Peter
I cann't understand the last sentence. someboby help me, please!! this novel is writen by R O R Y M A C L E A N, its name is :Berlin : Imagine A City. Thanks ! During the morning in the garden, Böhme warms to the diary form, and to her Thymian. She writes, ‘My aunt brought me this daily journal yesterday as a belated Confi rmation present. “Such a nice thing for a young girl,” she said. “And such a cheap one,” thought I. But as it’s here I may as well use it, and perhaps I shall discover that I have some literary talent.’ This is how Böhme likes to begin her books: in character, open to wind and fancy, with a memory or a feeling, moving towards empathy, fear and dramatisation. Without character she isn’t engaged. She can’t write from the heart, or imagine.
Jul 8, 2015 11:34 AM
Answers · 2
2
It's hard to be sure. This isn't nonfiction. It's evocative, literary writing. In her diary entry, she uses the pronoun 'I' and writes in the first person. When she is writing, she likes to begin her books the same way. Either she is speaking for herself, or she is like an actor "in character." An actor is "in character" when he is so deeply immersed in the role that he believes he really is the character. I once saw Alec Guinness acting the role of the poet Dylan Thomas. Someone in the audience took a flash photo, which was forbidden. Guinness said angrily "Don't do that." He continued to use the voice and manner of Dylan Thomas. He stayed in character. It seemed to be Dylan Thomas, not Alec Guinness, talking to the photographer. It was so natural that everyone thought it was part of the play. My GUESS: When Böhme is not "in character," she cannot "write from the heart." She can only write in a distanced way. She would have to think about what logically happens next in the story, like working out a crossword puzzle. When she is in character, she doesn't need to think about the story. She feels what the character feels and just writes down what she experiences. She doesn't need to puzzle out what comes next. Her imagination is working well. and she just sees the story unfold.
July 8, 2015
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