tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post2782102772845654012..comments2023-10-03T11:41:21.191+01:00Comments on The Truth About Lies: Dear DiaryJim Murdochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-31184212633551564492010-03-17T04:51:46.820+00:002010-03-17T04:51:46.820+00:00I understand totally, Jennifer, and that’s what a ...I understand totally, <b>Jennifer</b>, and that’s what a great many of my poems are, me working something out which is why, when I’ve found the answer the poem provides I’m done with them. I almost never sit and read through my own stuff except when I’m preparing a submission. They’ve done their job. Life’s too short to waste time going over our workings to see if we’ve done our sums right. There are plenty of other problems that need solving now.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-64732567276555545682010-03-17T02:52:05.488+00:002010-03-17T02:52:05.488+00:00I still have some of my middle school diaries, whi...I still have some of my middle school diaries, which perhaps I should burn, but they are a reminder of the unformed (and idiotic) person that I was. There was one entry that I was going to post in the blog, but not for its insightful content. It's just funny.<br /><br />I also used to read my mother's diaries, or maybe journals is a better word here. Sometimes I -- and, if memory serves she -- need to write to figure out what's going on in my head. It isn't a record of my day or the fabulous meals I've created or anything like that, it's a semi-organized brain dump. There is value in that for me, but mainly I just blog now. And it becomes a structured thing, something totally different.Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06338447025378001757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-47047826205267580822010-03-15T20:15:25.247+00:002010-03-15T20:15:25.247+00:00I thought of that afterwards too!
But then I thou...I thought of that afterwards too! <br />But then I thought, well they write letters, or they used to. Letters I like. I like Dylan Thomas's, invariably on the cadge, "please send me a pound Vernon" (or whoever). But we don't write letters anymore. So I suppose diaries will now have a renaissance. In that case, all well and good. But I still won't read them. Or write them. Although I do seem to remember reading The Secret Diary of Adrian Somebody aged 14 and something sometime in the dimand distant. <br />All the best,<br />GwilymGwil Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03305768121713053837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-25105971876176603852010-03-15T19:12:57.096+00:002010-03-15T19:12:57.096+00:00There’s a perfectly good reason for ordinary peopl...There’s a perfectly good reason for ordinary people keeping a record of the ordinary things they do, <b>Poet in Residence</b>, because how else will future generation knows what life was like for the common man. It’s like the recent TV play, <i>Housewife, 49</i>, by Victoria Wood based on the wartime diaries of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nella_Last" rel="nofollow">Nella Last</a>. As Victoria Wood says, "This is not the war of the newsreels - it's about tiny domestic difficulties, chilly church halls, lumpy custards. And Nella is fighting her own war, one that she hopes will end in liberation."<br /><br />I forgot about this when I wrote this post. It’s a shame I did because it’s a good case for why what’s mundane to us could be precious to someone else.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-37670683226984809742010-03-15T17:21:23.698+00:002010-03-15T17:21:23.698+00:00When Casanova sat down, through sheer boredom, in ...When Casanova sat down, through sheer boredom, in Castle Dux (near Prague, CZ) to write his 3,000 page memoir he observed that he hadn't conducted himself during his life with a view to writing (in effect a diary) of his life. And so we are blessed. <br /><br />I hadn't given much thought to diary writing, and have never kept diary, and can't understand why people do so. It strikes me that such people must go round all day with the subconscious or even conscious thought that they must do something 'interesting today' so that they can put it in their diary. Orwell's diaries, (there's a link to them in my A-Z Links) are pretty mundane, and speak mostly of his chickens' new laid eggs and his vegetable plot...or at least they did last time I looked. You wouldn't think there was a war on, by George!Gwil Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03305768121713053837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-6915075238060894452010-03-15T15:12:40.047+00:002010-03-15T15:12:40.047+00:00Two good points, Conda. When we have a life being ...Two good points, <b>Conda</b>. When we have a life being too busy living it to write about it and when we’ve the time to write there’s nothing happening. I’ve just finished a couple of posts about Alan Bennett who has just donated his entire archive of papers to the Bodleian Library. Boxes and boxes of the stuff. My archive would probably fill a shoe box, okay a fairly big shoe box, but a shoe box nevertheless.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-10577354728073478812010-03-14T23:32:01.453+00:002010-03-14T23:32:01.453+00:00Jim--I agree that most diaries are...boring at bes...Jim--I agree that most diaries are...boring at best. Including mine, as I've only written a diary when I've had time...lots of time. Better than watching milk curdle, I suppose, but when my life is interesting I don't have time.<br /><br />And there's been some fear that the famous of today will leave nothing for their biographers because it's all now electronic.Conda Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12972790965426924941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-29771895137466896512010-03-14T18:07:51.568+00:002010-03-14T18:07:51.568+00:00Okay, okay, Ken, the blog has been archived. You c...Okay, okay, <b>Ken</b>, the blog has been archived. You can be such a nag.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-55400259246153885062010-03-14T15:46:14.827+00:002010-03-14T15:46:14.827+00:00Enjoyed this Jim. I'm not a diarist either, t...Enjoyed this Jim. I'm not a diarist either, tried it for a little while but I found I was killing myself trying to keep it entertaining. :)<br /><br />Two points, I have reread Kenneth Williams diaries a number of times and find it a fascinating read, I can't honestly say why.<br /><br />Finally, I *implore* you to find some painless way to back up your blog posts. This is a valuable resource and blogs do go belly-up. Save the drafts or something, there's a lot of you in here, like it or lump it, and that's worth preserving.<br /><br />I mean it. :)Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-47210549277870094952010-03-14T15:43:05.679+00:002010-03-14T15:43:05.679+00:00I had actually forgotten about novels written as d...I had actually forgotten about novels written as diaries, <b>Dave</b>. I must have read one or two of those over the years but I can't think of one off the top of my head. Glad to see we're in sync on all the rest. <br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-67301947947263211192010-03-14T14:41:01.052+00:002010-03-14T14:41:01.052+00:00I often, when reading your posts, feel we are almo...I often, when reading your posts, feel we are almost like parallel lines, but never more so than reading this one.<br /><br />Like you, I have never kept a diary. Indeed, never wanted to and never thought about doing so.<br /><br />Like you I have never read one, either a private one or a published one - except the odd fictitious diary in a novel etc.<br /><br />Like you, with increasing memory problems I tend to regret that I never kept one.<br /><br />And like you I do regard y poems (some of them) as a sort of diary, though most of them were written long after the events referred to.<br /><br />An interesting post that has set my mind back running on some well worn tracks.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-30090802938637675762010-03-14T13:10:48.576+00:002010-03-14T13:10:48.576+00:00I'm sure Pepys will have had more interesting ...I'm sure Pepys will have had more interesting things to say than that, <b>Rachel</b>, I was just lucky to stumble upon such a wonderfully banal entry. I think organisation is a key word here too, the feeling that I have to sit down at the end of a day and write something meaningful about it. Even where the events have been significant ones I'm not sure that writing there and then is the best time, you're too close to events to be objective which is probably the point but if I'm that effected I'm more likely to write a poem than anything else.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-78933854887243575222010-03-14T08:31:21.381+00:002010-03-14T08:31:21.381+00:00I laughed about Pepys - very true - but don't ...I laughed about Pepys - very true - but don't think I've read a diary by any other writer. I always associate diaries with noting birthdays and appointments and I know of one or two people who note down their daily events but I don't have the inclination for that - or the organisation. I have a diary - to tell me where to go or what to do on various dates when I make short notice arrangements - but I don't know where I've put it.Rachel Fentonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10046917627054462214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-64144287423260259132010-03-13T11:09:21.697+00:002010-03-13T11:09:21.697+00:00I think in my head there's a clear distinction...I think in my head there's a clear distinction between fact and fiction, <b>Lis</b>, at least as far as intent goes. Were I to write I diary my intent would be to record the facts as accurately as possible and as far as ‘facts’ go I would include subjective feelings, a record of how I felt at the time even taking into account that those feelings are likely to be modified over time.<br /><br />I also get rewriting history. I understand what Murnane does. He’s not presenting it as a diary though. We’ve all taken events from our lives and grafted them into works of fiction but since they’re now out of context to my mind the events now <i>become</i> fiction because it’s fictional characters that are going through the motions that you went through.<br /><br />I see no point in writing a diary that’s not faithful to the truth.<br /><br />Thanks for the article. I will get to it. I’m a bit caught up in an analysis of the poetry of R S Thomas at the moment (harder than I expected) and I’m falling behind on other things. It’s on my desktop and I will get to it.<br /><br />And, <b>Sorlil</b>, I’m not sure I’d go for a book of excerpts. I think diary entries would make more sense in context. I would be wary of reading the diary of a politician though who’s thinking about publication as he or she is writing the thing. Alan Bennett’s diary entries are always entertaining but they still feel like official statements.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-1393204464775703422010-03-12T22:03:05.672+00:002010-03-12T22:03:05.672+00:00I love reading famous folk's diaries. Last yea...I love reading famous folk's diaries. Last year I picked up, in a second-hand book shop, a book comprised of paragragh quotes from famous people's diaries, a couple to read for every day of the year! Plath's diaries are my favourite, of course. I like getting inside the heads of writers and politicians particularly.Marion McCreadyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04657757253873577465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-67483411434641900082010-03-12T11:44:42.099+00:002010-03-12T11:44:42.099+00:00Well Jim, I'm thoroughly flattered - my name i...Well Jim, I'm thoroughly flattered - my name in your blog entry on diaries, and my picture. Wow. It tickles my egocentricity no end. <br /><br />It’s good to read your take on the humble diary. Now you might care to read some serious diary stuff in a wonderful article on the diary by the famous - at least to those who study autobiographical theory and yes there is such a thing – Phillippe le Jeune. ‘How do Diaries End’ in Biography 24.1 (Winter 2001)<br /><br />It’s a great read, and deals with the fact that diaries end with death when the diarist does not (usually) get a chance to say goodbye in his diary but dies mid page as it were. <br /><br />The truth is that diaries can be as much constructed as fiction, though not all are. <br /><br />I couldn’t be bothered with a diary that simply records events. To me a diary does so much more. It works on an exploration of the internal world linked to external events and people associated with the diarist. <br /><br />For anyone who’d like to read the article by Le Jeune I’ll send it to Jim via email. I don’t think I can put it up on line without breaching copyright. <br /><br />Thanks, Jim, a post after my own heart and yes, I am a real person and delighted to rate as your friend.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-63639225136362598092010-03-12T11:35:46.170+00:002010-03-12T11:35:46.170+00:00I suppose it depends on how you define ‘vain’, Ani...I suppose it depends on how you define ‘vain’, <b>Ani</b>. To my mind a vain person thinks too much of themselves; I simple think too much <i>about</i> myself. Big difference.<br /><br />As I get older, <b>Art</b>, I do occasionally regret not having kept a record of more things but only occasionally. I think a lot more than I write. I know I’ve defined a writer as someone whose natural response to events is to write about them and I guess that’s why I always feel like a bit of a fake because I don’t write nearly enough.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-33674999701186014072010-03-11T21:27:26.018+00:002010-03-11T21:27:26.018+00:00For me the difference between a diary and a journa...For me the difference between a diary and a journal is that a diary is a record of daily, often mundane events; a journal is something you record things worth recording, which means probably not every day. I've kept a journal since 1980, but I've never kept a diary. I can't think anyone would possibly be interested in the boring events of my daily life. I've never thought so. I keep a journal to record things that I want to remember, or work out, or vent about, or work into something more substantial later. Nothing more than that. <br /><br />Making a journal online is not much different. (Typing for me is faster than handwriting, although I still hand write a journal, especially when on the road.) Making it public is no big deal, because hardly anyone reads these things anyway. I mean, I think I probably have less than a dozen regular readers and commenters; out of possible millions. I've kept a periodic online journal for about 5 years now. I've kept a blog, which I don't regard as a journal, but as a gathering-place for finished pieces rather, a bit less than that.<br /><br />It's funny. But I don't really have much interest in or use for diaries.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-18944082246542948902010-03-11T21:16:36.497+00:002010-03-11T21:16:36.497+00:00I like diaries though I've never kept a consis...I like diaries though I've never kept a consistent one. <br /><br />Please don't hate me or be offended but I do think you are a little vain. :)<br /><br />It's OK though, I am a lot. Lots of people are a lot. I think it's evolutionary and therefore forgivable.Ani Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02139009026964141906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-25658668400268932982010-03-11T17:44:46.533+00:002010-03-11T17:44:46.533+00:00...exactly the reason I no longer keep a diary. I ......exactly the reason I no longer keep a diary. I just didn't know there was a word to describe it. Thank you.Kasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05233330248952156754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-86555728442363374742010-03-11T15:24:29.247+00:002010-03-11T15:24:29.247+00:00Oh, Kass! Disgusting. Mind you that reminds me of ...Oh, <b>Kass</b>! Disgusting. Mind you that reminds me of one of my most favourite words: logorrhoea.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-79347616009409054112010-03-11T15:01:37.168+00:002010-03-11T15:01:37.168+00:00I know you're going to be so famous one day th...I know you're going to be so famous one day that anything you ever scribbled will be worth scads of money so I'm printing out all your posts and emails and disabling blogspot with a virus so I have the only copies.<br /><br />I've kept diaries and it's like keeping diarrhea - so disgusting.Kasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05233330248952156754noreply@blogger.com