Isabel Allende's The Sum of Our Days is a deeply revealing memoir that recounts all the gritty details of the lives of her extraordinary family. Allende bares her soul after the painful death of her daughter and as she writes, she explores a wide variety of topics in the wake of her loss, including marriage, spirituality, and motherhood. Despite the devastating and often dramatic events that Allende remembers, she bravely encounters each memory and meticulously constructs her thoughts and stories as if she was carrying on an intimate conversation with a close friend.
In a 2008 interview, Allende was asked about the interesting themes and lively stories that are featured in the memoir. Allende responded, "'All stories are interesting if told in the right tone. When I came to live here, friends, publishers asked me, 'What are you going to write about now, in Marin, [with] no more ghosts, premonitions?' I told them, 'It's pretty weird here.'" She continued, "In the 17 years since Paula died, many things happened to the family. I had written about it all: Every day, I write a letter to my mother with the events and the mood of the day. She saves them for me and each year gives me back a year of letters. ... As I sat down Jan. 8, 2006, I was ready to start an historical novel. Then my agent called from Spain. She said, 'Write a memoir, before you forget everything.'"
Allende's writing style is often considered to contain elements of "magic realism." By Wikipedia's definition, "'magic realism' is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements are blended into a realistic atmosphere in order to access a deeper understanding of reality. These magical elements are explained like normal occurrences that are presented in a straightforward manner which allows the 'real' and the 'fantastic' to be accepted in the same stream of thought. It has been widely considered a literary and visual art genre; creative fields that exhibit less significant signs of magic realism include film and music."
Discussion Questions:
1. Some of Allende's family members were/are terrified of being written about. Do you think it's beneficial to release a "tell-all" memoir such as The Sum of Our Days, or were all the elements of her story relevant?
2. Allende's life is almost ridiculously dramatic at times. She has even been quoted as saying, "You can tell the deepest truths with the lies of fiction." Do you think this is "magic realism" at work, or do you think her story can be literally interpreted at face value?
3. Which sub story in Allende's memoir do you think best represented her reputation for being such an influential and inspiring Latin American writer?
Jessica, question two deals a lot with the discussion board post I posted in response to Amanda’s question on editing the truth. As I mentioned in that response, I do think that the truth has a creative license. I think exaggeration serves a purpose to the author more so than the reader, though. In terms of Allende’s quote, “You can tell the deepest truths with the lies of fiction,” I completely agree. Exaggeration makes the truth pop. It gets the readers’ attention. It grabs their interest. They become emotionally and intellectually invested. I think the argument can be made that this is “magic realism.” It is a blending of truth or “reality” and lies or the “fantastic.” However, I think that magic realism requires a stronger blend than just exaggerating. Much of The Sum of Our Days sits along this line. Some of her stories cross over, but others just don’t make the cut.
ReplyDeleteJessica,
ReplyDeleteIn regards to your first question, I believe that "tell-all" stories offer readers an uncut look at the lives of real people. If anyone has read or heard of the memoir "Scar Tissue" by Anthony Kiedis (lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers), it is his brutal honesty about everyone and everything that makes his story so compelling. I guess the only time where a tell-all may be inappropriate/unfair is when someone (especially a family member) is strongly opposed to the publication of something private. In Allende's case, however, she actually does omit the story of Scott "because he doesn't want to appear in these pages" (8). This display of respect is noble in my eyes. I have an undergraduate degree in journalism and I have seen the consequences of being brutally honest to a fault; journalists are portrayed as assholes for good reason. The pursuit and publication of absolute truth also comes with a healthy share of enemies along the way (which is why I have escaped the realm of evil that is journalism and have taken refuge and tranquility in the art of teaching, actually helping people, as opposed to scrapping around looking for a good story that could potentially ruin someone else's life. That aint for me (neither is the use of the word "aint" which, in this context, just felt right).
-Will Perkins
Will, I'm glad to know there's another journalist in the mix out there who's decided to cross back over! To answer the other questions, I could personally see where family members are terrified to be written about because members of my own family would not appreciate being written about, either because the truth would come out and ruin their perfect image or because they are just simply private people. Either way, I could see where a "tell-all" memoir is beneficial because you get the feeling that you're reading an authentic, realistic story, even though some of the events may be embellished or exaggerated, though we don't really know for sure. I think it's been discussed in detail on the discussion board, but I believe a part of this "magic realism" is the art of telling the story of your life as you remember it, even if part of that story may be slightly exaggerated. I'm with ewfrogs though that some of Allende's stories don't quite make the magical mark.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the resources you brought into this post. The questions are great and have depth and the links were very helpful for understanding.
ReplyDeleteOverall you all have done a tremendous job with the blog. It is very appropriate and well laid out. All of the information is on target and has a lot of depth and well thought out questioning. It seems it is truly fulfilling its purpose in helping you gain a deeper understanding of the texts!
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ReplyDeleteI struggle with accepting everything that Allende writes, just as I struggle with accepting everything non-fiction as the gospel truth. Journalist, I think, write the closest to the truth, but that is the nature of their profession, to spread the truth. Writers, however, want to sell books. And adding creative bits and pieces to enhance the read will sell more books. Does anyone remember that nonfiction book Oprah tooted that was later revealed to be completely embellished? I think I keep waiting for someone to reveal what was true. Something like a 20/20 special: And now, we reveal the truth in Sum of Our Days… Like I said in my discussion board post: How does she remember so much detail? To me, it just isn’t logical.
ReplyDeleteThis is the post that Elizabeth refers to in her comment above:
ReplyDeleteI connected with her frustration featured in the beginning of the book when she is trying to decide what to write. The first lines of the book are my favorite so far, “There is no lack of drama in my life. I have more than enough three-ring-circus material for writing” (1). While I have been working on my personal narrative, I struggled with what to write. As Allende tells her editor, “My family doesn't like to see itself exposed,” (4). I relate to that. I don't really want to bear my soul, but I don't think I have anything to really bear, anyway. I don't have a traumatic experience, or all encompassing memory that makes me who I am. I live in the moment. I can tell I will never be a great writer. I don't live through something and immediately think, that would be a good story, I should write it down. No, I laugh and move on. I admire people who journal daily; I wish I had the spare time for such an endeavor. I wish I had spare time for anything, but we all do, don't we?
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I like this book, at least what I've read so far. It's interesting, but horrible in what is taking place, and knowing that someone really went through this. I wonder how much is nonfiction and how much is creative. How can she remember so much detail? When she sees her granddaughter for the first time, how does she remember the emphatic, majestic nurse? I can't remember what I did last week, let alone years ago, and I'm 21, how does she do it? What do you think, do you think you have to add/edit to create a great non-fiction work? Is it more important to have neat, clean stories that fit nicely on the page, or the cold, difficult truth? Which do you think is the closest to The Sum of Our Days?
I really like your blog. Everyone involved seems to contribute equally, and I like the inclusion of the pictures at the beginning of each post, they make it look more professional. And you have a very specific style for each main post that you always stick to.
ReplyDeleteIn response to question 3, I think that Allende's fame was most apparent when she met people who became important parts of her life and they had read her books, like her husband and Tabra.