Word: gornickã
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...Gornick??s contention that for personal nonfiction to work, the narrator must adopt a persona that must not fall “into the pit of confessionalism or therapy on the page or naked self-absorption,” is an accurate and important observation. By creating a narrator separate from herself, the writer is able to transform the uniquely personal into something that can be felt and understood by others. The narrator becomes the link between writer and reader, allowing the latter to feel the truths that the writer tries to express through the story, without...
...times the second section of the book, “The Essay,” feels a bit removed from her theories about the connection between narrator and subject as she focuses so intensely on the works she is analyzing, but Gornick??s perceptive criticism and explication is fascinating nonetheless. In the memoir section, Gornick introduces more of her philosophy on the memoir, its definition and value. “Modern memoir posits that the shaped presentation of one’s own life is of value to the disinterested reader only if it dramatizes and reflects sufficiently...
...Gornick??s vindication of her craft comes not only through explicit statements such as this, but through the depth and clarity of her criticism and The Situation and The Story itself. Though she could perhaps have used more examples from her own writings to explain and illustrate the importance of narrative persona, and at times she did seem to lose focus while looking at and discussing many of the works she loves. Yet The Situation and the Story remains a uniquely lucid and entertaining little book that shows a passion for and depth of understanding of personal narration...
...cannot teach people how to write…all that is inborn, cannot be taught-but you can teach people how to read, how to develop judgment about a piece of writing: their own as well as that of others.” That idea is what separates Gornick??s book from the myriad of texts for would be writers and allows it to become an important tool for all readers looking for greater understanding of the craft of reading and writing personal nonfiction...
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