Family Sagas and the Stuff of Legend

 Gone With the Wind,
 Tara

Margaret Mitchell,

1900-1949

Tolstoy wrote: “All happy families are alike. Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Of all the countless words stemming from Tolstoy's prolific pen, this statement is one of his more famous and oft' quoted lines. 

When I think of this depiction of family life, my mind casts about. Did I come from a happy family? Am I creating a happy family? What constitutes an unhappy family?

When I read Tolstoy's statement the first time, I was still in high school. His words had the ring of truth. I knew some unhappy families, and the sad moniker was more evident in childhood. To this day, I can think of certain houses, walking in, catching my breath and feeling scared. Like a cloak protecting children, the fear was a filmy layer I sensed at once. When I think back to these unlucky homes, I recall the thick silence and an awareness of my beating heart. I felt pity for whomever it was who brought me into this house. There would be an air of tyranny. I would know of an issue too. We had somewhat of an understanding of every marriage in our old neighborhood. I do not know how. I recall that I listened to adult conversations by the hour; I found them fascinating. If I sat very still and remained quiet, I could hear more delicious details. When I heard the phrase, “little pitchers have big ears,” I would sit back on my heels, disappointed to know that I was about to be sent out of the room.

I became aware of family traits at an early age because we were always hearing about whom we took after. I knew the good and the bad from both sides of the family, and where those traits became evident. Life seemed to be a game of genetic ninepins. Good traits were pointed out, and failings all had something to do with ancestry. There was disagreement among the ranks. Nevertheless, with all of our faults combined, we were unabashedly happy. Imperfect, zany, optimistic, risk takers, competitive, generous and compulsive; we seemed to have a never-ending penchant for drama.

Writing a family saga involves events in the character's lives over time and generations. We get involved in political families, famous families, royal families, and powerful families, loving all that is familiar and unique. We root for them, get exasperated by them and generally want to see the family triumph over all adversity.  When setting out to write such a tale, a lofty ambition indeed, we must first decide if they are a patriarchal, or a matriarchal clan. Did they slip along the way, and climb back up again, or did they devolve into a great mess? Do hurts and stings have a lasting effect? Are they a family who can bounce back from adversity? Can they go from an unhappy family to a happy one? Is there an offshoot? Is there a villain, or a hero? Are they the stuff of legend? Will the third generation squander the efforts of the first? Will predators destroy them? There is no end to the possibilities of a great family saga. 

Pictured above is the desk where Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind.

In no particular order, I have supplied a list of  family sagas I have read and loved:

Fall on Your Knees, by Ann-Marie MacDonald, 

http://www.amazon.com/Fall-Your-Knees-Oprahs-Book/dp/0743237188/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381351055&sr=1-1&keywords=fall+on+your+knees

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott,

 http://www.amazon.com/Little-Bantam-Classics-Louisa-Alcott/dp/0553212753/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381351146&sr=1-1&keywords=little+women+by+louisa+may+alcott#reader_0553212753

Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell,

http://www.amazon.com/Gone-Wind-Anniversary-Margaret-Mitchell/dp/1451635621/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381351406&sr=1-1&keywords=gone+with+the+wind 

One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez,

http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Solitude-Gabriel-Garcia-Marquez/dp/006112009X/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381351532&sr=1-1&keywords=one+hundred+years+of+solitude 

East of Eden, by John Steinbeck,

 http://www.amazon.com/East-Eden-Oprah-Book-Club/dp/0142000655/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381351609&sr=1-1&keywords=east+of+eden+by+john+steinbeck

House of Spirits, by Isabel Allende,

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=House%20of%20Spirits

The Godfather, by Mario Puzo,

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Godfather&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3AThe+Godfather 

Roots: The Saga of an American Family, by Alex Haley,

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_5?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=roots&sprefix=Roots%2Cstripbooks%2C264&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Aroots 

Love the Idea

When writing about Anna Karenina recently, I remembered a passage from Sophia Tolstoy's diaries. I only had to type a few words into Google, and voila, there it was. I copied it into my blog post, but something else regarding his thoughts stayed with me. What lingered was this:

"Yesterday L.N went to his table, pointed at his notebook and said "Oh how I long to finish this novel (Anna Karenina) and start something new. My ideas are quite clear now. If a work is to be really good there must be one fundamental idea in that one loves. I love the idea of family; in War and Peace I loved the idea of the people because of the 1812 war; and now I see clearly that in my next book I shall love the idea of the Russian peoples powers of expansion."

His great novels had to do with being in love with an idea. Authors are commonly asked this question: How did you come up with the idea for your book? It speaks to the heart of the matter. We all have tons of ideas; we may even have notebooks full of concepts for novels. Once decided upon, our love for the idea must remain in the forefront of our minds for years.

When my father died, I did not want him to go. I didn't want to forget about him either. I wanted to cling to everything I could remember about him and keep it in my mind forever. It is this idea I am currently in love with, bringing my father back to life. Folly? Yes, no doubt. Can a person we loved appear as a character whom the reader can picture? Can I recreate a certain time in my life, 1961 to 1971, to be exact? Can my interpretation of the sixties rekindle memories for others? Can I bring readers into my story? As I have other family members I am missing now who have gone on to join my Dad, I am in love with remembering them too: I am in love with this idea of family, just as Tolstoy was when he wrote Anna Karenina.  Even though I am not in possession of his talent, not within a country mile of it in fact, I still persist. Why? The answer is simple:  love. I have a love for my Dad, for my Mom, for my sister and brother, who are all up in heaven now. I have a love for my old neighborhood, for my old home, for my grandparents and aunts and uncles. I have a love for my city and my country. There is no end to my love. Being in love with an idea, can fill up a lot of pages. The one fundamental idea of my story can be boiled down to the old adage that blood is thicker than water.

Where does it come from, this love? Does it spring from the same wellspring of our most universal emotion, or is it more academic than that?

If you write a novel and get on a talk show, someone will ask you how you came up with the idea for your story. You will have to think back to that first spark and be able to elaborate. If your face lights up and your speech becomes more animated, so much the better. Enthusiasm is infectious: people see it and want to have that same feeling. Readers want to be in love with ideas too. When I gaze at the picture above, knowing I was the baby stuffed into the snowsuit, I see us all as a fun loving, keen and zestful bunch with good times, too numerous to count, just around the corner. When this picture was taken the Queen was beginning her reign and we were part of suburban life, in the post-war years, in Toronto. The future looked bright and rosy back then. We were on the dawn of a new era, marked by hope. We all had our parts to play and we certainly played them.

 How does this story end? Stay tuned...

Anna Karenina, Costumes and Textiles

If you know and love a book, if you happen to have read it two or three times, if you have taken more than one college course because you saw the title in the course description, then you may be on the same page with me when it comes to Leo Tolstoy's great masterpiece, Anna Karenina.

My first reading took place in the summer when I was fifteen years old and able to spend several days in August, in a hammock strung between two trees, nestled under the whispering pines of northern Ontario.  Lulled by the sound of water lapping against the shore, I was totally enthralled with Tolstoy's Russia. The characters of Anna and Count Vronsky were so real to me, I felt as if I knew them well. My mind, to this day, can conjure up whole scenes, and if given the task, I do believe, it would be great fun to costume this beautiful drama. After all, it is a story that can be danced and has been done masterfully by the great Bolshoi Ballet.  

Years ago, after giving friends the second draft of a work in progress, the first assessment to come back to me was that I had changed my character's outfits. It is but too true. I amuse myself by dressing my imaginary friends, and they well may get new costumes as time goes on. When I think of the great books brought to the screen, when I first see the trailer and have a look at a tremendous actor inhabiting the role, it just takes my breath away to see them in costume.

If an audience can walk by the life size posters in theaters and know immediately, that a new version of Jane Eyre, or Anna Karenina is about to be released, if the casual viewer can know the story at first glimpse of the costumes, then I say the writer clothed his characters in such a way as to allow us to see them. Even if certain liberties have been taken with the original descriptions, but the feeling is still there, then it just puts me right over the moon.

As writers, we don't often think in terms of costumes; there are so many details to keep in mind that dressing the protagonist, is often seen as an afterthought. Not so. This is your chance to be a designer. If you long to see your work on the silver screen, then think of it in terms of the trailer. If another artist, or actor, can see how to flesh out this role, or how to design the set, or what the color palette should look like, it is a credit to the author. Some writers, such as Tolstoy, had a knowledge of textiles and color and because of this, designers can recreate it.

Tolstoy's novel, Anna Karenina, released in the years 1873-1877, was published serially. Russia was in a time of reform and there was much detail of the amalgamation of agrarian life and the emerging merchant classes. Adultery, and the inherent risks taken regarding social convention make up the theme, but part of what lingers in the mind regarding Anna Karenina, is her appearance and her dress. As it turns out, it played a part in the creative process itself.

Sophia Tolstoy, Leo's wife, kept notes as he was hard at work. This passage tells us a great deal of what was on her husband's mind as he wrote, Anna Karenina.

"I was sitting downstairs in my study, examining the white silk embroidery on the sleeve of my dressing gown, and I thought how beautiful it was. And then I wondered how it occurred to people to invent all these designs and decorations and embroideries, and then I realized there was a whole world of fashion and ideas and hard work that make up women's lives, and women are so fascinated by all of this. And it naturally led my thoughts about the novel to Anna and suddenly this piece of embroidery on my sleeve suggested a whole chapter to me. Anna is cut off from all the joys of this side of a woman's life for she is alone, other women spurn her and she has no one to talk to about all the ordinary, every day things that interest them."

So there it is, captured for posterity and available to all of us, the workings of the great man's mind. Take a look at a work in progress and imagine yourself the costume designer. Think of the color pallet and call to mind some of the best films in terms of color and pattern. Do not limit your writing to black and white; give it all the best elements of great design. If you are writing in another era, spend an afternoon in the library and familiarize the dress patterns down to the actual year. Learn about dyes, weaving techniques, berries and flax, cotton and wool. What do the clothes sound like when they move? Who can forget the image of Scarlet O'Hara's mother, Miss Ellen, rustling as she passed by with the scent of lemon verbena wafting through the hall.

If you set your story in another era, then please do, just for me, include a ball. You would be doing me the distinct honor of imagining the costumes.

WRITE ON, WRITERS !

It seems to me,  reading and writing go together like ham and eggs, toast and  jam ,  birds and flying. 

An epic story, a memoir, a poem is meant to be read — Just as  when an actor acts, he performs  for an audience to see , and enjoy; Or  a painter captures  to canvas  a beautiful landscape with color and pastel , hoping  to  share with others what was in her eye’s view.  Writer’s write to express their thoughts, to speak for others and sometimes through others; To tell a tale  that may warm the heart or make one sad, or laugh out loud.

An idea, like a tiny seed planted in earth’s soil germinates and begins to grow, until finally it blossoms and blooms from that secret place within.  Eventually , the idea becomes a story with proper punctuation, correct grammar, no typo’s  or misspelled words. But  initially,  it is just feeling and movement of thought welling up from heart, mind, soul. The writer is compelled to spew it out. And ultimately the story , poem, essay finds its way to paper or PC.

Believing this to be true,  I began to ponder  and ask,  if there were no readers to read what writers wrote, would writers still write ?   Answering my own question, “Yes.  Of course, writers would still write”. We’re funny creatures that way.  Writing is a part of who we are.  Like the air we breathe,  and food we eat.  We’re an eclectic  group, too.  We write fiction, non-fiction, mystery, poetry, plays;  Some write letters, some a daily journal.   It is the way we express ourselves best , allowing us to be honest with our thoughts  - at least for that moment in time.  Writing helps us shed the puff and fluff; the shallowness , and reveal  more of our depth of being.

 Leo Tolstoy, one of the giants of Russian literature ,  is quoted  as  saying , “ A writer is dear and necessary for us only in the measure in which he reveals to us the inner working of his soul.”   I think that’s true, especially true of journal writers.

My younger brother, Walt passed away May 30, 2010.  Until last weekend I, nor anybody else who  loved Walt knew  he  had kept a journal,  or that he   had been a writer.  To our great and happy surprise,  my mother and  I discovered Walt’s journal buried at the bottom of a duffel bag he had stored at her house all these years.   The  pages are dated   from the 1980’s.  My brother’s writing helps prove my point, writer’s don’t always write to be published or  in print, but because they are inspired and motived to do so. 

Here are a couple examples of what  I believe Tolstoy meant when he said, “He reveals to us the inner working of his soul.” 

By Walter Cooney

#4

Songs are sung.  Words are written.

Men, women, boys and girls

have died in the name of love

But yet it happens every day.

You say  so easily,

“I  love a hat, a shirt, a ring,

the dog, and of course ice cream”

No, my lovely lady, that kind of love

isn’t love at all . Real love

hurts, and gives  joy to

the heart.

#5

To love what is gone. My heart is

so sad.  To be loved is to have love,

to give love. When there is no-one

to receive love,  where does

it go ?  Where does it end?

To hear what can not be heard,

to see what can’t be seen

to smell what doesn’t smell

It’s like being lost,

being dead

People killing people,

lives dying everyday

all in the name of love.

Oh, this thing called love

What is it? Where does it come from ?

                         #

I beg  all of you  writers who are not published authors, but keep a journal , write letters or  stories and poems for yourself, never think of  your writing as unimportant or without value.   Persevere in telling your story, sharing your thoughts, revealing a part of yourself . I can promise you,  at some point, some time it will lift someone’s spirit and touch someone’s heart.


Postscript:  While there are no staid or circumscribed  rules for journal writing, there are several books available that may prove helpful in your journal writing effort.  Titles include:


Creative Journal Writing: The Act of Reflection by Stephanie Dowrick, 350 Fabulous Prompts: Thought Provoking Springboards for Creative, Expository and Journal Writing by Jacqueline Sweeney, Voice of Her Own: Women and the Journal Writing Journey by Marlene A. Schiwy and Leaving a Trace: On Keeping a Journal by Alexandra Johnson


*** To read my blog My Brother's Journal link to http://2lanehighway.blogspot.com/2011/03/my-brothers-journal.html