janradder | (no subject)

Since I've been writing a memoir I've been trying to read memoirs just to sort of put me inthat frame of mind and to give me things to think about. I just finished one last week that was perfectly awful and I was starting to feel that it was beginning to affect my own memoir -- the writing and the structure. At the very least, it gave me a pretty good example of what I don't want to do. Currently, I'm reading Luis Buñuel's My Last SIgh. For those who don't know, Buñuel was a surrealist filmmaker responsible for films such as Un Chien andalou (the inspiration for the Pixies "Debaser"), The Exterminating Angel, and That Obscure Object of Desire, among countless others. The book is labeled as an autobiography but it is really more of a memoir as Buñuel begins by recounting the events and memories of his childhood which would pop up as images, ideas or scenes in his later films while skipping a factual timeline (where he was born, what happened during each year, who did what) and then goes on to discuss the various films he made using those memories and recollections. It really is a wonderful book. I had read it years ago when I was in high school and decided to reread it now for lack of anything better in the house. If you haven't read the book and come across it or happen to be looking for something new, there are worse ways you could spend a few hours.

On the topic of memoirs, if anyone has any specific ones they could or would like to recommend (especially ones dealing with art, music or coming of age) I'd love to hear them.

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What's the difference between an autobiography and a memoir? Are memoirs chattier/more casual?

To me, an autobiography (or biography) is more a list of things that happened and when they happened. A memoir (again, to me) is more selective. Instead of writing about everything, the author picks out certain memories, those that pertain to the story, leaving a vast majority out sometimes skipping over huge portions of a person's life. It also doesn't have to be linear but can jump back and forth in time as the story dictates. In structure it's more like a novel than an autobiography would be.

That makes sense. Do Richard Feynman's Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think? count? (If you haven't read them, I highly recommend them -- they're not necessarily about art, music, or coming of age, but I found them a marvelous read.)

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll check those out.