write and express their thoughts, some want to ... others collect their ideas later - so I agree ... our time will come: wise thoughts and ideas here ...
Cheers Hilary
Books teach us slowly, page by page as we go at our own pace, reflecting upon what we have read. Thanks for staying to talk awhile. :-)
DeleteWhat a lovely way to look at writing. Your posts are always so eloquent, Roland.
ReplyDeleteYou made my morning with that comment. Thanks. :-)
DeleteI think in every fiction story there's a bit of truth. The author often writes his/her story from his/her past experiences or those of people they know. Very interesting post. You've made me think about it. Have a lovely day.
ReplyDeleteEach author writes the truth of the world as he/she sees it. It is not THE truth just her or his truth, right? Reading books by many authors leaves us with a prose mosaic we have to piece together ourselves. Thanks for visiting. :-)
DeleteI think, without stories, human beings would still be swinging from the trees. I think stories are what give us that extra dimension (whatever that is). It's about language, it's about the word, the most powerful force of creation. :)
ReplyDeleteThe Great Mystery spoke the universe into being so I guess we stumble in imitation of Him. Words can seal the fate of a nation if they are the right words. :-)
DeleteI guess one Neil is enough so God made you. And since we are created in His image then we are destined to create our own worlds with their own stories.
ReplyDeleteArlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out
Exactly. Thanks for visiting when I know you are so busy. May this week and new month treat you great!
DeleteI agree with Beverly...there's a bit of truth in every work of fiction, even the most outlandish fiction.
ReplyDeleteIf there is no truth to the psychology of the characters, the readers will not buy the outlandishness. If there is, they will. :-)
DeleteStories do hold truths, especially about human nature. It's also the best way for passing history down through the ages.
ReplyDeleteBut the winners write the histories, so we have not gotten the full truth or even any of it in some instances. :-(
DeleteThere's a bit of truth in every work of fiction. Might be that character quirk or flaw, might be something yet to be discovered or invented, you never know. Makes life interesting though.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip on Neil's new non-fiction book. He's a true writer's writer. I'll go get his book tomorrow on my lunch break. I'm so excited now! LOL.
I got the audio version of it, and he does a wonderful job of narration. :-)
DeleteAnd to write fiction, we need empathy.
ReplyDeleteJesus spoke in parables - in stories. It's how people understand the world.
Jesus knew our humanity better than we know it ourselves so it is no wonder his parables resonate so with us. :-)
DeleteYou are so amazingly creative! I love your insights.
ReplyDelete@Kathleen01930 Blog
You made my weary evening with your comment. :-) Thanks for the uplift!
DeleteOne writer’s truth is another’s fiction. Life itself is nothing if not a mystery. We live and die in story. Story is what makes us human. It's what sets us apart from other creatures.
ReplyDeleteTo launch his his new book, Neil Gaiman and Audrey Niffenegger were broadcast live in conversation yesterday online from Union Chapel in London. Spectacular.
VR Barkowski
Aw, man. I wish I had been able to listen to them!
DeleteNone of us see ourselves as we are but as only the myth we have erected inside our minds of who we think we are to help us bear the path we tread.
So I guess that makes each person a storyteller ... at least to themselves! :-)
There was some study done recently that showed how people who read good, serious fiction test out as being more empathetic as human beings. So yes, reading novels and short stories is important. But then you knew that already, Roland.
ReplyDeleteI only act as if I know everything, Helena! :-) But yes, I have read of that study, too.
DeleteI have missed your comments.
Where would we be without stories to expose us to a larger world than we can ever experience on our own? How fortunate that Dickens gave us Miss. Havisham to teach us about heartbreak and humiliation (and not to eat moldy cake). That we are forever gifted with Holden and Scout as coming of age guides. That Faust leads the way to understanding about the price we must pay if we give up our moral integrity for power.
ReplyDeleteThe beauty of the story is we can go back to enjoy and learn from them again and again. Thanks to those insightful and creative writers who have given all these people and their stories to us.
Yes, there are novels I go back to repeatedly for the sense of family and sense of humor, mixed in psychological insights.
DeleteSadly, a story only matters if it is read.
How many people off the streets would recognize the names of Miss. Havisham and Pip?
Would any get the underlying humor of: "She was the kind of woman like Anna Karenina that it would take a train to stop." ?
If you asked at random a person from what work of art was Falstaff, would they suggest a beer comericial?
People no longer read the classics for entertainment anymore. :-(
Neil Gaiman often makes his writing seem so effortless that it appears deceptively easy to write just like he does, I think.
ReplyDeleteYes, David, Neil makes captivating urban fantasy seem invitingly easy, doesn't he?
DeleteI think it's a crazy wonder I ever get anything done at all once I get to your website. I spend so much time looking at all the wonderful visuals, and then I start reading and the ADHD monster in me jumps around some more and I could just devour your entire brain like a zombie from my WIP! Anyway, great IWSG post! I remember my first real creative connection with my son. I was talking about mythology and was shocked that he knew all about what I was talking about. He explained that it was all in this story he was reading. He and I BOTH have every first edition of the Sandman comic book series, including the hardbound book, and still do. Just another huge Neil Gaiman fan for life...
ReplyDeleteMy book out of the library as a child was Edith Hamilton's MYTHOLOGY and I've been hooked ever since like your son and you. :-)
DeleteWhat nice things to say about my blog -- I really try to make it entertaining and colorful.
I have cyber-friends who find themselves spending too much time playing with my cat in the side-bar, making him purr, meow, and swat at their cursors.
My Egyptian fantasies have myths come to life in 1895 Egypt. I think you and your son would like them.
Neil is one of my favorite authors. Has your son read Neil's ODD AND THE FROST GIANTS?
Thank you again for making my evening brighter by your nice remarks about my blog!
This is part of the reason people want more diverse characters in fiction (provided they're well-written). So people have a little more sympathy for people like them in real life.
ReplyDelete