Thursday, February 3, 2011
Thoughts on Mennonite In A Little Black Dress
I can most definitely say that Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is not one of my favorite books. In fact, I really did not like it at all. When I started the book I was surprised by Janzen's humor; I thought I would get used to it but it just bothered me the entire time. This semester I am in a class called Writing the Memoir so maybe I am looking at this in a different perspective than most people in the class. I know I do not want to copy Rhoda Janzen. Her book is full of huge segues because she will leave one story to go off on another and by the time she goes back to the first story the reader has forgotten it or how the two connect. As a writer, Janzen's book brings to mind how I want to go about writing my own memoir as far as talking about family and friends. I felt bad for the people Janzen wrote about and hoped that she had asked their permission first before she said what she said about them. I definitely will think twice about what I write about people.
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Hm, I like the way you parallel your thoughts about the book with your Memoir class experience. I agree with you, too--I would probably not take the approach she has with her memoir. Or if I DID, I would maybe pair some more sensitivity with the humor.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what her parents and family thought when they first read the book. Were they included in the writing process, or did they read it for the very first time when it was published? It'd be interesting to find out and hear their reactions.
This was a complaint I had about the book as well. And I agree that Memoir class has influenced my opinion of Janzen's writing.
ReplyDeleteReading this has definitely made me feel a little more cautious in thinking about using unflattering family stories to sell a book. It almost makes me want to use the phrase "throwing them under the bus." The impression I've gathered from reading MLBD is that Janzen doesn't feel that she really owes anything to the Mennonite church, even though the end makes up a little bit for the negativity she first represented. As someone who loves most of the stereotypical things about being an ethnic menno, this really turned me off.
I agree that it's important to be respectful of your family and friends and what they would want exposed/published when writing a memoir, but like Judith Barrington points out in our Writing Memoir textbook, it's also important to be honest. To be successful, I think a memoir needs to be completely up-front about everything so the reader can trust that the author is telling the truth of the author's experience. I like that Janzen is so brutally candid about her family experiences, and I think that censoring that honesty would also stifle a lot of her creativity. This harkens back to Pearl Diver again, and calls into question when it is appropriate and not appropriate to expose secrets that could either hurt or help the community. In this case, I'm not sure that Janzen's poking fun at her family is actually harmful. I sense that even though she thinks her family is a little crazy and weird, she still really respects them. The fact that she dedicated the book to her mother suggests to me that this story of “going home” is overall a positive reflection on her Mennonite heritage.
ReplyDeleteWhile I appreciate your concern for your family and friends, I don't think Rhoda is too revealing. She does say embarrassing stories at times, but they make her family lovable and relatable (because what family doesn't have those sorts of stories). The only person that she paints in a bad light is her ex (and he seemed to deserve it).
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