Smeared Type

Helene Hegemann, From an Article - Berliner Zeitung

In the rapidly changing world of the internet, streaming, blogging, Kindle, and instant headlines, it appears that what was considered unforgivable sins in the literary world of the past, is now acceptable technique.  I read an interesting article in the Sunday New York Times by Randy Kennedy on the modern view of plagiarism.

Over the past hundred years or so in modern literature from around the world, copying passages from another author was unforgivable.   But now, a new sensational German teenage novelist, Helene Hegemann, has been named as a finalist for a prestigious literary prize for her book about Berlin’s club scene.  The announcement prompted a blogger and another novelist to inform the world in general that Ms. Hegemann had included chunks of other people’s work in her book. When faced with these accusations, she announced that appropriating passages from other people’s books had always been her plan.  So, there was not the usual remorse on being accused of plagiarism.

Ms. Hegemann’s claim is that she believes that she has the right to use anything at hand to help her in her creative process, and she believes that her generation, bombarded with instant resources of information, should take advantage of the information age and not be bothered about original sources.  So far not unexpectedly, her ideas of communal creativity is not shared by either those from whom she has borrowed, or the literary world in general.

There are those who will argue that “borrowing” prose, ideas, and historical announcements, has been the foundation of writing throughout the centuries, and many in Ms. Hegemann’s generation will argue that creative writing is years behind other creative arts, who appropriate ideas, scenes and real life props into their work.

There are of course legitimate arguments in this area, particularly in the visual arts of, say, Andy Warhol’s use of a Campbell’s soup can, the pirating of classical music for modern pop, and many a legal battle has been fought over plagiarism in the literary world.. 

Sometimes, the use of other people’s writings or information is hard to avoid.  I personally was extremely upset when Doris Kearns Goodwin, whose historical biographies I had always enjoyed, was accused of plagiarism in her writings about Roosevelt.  When one is writing either fact or fiction, it is sometimes difficult to know whether thoughts that are written down are original or are based on something one has read or heard in the past.

There is going to be a considerable amount of soul searching on these issues from an ethics and legal point of view.  My personal view is that to attach your name to any literary work provides you with an obligation to be responsible for its creative originality. 

Ellis M. Goodman, author of Bear Any Burden: www.bearanyburden.com

It is alarming to see the demise of so many long-established newspapers.  We are told that, in this fast paced electronic age, the general public and particularly those of the younger generation do not have time to read newspapers.  Incredibly in this country, which has a population in excess of 300 million, our one and only national newspaper – The New York Times – has a declining daily circulation, which is now less than one million copies per day. (The Wall Street Journal, which is still considered a financial newspaper, is not far behind).  In the UK, where I lived until 1982, there are a half-dozen newspapers with more than a million copies circulation per day, serving a population that is only 20% of that of the U.S.

Long-established regional newspapers are falling by the wayside at a rapid pace.  My own regional newspaper – The Chicago Tribune – is in bankruptcy and has been slimmed down to such an extent that the ad pages dramatically outnumber the print pages.  The world’s news is presented in the form of little “sound bites” taken from AP (Associated Press), Reuters, The New York Times, and other news bureaus. One can still find local information – murders, rapes, arson, scandals – and solid sports and entertainment sections, but as to a source of information to the general public on what is happening in our world or even in our country, this is not the source.

Many of the newspapers are rushing to provide their editions on the Web.  So far, they are battling to find a financial model that works.  The Web has certainly brought the world to our feet, but there is a difference between seeking specific information and having it fed to us on a daily basis.

I know many people who say they “read” The New York Times on the Web.  But really this is not the case.  The New York Times in newspaper form consists of fifty to sixty pages of international, national, business, arts, sports, and science news.  To consume this information in anything like a comprehensive fashion, takes at least an hour.  The average Web reader will review the headlines and perhaps delve into the background of one or two articles, maybe spending a maximum of fifteen to twenty minutes.  The result is that the average American – never one to earnestly pursue information on our world – is now becoming even less connected.

Can the U.S. truly be a world leader, when our people know so little about the rest of the world, its challenges, its cultures, economies, and religions?
Ellis M. Goodman, author of Bear Any Burden: www.bearanyburden.com

Cover via Amazon

I’ve always enjoyed espionage spy novels.

I recently read two new offerings by a couple of my favorite authors.  THE SPIES OF WARSAW by Alan Furst, and A MOST WANTED MAN by John Le Carré.

THE SPIES OF WARSAW was particularly interesting for me since my own recently published espionage novel takes place in Poland, albeit in 1983 during the Cold War, but covers a lot of history and some of the period of the 1930s, where Furst’s novel takes place.  It is the fall of 1937, and the world is stumbling towards War.  Colonel Mercier, a former First World War officer in the French Army, is attached to the French Embassy in Warsaw, and is working diligently behind the scenes to avoid the conflict between Poland and Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany.  The premise of the story is interesting, and historical facts are woven in cleverly, but perhaps because we know the inevitable failure of the efforts, I found the story less than gripping.

Apart from Colonel Mercier, the other characters appear to play bit parts.  There is no back story, and we don’t get to know much about them.  Nevertheless, much to my surprise, the book got rave reviews in the New York Times, and of course hit the bestseller list.

John Le Carré has always been one of my favorite authors.  His intricate and complex stories coupled with his knowledge of espionage, justifiably earns him the reputation as the “spy master” novelist.  His most recent novel, A MOST WANTED MAN, tackles the up-to-date terrorist threat of a Chechnyian Muslim mysteriously and illegally arriving in Hamburg Germany, ostensibly to start a new career.  He seeks help from an idealistic young German lawyer who inevitably clashes with the authorities – police and counter-terrorism units.

As always with Le Carré, the characters are complex but interesting.  However to me, the story was less than exciting, the ending somewhat predictable, and the action slow.  Needless to say, however as with all Le Carré books, rave reviews and the bestseller lists were inevitable.

We can’t always expect our favorite authors to hit “home runs,” but it occurs to me that sequels, as in some of the movies, are often disappointing shadows of former successes.  Well-established popular novelists sometimes have to do very little, to achieve rave reviews and bestseller success.  It would be interesting to hear other views on this subject.