James morrissey
Travelling fool
  • Home
  • MUSIC
  • Travel
    • River Cruise 2018
    • Hawaii
    • Transatlantic 2017
    • Mediterranean
    • Transatlantic
    • China
  • Short Stories
    • A Long Time Ago
    • Ethel: A story
  • Sew with James
  • Contact

LiFE

Life. Story.

3/11/2016

2 Comments

 
PictureKarl Ove Knausgård
My dad was dying on a hospital bed next to the couch and my dad’s favourite winged back chair in my parent’s living room. In his final days he was in and out of consciousness and I was entrusted with the needle and the morphine injections, something I was more than willing to do if he was in pain. In fact when someone you love needs anything you do it. I now know this from experience.
 
I did two things during those last days. One was to interview him, recording a conversation on my phone, and the other was to write down an idea about a novel I could write based on my dad and my complicated and loving relationship with him.
 
Then I read Globe and Mail writer Ian Brown’s book 60 and I was hooked on the idea that in fact my novel doesn’t need to be fiction. Ian spoke about his life in a very open way, sometimes painfully. He referenced reading Karl Ove Knausgård’s book My Struggle, A Death in the Family. I’ve started to read the book and now know why Ian Brown was inspired to write his book. It took courage—a lot of courage.
 
Here’s why. My Struggle is an autobiographical series of novels if that makes sense. Knausgård is protagonist and his real family the cast members. The story of his childhood is real, and so is the reference to his family and friends.  The books were runaway hits, especially in his home country of Norway where one in nine adults have read his books. And they were controversial since everyone’s privacy was on full display in his books. Some family members sued him.
 
It takes a certain amount of guts to write like this. A high school English teacher once said to me, “Jay, write what you know.” I suspect she didn’t mean the gory details of my life and all the characters that came and went, some in a blaze of glory and others not so much.
 
Now I am contemplating writing like this. I talked with my mom about this and she said, ”I won’t sue you.” That is positive. Now I just have to contact every person I’ve ever met, especially from you early days and ask permission. Or just write it, publish it online and wait for the fall out. Could be fun!
 
I will say sorry in advance to everyone I may harm in the making of the story. Good to get that over with now.

2 Comments
Jane
7/8/2016 09:36:29 pm

James, I am looking forward to reading your real life novel when it gets published. It does in fact take incredible guts and courage to write about the real things that happen to us in our lives and the emotions that they bring. I believe it will be a healing, cathartic, journey with ups and downs for you as you begin writing about your life. But, all in all, I truly believe that the truth brings healing. It takes courage to live like that! Your story matters, I'm looking forward to reading it some day.

Reply
James
7/9/2016 07:12:50 am

Thanks Jane. Well said! I've read some pretty great books that do just that. Great reads really! I'll ease into it. :-)

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    JAMES MORRISSEY

    I was thinking I don't have a place to blog about everything else I'm thinking about so I added a life blog. Should be an interesting journey into sharing!

    Archives

    May 2019
    April 2018
    March 2018
    June 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    March 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • MUSIC
  • Travel
    • River Cruise 2018
    • Hawaii
    • Transatlantic 2017
    • Mediterranean
    • Transatlantic
    • China
  • Short Stories
    • A Long Time Ago
    • Ethel: A story
  • Sew with James
  • Contact