How is this able to be a true story when it happened so long ago. Frank goes into detail throughout the entire memoir. I'm really not sure how these books are written, so can someone explain this to me?
sharewell i know ifd i was to write about my life i would have a pretty good idea what happened to write a book about it, wouldnt you if it was your life? no matter how long ago the events were
You thinking the whip was the worse I could do? That was foreplay.
It wouldn't surprise me in the least to learn that Frank went to therapy later in his life to better understand and cope with some of that which he had to endure as a child. Therapy helps you remember, and perhaps that is how he was able to go into such detail.
Or he could simply have a great memory, or he could have filled in little details around the main concepts he was able to remember.
He probably recalled a lot of his memory but I think he might've used some imagination with it to entail a more interesting and engaging story for the readers. I'm sure 99% of the details are true, but 1% was probably creativity for the sake of the readers.
Nothin' but sword.
Well, intelligent people have good memories. But you probably don't understand that.
shareShutup she's probably right,he obviously took some artistic licence. As did the film. Unless you want to believe that in 1930's Limerick it rained every day of the bloody year. It's not Hull we're talking about.
He completely played up the martyr image to cash in on his childhood.
Wow...harsh. I am guessing YOU are brilliant.
shareWell I'm sure it's not 100% true, no one can remember details that well. When we started reading the book in my English class my teacher said something like that. She also pointed out that we should notice that there are no quotation marks at all in the book when there's dialogue because they aren't direct quotes since it was too far back for anyone to remember.
shareActually, there is no quotation marks because the Irish don't use quotations in their writings. Or, at least, that was how Frank McCourt was taught.
shareWhy couldn't it be a true story? It's a memoir.
I remember my childhood in great detail. My friends and family are always amazed at the things I remember.
I'm also the one to call if anyone needs to remember a birthday and/or anniversary.
El Paso, Texas...ever heard of it?
When traumatic things happen to you in your childhood, you can remember things crystal clear. I had a father much like Frank did, and I remember him quite well, even though I haven't seen or talked to him in 13 years.
Also, he could have consulted neighbors, family friends, immediate and distant relatives, teachers, classmates, etc, for memories of things that were hazy in his mind.
i have probably read his memoirs around 10 times since my nan gave me the book 8 years ago. there are aspects in the film that obviously are not true to the book. this is because the film makers would not be able to put all of the book into 1 film. there are actually a lot of things missed out.
also dont you think that through the book not having speach marks it gives the better effect of frank mccourt telling his own memories.
just think, its the worst and best things that happen to you that you will always remember so if your life is full of hardships you will too.
as youngsters it is hard for us to recollect things but speak to your grandparents they will remember their child hood vvery clearly.
i urge you to read his memoirs and trust me they have a much bigger impact than the film which mainly concentrates on keeping in within the time limits of the film instead of giving the memoirs their full justice. the film is good but you have to read teh book to fully appreciate them.
:) a smile is very contagious. smile at a least one person today
lets let the whole world smile:)
We are living in the not-so-golden age of finding out that memoirs are not necessarily autobiographies.
An autobiography should actually be a reasonably objective retelling of one's life, and may even involve objective research on dates and details. Some specific remembered dialogue may be recreated if it's short and to the point, but not extended scenes. Plus an autobiography should account for all of one's life, or an experience, in a factual manner, not be full of unproven allegations, exaggerations, or inventions.
The writer's opinions, reactions, and analysis should not be part of the actual narrative, but summarized at the end of a chapter, an epilogue, or as part of the introduction: Living through these things influenced me in such-and-such a manner.
A memoir is more about how one may have felt about memorable events, with some dressing-up of details, or about an especially significant event for the writer. The writer's feelings and thoughts are entwined in the story, and often recounted with extensive dialogue that would have to be fictional unless it's court testimony transcribed on the spot, or the writer had some electronic device in hand, recording the moments of his or her life. (Apparently with a prescient sense of their possible future importance. I cannot wait for the first Twitter memoir!)
There have been several notorious incidents in the last few years where it was revealed or discovered that some best-selling memoirs included invented and/or very exaggerated episodes.
That's why I wouldn't cite a memoir as a source for factual information, except the writer's opinion and attitudes about his or her own life and times (and even those, set down years after whatever he or she REALLY thought when the events transpired.)
"Shake me up, Judy!"
Some people have very good memories - especially if their childhood was traumatic, like Frank's was. I'm sure (as some others have said) that there are places where he took artistic license however.
I can remember certain events from my life vividly. There's even one event that occurred when I was a year old; I've verified the incident, so I could be sure that it really happened the way that I'd remembered. On the other hand, I have a friend who has a very faulty memory. I've known her a long time, and there are major events that she has recounted to me incorrectly.
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