I AIN"T SAID I
12/05/09
With apologies to Neil Diamond, I can sing “I ain’t I said, to no one there.” The first thing I can say about the question, “Is the book an autobiography?” is - on the surface, “kind of”. But, although the lead character, Gordon Strachan, shares certain biographical facts with me, he ain’t me. Gordon’s youth is set in St. Vital and his life takes him to places with which I am familiar. But then, what I am to write about, a boy growing up in Moscow? He grew up in St. Vital, while I moved there when I was thirteen. He married his childhood sweetheart, while I married (thirty years ago yesterday) the wonderful Norwood girl, Pat Newman who I had met at work, in my late twenties. And we have never (thank God) separated or divorced. Similarly, both Gord and I were in the finance business. He was worth $40M when he broke up with his wife. Me? Not even close!
Like all authors, absent extensive research, I have only my own life’s experiences to draw on. And like any work of imagination, the book uses bits from here and there, jumbles them up, and reassigns them amongst characters and settings. For instance, I wrote the songs used in the book. However, Jack, not Gordon is credited with the composition - because it is more ‘true’ in the imaginary world of Except My Love For You. It’s more like Jack to have been and still be a musician. Perhaps if Gord could or would have written songs (or poems as he belatedly attempts), he might not have been so screwed up. But it was necessary and therefore true that he didn’t, and that he did screw up. And spread it around!
But that suggests the more subtle question. “Life details aside, are the issues with which Gordon grapples modeled on issues from the author’s life?” This time the answer is “not much”. Gord’s inappropriate behaviour in mid-life stems from the return of his unorthodox way of thinking, which stems from his upbringing, presumably from his genetics, and from... the authors’ imagination.
The author has, from time to time in his life, behaved in ways he ought not. And for the usual human reasons; laziness, stubbornness, ignorance, and who knows what. But no more than normal, and not in ways grand enough to support a novel. But the author has, as author’s ought, imagined an exaggerated version of these and other human failings, and wondered what would happen if they carried on uncorrected, or at least unmitigated. It follows that such strong, persistent miscues would be caused by strong, persistent causes. What might they be? What might happen if the screw ups went beyond a certain point? Well - people would get fed up. What would they do? They would break with the offender. Then what would he do? Hey, how about he follows through on some goofy ideas he has, associated with his weird way of thinking? Hence the Minimum List. Hence the story. The rest is detail that flows from the central struggle.
In the final analysis, Gordon Strachan ended up as a more powerful, more disciplined, more successful, and more doomed man than John Hodgert ever was or could be.
Like all authors, absent extensive research, I have only my own life’s experiences to draw on. And like any work of imagination, the book uses bits from here and there, jumbles them up, and reassigns them amongst characters and settings. For instance, I wrote the songs used in the book. However, Jack, not Gordon is credited with the composition - because it is more ‘true’ in the imaginary world of Except My Love For You. It’s more like Jack to have been and still be a musician. Perhaps if Gord could or would have written songs (or poems as he belatedly attempts), he might not have been so screwed up. But it was necessary and therefore true that he didn’t, and that he did screw up. And spread it around!
But that suggests the more subtle question. “Life details aside, are the issues with which Gordon grapples modeled on issues from the author’s life?” This time the answer is “not much”. Gord’s inappropriate behaviour in mid-life stems from the return of his unorthodox way of thinking, which stems from his upbringing, presumably from his genetics, and from... the authors’ imagination.
The author has, from time to time in his life, behaved in ways he ought not. And for the usual human reasons; laziness, stubbornness, ignorance, and who knows what. But no more than normal, and not in ways grand enough to support a novel. But the author has, as author’s ought, imagined an exaggerated version of these and other human failings, and wondered what would happen if they carried on uncorrected, or at least unmitigated. It follows that such strong, persistent miscues would be caused by strong, persistent causes. What might they be? What might happen if the screw ups went beyond a certain point? Well - people would get fed up. What would they do? They would break with the offender. Then what would he do? Hey, how about he follows through on some goofy ideas he has, associated with his weird way of thinking? Hence the Minimum List. Hence the story. The rest is detail that flows from the central struggle.
In the final analysis, Gordon Strachan ended up as a more powerful, more disciplined, more successful, and more doomed man than John Hodgert ever was or could be.
0 Comments