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Doing a study guide is an interesting way to discover things about your own books - especially if you do it 16 years after the book was published. A bit of distance, you could say.
Or, since Peeling the Onion was written in the first person, 'I could say.' And I, of course, can say anything I want. That's what fiction writers do – and so do first person fictitious narrators.
The problem with first person narration is that it's only one person's point of view. The other characters' motives, thoughts and beliefs (and their actions) are seen purely through the protagonist's eyes. The more absorbed the reader is with that protagonist, the harder it is to step back and wonder if there could be another side to the story.
As I was going through some of the notes that teachers and student teachers have sent me for this book over the years, it struck me that many of them, and most students, believe everything that Anna says – about her emotions and actions, which is good, because the point of her internal dialogue was to report as truly as she (or the author behind her) possibly could – but also about the other characters. And that's a problem.I love my Anna. She's a teenage girl fighting for her life and independence; at different times she's depressed, determined, overwhelmed, angry, bitter, hopeful, and occasionally many of these at the same time, or at least on the same day. People who are angry, wounded and bewildered do not always make reliable reporters. Teenage girls have been known (just occasionally!) to focus their dislike of someone on superficial characteristics like hairy legs. As readers we have to stand back and remember that, and as writers we need to drop a few clues, without ever stepping outside the narrator - because the main point of using the first person is for the reader to be pulled in and identify with that 'I.'
And if that sounds very clinical, it's what I'm thinking as I do notes 16 years later. At the time it was just what felt right after several drafts in the third person. I'm probably a bit more conscious now of why I make decisions once I've made them, but feeling right, or sounding right when I read it aloud, is still the only way I know how to choose which way to tell the story.
The Study Notes will be posted on my website as soon as my publisher has prettied them up for me. Email me if you need them earlier.
0 Comments on The unreliable narrator: writing in the first person as of 1/1/1900
After my desperate plea for any teachers who still had study notes on Peeling the Onion, a twitter follower sent me the web archive to my original web page. That kindness inspired me, and I have been working on the notes all day. A pdf of suggestions by a group of student teachers has disappeared, but I have a hard copy, and am transcribing or adapting the better ones.
Even though given countless talks on this book over the years, creating new notes on the text 16 years after writing is still an interesting opportunity for reflection. Probably not a bad life lesson either: it makes a much happier day to enjoy that reflection and the new task instead of being irritated with myself for not having been better organised, and resenting the task because I want to be in my new story.
And it's certainly an opportunity to be grateful that people are still studying my book in schools after all this time.
Twenty years ago today I touched death. To be honest, I'm not terribly interested in different theories about near-death experiences; I know what I experienced, and what I believe: that sometimes, on the border between life and death, we're lucky enough to come back. For me, it was looking down from the tunnel to see my child being comforted by a stranger over the apparent death of his mother in the mangled car. I was filled with rage at the thought of dying and leaving my family, and I believe that's why I'm alive today.
I wrote about the injuries and the start of recovery, as well as the near-death experience, in Peeling the Onion. It's been a slow process, but there is now very little that I can't do. I've worked hard, but I've been exceptionally lucky too, with the therapists I've found along the way. Don't ever believe that physical recovery ceases after two years - I've improved steadily over twenty.
So, noting the date today, my first reaction was to feel sick. My second was gratitude. I've never subscribed to the theory that I need to be grateful for horrendous injuries and years of pain, because of what it 'taught' me. But I am very grateful for the life I've had around and since those traumas, and for the future that I still have.
A lovely review of Peeling the Onion - it's nice to know that the book is still finding new readers!
"HOW did I miss this book that's been out for ten years? AND how did I stumble across it now? Sometimes I know exactly how or why I'm reading a particular book. I remember that it's won an award or I remember who told me about it, but then there are other times when I just have no clue. Did it just strike my fancy as I walked past it in the library? Did I see it mentioned on someone's blog? Did a student tell me about it? I need to start keeping track of that I guess...Or at least paying better attention.
Anyway! This is a really powerful book which explores the feelings of a young woman who's been badly injured in a car accident. She has, in fact, broken her neck as well as her ankle, and, in many ways, even her spirit. In the morning she is a karate champion, by evening she is in the hospital trauma unit, no one knowing what her future holds. In fact, the accident has drastically altered both her present and her future.
To read the rest of the review and see an interesting librarian's blog:
Mrs. F-B's Book Blog: Peeling the Onion - Wendy Orr
Playing with my new computer, I found this on UTube - a student production of Peeling the Onion. A great job - and a nice coincidence as I talked to a class in Brisbane about the book while I was there. Nice to know the book's still being studied! It came out first in 1996.
Very different talking about it now too. When I first started doing school talks about this book I was walking with a stick and unable to stand for more than a few minutes; it was painfully obvious that the book was based on personal experience. It's nice to be able to talk about it much more as fiction now!
Here's the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWtaivaUtBo
For all the girls at Siena College who I met yesterday - thanks so much for making it a lovely visit. Since you had to rush off afterwards, I thought I'd post a picture of your gifts so you could see how much I appreciate them! Only readers of Peeling the Onion would understand the significance of the cake, so it really did make me smile. Even before I tasted it! (The flags say: Dear Anna, Love 8A)
(It made my husband smile too. I have to tell you the cake doesn't look quite like that anymore...)
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Doing a study guide is an interesting way to discover things about your own books - especially if you do it 16 years after the book was published. A bit of distance, you could say.
The problem with first person narration is that it's only one person's point of view. The other characters' motives, thoughts and beliefs (and their actions) are seen purely through the protagonist's eyes. The more absorbed the reader is with that protagonist, the harder it is to step back and wonder if there could be another side to the story.
I hate that whole thing that terminal illness is supposed to teach you something. Was listening to Oprah and a woman who had Stage 4 cancer said that the treatment she tried didn't work because she hadn't learnt what she needed to. Made me sick to hear it. Illness isn't about life lessons and being punished. It just is. I'm glad you recovered and are here and going strong.
I'm glad you're here too and think how deprived our bookshelves! (that's me trying to make light in the dark ...)
Thanks Amra and Simmone. How horrible that someone should believe they're dying because they failed to learn the right thing the right way! Very punitive philosophy when taken to that extreme.
So I love the thought of bookshelves being grateful that I lived and went on writing. I object to people saying the accident was a gift because I got to write Peeling the Onion. I'd have been quite happy to have skipped years of pain and disability and never have written that particular book. But since it happened, I'm glad I wrote it.
Wendy, your story touches me and am so grateful you are here, and most of all you have continued to heal over the last twenty years. I know from a difficult life experience myself that the healing never ends. From the limited amount I know about you, the world is a better place for having you in it. It sounds like your writing is a powerful tool for you. your recent kindness with regard to your wonderful book, Poppy's Path was so deeply appreciated. thank you and best wishes, Jane x
Thank you - and you're certainly right that the healing never ends. But what a wonderful thing that is!