Patricia Stoltey

Author

Make of it what you will: In defense of challenging the reader in Red Lightning … by Laura Pritchett

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My newest novel, Red Lightning, will annoy some people. Yes, I know it, and I suppose I should be sorry. But I am not.

Let me explain, if I may: For the first several years I was writing this book, it was “normal”—there was a standard arc, plot, characters, narration—and I just didn’t like it. I was taking no risk as an author, and that seemed wrong for a novel in which the characters all take the biggest risks of their lives. Then I had an epiphany: Instead of trying to narrate my main character’s disassociate disorder, I would render it on the page. I would use indentations and parenthetical asides and capital letters when her mind was shouting at her. I would blur words together so as to reveal my main character’s experience of the world.

So I went through the manuscript and re-wrote the entire thing. During that time, I read Keri Hume’s The Bone People, and I must say, it contains the most essential “Author Introduction” in all of literature, because without it, we’d all likely throw the book across the room. In it, she acknowledges what she’s done to readers, which is to throw us into utter confusion. To be blunt, she does something similar, and it makes her book hard to read. There are parenthetical asides, strange indentations, capital letters, and a Faulknerian change-of-consciousness. There are breaks in the line, as if she’s suddenly writing poetry; then there are pages and pages with no break at all. Some thoughts are in italics, some aren’t. When she says in her introduction that several publishers turned it down because it was “too unwieldy, too different when compared to the normal shape of a novel,” I did not doubt her.

In all my reading life, I have never put a book down so many times. But I persisted out of some kind of moral obligation: the novel won the Booker Prize in 1985 and I was living in New Zealand at the time, which is where Hume lives and where the novel is set. When I got frustrated—which was often—I flipped back to the introduction where I had underlined several lines: “To those [who are] used to one standard, this book may offer a taste passing strange . . . Persist.”

That last word I had underlined several times, which was smart of me.

Pritchett_Red LightningAs a writing teacher, I was particularly annoyed when she blatantly disregarded basic writerly rules: Don’t lose your reader. Don’t purposefully confuse them. Remember that ‘vivid and continuous dream’ idea; it’s a good one. And very basic truths too: Use correct punctuation. If you’re going to break a rule, do it consistently and with purpose.

As a writer, I was annoyed because she was ruining my plan. Because here is my secret: I naively hoped I’d be the first one to do some of this stuff. I had not yet read Hume’s book when I started my “unique narrative technique,” and for that, I’m glad, because naivety can bring a certain kind of zeal and confidence.

But after reading Hume’s book, my confidence lagged. Her book had been tough to read! So I went to my computer and cut all the “oddities,” as Hume calls them.

Then I put them back in.

Then I took them out.

Then I put them back in.

The arguments I had with myself while walking the trails or beaches of New Zealand were exhausting. I both hated and loved the idea of messing with the narrative; I simply could not decide if introducing a nonstandard device would be disruptive or revealing. Finally, Hume’s words gave me the courage. Persist. In finding middle ground, that is. Or, rather, 80% ground, because I pulled back and cut most of the “oddities.” What I left, I made purposeful.

In the end, I settled on two big risks. One was an occasional device wherein the text is deeply intended only when my main character, Tess, disassociates from herself. Moreover, the novel is told in first person, but when Tess becomes disembodied, a third person omniscient self floats around and advises her. The other risk was to meld words together, such as “dearheart” or “boneknowledge” or “heartfade.” I’ve always used this technique, but in this book, it became a clear part of Tess’s way of understanding the world.

Now that the book has been released, I’m nervous to see how readers will respond. Perhaps they will throw my book across the room? All I can say is: Yes, I hear you. I own my choice. Like Hume, I hope that it’s ultimately what gives the book its strongest punch. Because when I finally got through The Bone People, I was stunned by the rendering of humanity in such a real way—her book is the best example I know of, in fact, of writing that tries to access all those voices we have going on inside us, all the confusion of one moment in time. So in the end, I can only say what she does in her introduction: “Make of it what you will.”

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Laura Pritchett’s newest novel, Red Lightning, was released June 1st. Her previous novel, Stars Go Blue, is currently a finalist for the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award and the Colorado Book Award. You can follow her on twitter at @authorlaura or find out more about her schedule and writing at her website. She can also be found on Facebook and Goodreads.

Laura is giving away one signed copy of Red Lightning to a resident of the U.S. who leaves a comment on this post before midnight Mountain Time, Saturday, June 27th. The winner’s name will be selected using random.org and the name posted here on Sunday.

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Comments

  1. I read Keri Hume’s book in 1986 while living in Sweden. I was a teenager. I loved it. I tried rereading it a few years ago and struggled with it. I think that as a teenager I was open to its uniqueness. As an adult, I’m not as open, but I want to be. I’m excited to read your book and see the similarities with Hume’s book.
    Keri

  3. I loved being pulled off balance by the uniqueness. I was almost in a hypnotic state as I let myself be caught in the odd structure. Thank you, Laura!

  4. I expect nothing left but this type of effort and extreme excellence from you, Laura. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be your work and then we’d surely be disappointed. But now, after reading this, I look forward to another wonderful journey in a world as only you can write it. Thanks, in advance, for this.

    • Sincere thanks to all! Writers understand this need to take risks/push boundaries – both in our subject matter and in our form. I can be corny: but the arts are what change the world. Books can give voice to the voiceless.

      Cliché but oh-so-true: it’s nice to have people out there who “get it.” And say so. So …. thanks!

  5. I admire your intellectual approach to stirring the pot! Now you’ve got me intrigued to read your new book and see how I react to it as both a reader and writer. I applaud creatives who push the standards. Hooray for you!

  6. I love that you are breaking “the rules.” I like when people shake things up. Sky Bridge is an amazing book, I imagine this one will be too. 🙂
    Congrats!

  7. As I read Red Lighting, I did notice the combined words and the poetry breaks. I did not find this hard to read in the least. I was interested in how different this book was from Sky Bridge. This one has an edge to it that pushed the reader to continue. I never lost the thread or the interest. I, too, read The Bone People for my book club and I remember how some people didn’t like it at all. Since I, too, have spent time in New Zealand, I had no problem in reading it mainly because I assumed that this is how New Zealanders write. I could be wrong about that. As I continue with my book club going on now over 23 years, I am always amazed at what the other readers see (or don’t see) in the same book. Some people just like to be entertained and if they have to think too much or are jarred by unpleasantness, they tend not to like the book. I think a reader brings as much to a book as the author puts into it and if the two mesh, fireworks and cotton candy! And if not, it still can be a good read. So, once again, Laura, you pushed us! And we love it!

    • I agree. Some books are meant to be “easy reads” — and that’s awesome. But I love the idea of entering into a book with a contemplative/active engagement — being challenged, and willing to be challenged. Granted, I think we have to be in the right mood — but that’s our duty as growing individuals, no, to sometimes make sure we get ourselves in that mood — ? To put ourselves in that position – . So, that’s just a longwinded way of saying: Thanks, Darlene, for that comment!

  8. Yeah, not following the expected path can leave readers behind. But glad you went for it. People need to be jarred a bit out of their comfort zone.

    Hope you find what I did [with a very minor audience] when I wrote about an autistic kid. First, reviews thought the kid and/or my descriptions weird. But, a couple of reviews recognized the kid was autistic, including a mother who said I was right on in describing the problems. — Sounds like you “got it right”.

  9. I can understand your concern–some stylistic choices simply aren’t going to be comprehensible to readers. (I have never been able to get through “Finnegans Wake,” for example.) It sounds as if you’ve taken enough chances to make reading your book interesting and artistically rewarding. Sometimes the gamble is what makes writing exciting, isn’t it?