1) I learned that keeping a character stationary, yet moving the people around them is a very effective way to characterize and elaborately explain the setting. In the beginning of the book Howard is in a prison cell as he has committed treason. He remains in the cell, while the prison guards change. They ask him questions, each being a different person wanting to know different things, having a different personality. I never thought of this before reading this book, but I learned about Howard in his responses, not necessarily his actions. It is showing not telling by telling if that makes any sense at all. " The guard who relieves Andor Gutman at six each night is Arpad Kovacs. Arpad is a Roman candle of a man, loud and gay. When Arpad came on duty at six last night, he demanded to see what I'd written so far. I gave him the very few pages, and Arpad walked up and down the corridor, waving and praising the pages extravagantly." I'd like to point out "Roman candle of a man" is one of my favorite descriptions of all time before I begin. In this quote we learn that Howard is a writer, something that has been barely touched on by the first two guards at this point. The writing is wonderful, it seems. Arpad's flipping through the pages also elaborates his personality within the very few lines. I would really like to learn how to show and not tell by telling that the author does in many of his books as I feel that it is very effective in characterization and setting.
2) Something that was very interesting to me was that there were lots of German words included in this story, which is something that I can learn from. Many times, books about World War 2 that are in English don't have many German words as English people don't understand and can't pronounce them. Many times, the definitions of the words may also be regarded as fluff. However, Kurt includes them which adds to the setting and characterization yet again. He uses his own unique writing style to be able to do this, something that I would like to incorporate into my own writing style. For example, "Das Reich der Zwei, the nation of two my Helga and I had-it's territory we defended so jealously, didn't go much beyond the bounds of our great double bed. Flat, tufted, springy little country, with my Helga and me for mountains." Ahh.. his descriptions are amazing and I'm taking a moment to reflect on their beauty.. Kurt used "Das Reich der Zwei, something I can barely pronounce and had to go to Nash aka Google translate, for me to understand. However, the detail of using the character's own language makes their story more relatable, more theirs, while connecting their story to the overall story of World War 2, something I haven't seen much of. Including the German words made me learn a lot about incorporating my own not so relatable things into my writing without fear of others not understanding. It's not that people can't understand, its about the author explaining it in a way that they can to create a characterization like no one else.
3)I learned a lot about voice in this book as Kurt uses lots of sarcasm/humor. While this may not be my voice, I learned about incorporating my own voice for the style of piece I am working on. Since this book has heavy meaning and themes, one would think the voice would match, however it is strewn with sarcasm. Many people use humor as a way to make things more comfortable, one of the themes of the book, and one of the themes of many of Kurt's books. Humor is a way to make a dark topic lighter, without brushing over the hard truths. Many stories use humor to not have to explain the dark themes, but this book does the opposite, something I strongly respect about the author's writing. For example (while playing chess with his neighbor George Kraft in an apartment complex Howard has isolated himself in), "I enjoyed the game, was able to come up with enough intuitively interesting moves to give my new friend entertainment while he beat me....One particularly touching thing between us was the matter of wines. Kraft knew a lot more than I did about wines, and he often brought home cob-webby treasures to go with a meal. But, even though Kraft had always filled a glass before him when we sat down to eat, the wine was all for me. Kraft was an alcoholic." A very sarcastic tone, but a very deep and personal topic about alcoholism. The rest of the paragraph talks about how he wound up with the problem, while maintaining his sarcastic voice, to make something not so relatable, relatable, something I really want to include in my own writing.
2) Something that was very interesting to me was that there were lots of German words included in this story, which is something that I can learn from. Many times, books about World War 2 that are in English don't have many German words as English people don't understand and can't pronounce them. Many times, the definitions of the words may also be regarded as fluff. However, Kurt includes them which adds to the setting and characterization yet again. He uses his own unique writing style to be able to do this, something that I would like to incorporate into my own writing style. For example, "Das Reich der Zwei, the nation of two my Helga and I had-it's territory we defended so jealously, didn't go much beyond the bounds of our great double bed. Flat, tufted, springy little country, with my Helga and me for mountains." Ahh.. his descriptions are amazing and I'm taking a moment to reflect on their beauty.. Kurt used "Das Reich der Zwei, something I can barely pronounce and had to go to Nash aka Google translate, for me to understand. However, the detail of using the character's own language makes their story more relatable, more theirs, while connecting their story to the overall story of World War 2, something I haven't seen much of. Including the German words made me learn a lot about incorporating my own not so relatable things into my writing without fear of others not understanding. It's not that people can't understand, its about the author explaining it in a way that they can to create a characterization like no one else.
3)I learned a lot about voice in this book as Kurt uses lots of sarcasm/humor. While this may not be my voice, I learned about incorporating my own voice for the style of piece I am working on. Since this book has heavy meaning and themes, one would think the voice would match, however it is strewn with sarcasm. Many people use humor as a way to make things more comfortable, one of the themes of the book, and one of the themes of many of Kurt's books. Humor is a way to make a dark topic lighter, without brushing over the hard truths. Many stories use humor to not have to explain the dark themes, but this book does the opposite, something I strongly respect about the author's writing. For example (while playing chess with his neighbor George Kraft in an apartment complex Howard has isolated himself in), "I enjoyed the game, was able to come up with enough intuitively interesting moves to give my new friend entertainment while he beat me....One particularly touching thing between us was the matter of wines. Kraft knew a lot more than I did about wines, and he often brought home cob-webby treasures to go with a meal. But, even though Kraft had always filled a glass before him when we sat down to eat, the wine was all for me. Kraft was an alcoholic." A very sarcastic tone, but a very deep and personal topic about alcoholism. The rest of the paragraph talks about how he wound up with the problem, while maintaining his sarcastic voice, to make something not so relatable, relatable, something I really want to include in my own writing.