Customer Reviews

I Could Tell You Stories: Sojourns in the Land of Memory

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3 star:		(1)
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Patricia Hampl has written a thoughtful, original study of memoir, both reflections on her own life and on the works of other notable memoirists over almost two thousand years--notably Czeslaw Milosz, Saint Augustine, Anne Frank, Edith Stein (a convert from Judaism to Catholicism, who became a martyr under the Nazis), Sylvia Plath, Walt Whitman. In this era of tell-all memoir as melodrama, Hampl has restored the form to something provocative and serious, at the same time writing a highly readable series of linked essays in which she probes issues of morality and truth and the historical importance of the recorded life. The prose, reflecting Hampl the poet, sings as she meditates.

We read this book as part of a graduate-level memoir writing course. One of its essays: "Memory and Imagination," offered me the best account so far in understanding what memoir actually is, why we feel motivated to write it, and the value of the first draft. Hampl confronts the intersection of memory and fiction—specifically the use of inventiveness in memoir which she interprets as part of the search for emotional truth. She champions the value of the first draft, likening it to a mystery which drops clues to the riddle of the narrator's feelings. Another of her essays questions the ethics of writing about friends and family. It's a worthy guide for any writer, fiction or non-fiction.

Indispensible reading for writers and thinkers.
Patricia Hampl is both, and we are the richer for it. This collection of essays attempts to explain the art, depth, breadth, fact vs fiction, role of memory, and the allure of the memoir. Hampl shows and explains how it's possible to create a narrative arc within the genre of memoir writing from the most commonplace and seemingly mundane occurrences.
Superb book written thoughtfully, quietly, lingeringly - meant to be savored, not gulped down all at once.

This multi layered book shows, tells and illustrates in an intriguing fashion.

It tells you about memoir and memory and shows you, actively, of Hampl's writing journey and then illustrates through her essays.

Her description of "re-vision"... literally revisiting the "scene" in one's memory and her description of memoir writing as "travel writing" -- notes taken along the way -- give you a flavor of Hampl's unique fingerprint.

Read and study this one if you are at all interested in writing and actively reading memoir.

This is one of the MOST insteresting books I have ever read. I go though several of Ms. Hampl's explorations upon people and life which I found both intriguing and informative. I especially enjoyed the chapter about Edith Stein. (Try reading at least that chapter and see if it entices you too.)

My life has been touched by this insightful book. Hampl has invited me into her vision of the writers' calling, and I understand that impulse more fully. She shares not only insights about the complexities of writing about memory but also gives us brilliant views of writers she admires. From Augustine to Plath, the rich material stays with me, teaches me, inspires me in my own writing like no other book about memoir.

Writers, especially of creative non-fiction, should be required to read I Could Tell You Stories. Hampl is a deep thinker who can make her vision clear through her flowing prose and terrific metaphors. She gives great insight into the genre of memoir, exploring memory and its meanings. Some of the chapters revolve around a particular author -- Sylvia Plath, Walt Whitman, Kafka, etc -- and they're informative and interesting, but Hampl is at her best when she writes her own experiences, memories, and feelings. Lots of good tips for the writer.

What is memory? One and the same amid East Europeans and the Western world?

Outstanding among Patricia Hampl's essays, I COULD TELL YOU STORIES: SOJOURNS IN THE LAND OF MEMORY, is "Czeslaw Milosz and Memory," a brilliant discussion concerning this Lithuanian and Polish poet, whose personal history and that of his fellow citizens pivot around that of the nation per se. Memory, for a small country, is the ntion itself.

Therefore,the past, the history of a nation, plays a primary role for the East European. Compare this to the American memoirist whose primary focus is the family: "The self is the story; history is just a landscape," writes Hampl. The American (and West European) memoirist is swayed by an intrinsic, not an extrinsic process.

We can say that this held true until 9/11. And thereafter? One might say of the West: Erstwhile, the self was the story, History, beyond the landscape, has begun to touch our lives.

[...] I also recall that, "At the root of utterance," Patricia Hampl writes, "language conspires to be political, cohesive of the nation, a linguistic fortress preserving those gathered within it" [...] --from "Recollections"

Not as great as her previous two collections, but if you're a fan it's a cool read.