Rewriting the Back Stories of History

Tue, 03/30/2010 - 00:27

Lorax has recommended a book, The Ascent of George Washington, that rewrites the portrait of our first president as a narcissistic self-promoter who was maniacal about controlling his own image. This book has received some highly favorable reviews. So I plan on reading it.

My impression, based on a little reading here and there over the past few years, is that the back stories of many famous people in history could be rewritten to greatly enlarge our understanding of these formerly inscrutable souls. Alice Miller has done so with a couple of historical monsters (most notably Hitler), Janet Malcolm of course has worked in this genre, and others have revisited the lives of Churchill, Newton, Edison, Samuel Clemens, Walt Disney, Bertrand Russell and many others with insight and compassion. George Orwell's essay on Ghandi is a little gem that I would recommend to every literate person, and especially to those who are interested in Warren Buffett.

But to read this type of work with insight and understanding it does help to have a basic familiarity or at least openness to, dare I say it, modern psychology. 

It is completely legitimate to consider the psychological motives of famous figures, as long as you do not go too far and declare you are certain what is going on in someone else's head.  There's really nothing threatening about working with this kind of empathy. Or, if it does feel threatening, maybe that's cause to stop and consider why.

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Wed, 03/31/2010 - 14:10 — Compounding

Viewed this through lens

Viewed this through lens (honesty and real understanding), what are some of your favorite biographies in particular Alice?

Wed, 03/31/2010 - 22:52 — aliceschroeder

viewed through this lens

Hi Compounding,
It's interesting that you put it this way (an enlightened way to look at biographies).

V.S. Naipaul's authorized biography, The World Is What It Is, sets the bar for authorized biographies with its searing honesty. I cannot think of any book that is comparable.

The House of Morgan -- Chernow -- is a favorite of mine. From the standpoint of demanding courage from the writer (and subject) it is not in the same category, however.

I have a weakness for group biographies. David Halberstam specialized in these. A book like The Children tells a kind of truth that is hard to find any other way.

Memoirs can be very honest (or exceedingly dishonest). They are a popular genre because they are so transparent if the subject is willing. More so than biography, the memoirist can take the reader directly inside a life as felt by the subject. I am in awe of the ruthlessly honest memoirists who give their lives -- literally as a gift -- to us as readers.

This is only one example, but Kathy Dobie's The Only Girl in the Car is noteworthy because it must have been so costly yet liberating to the author to speak such truth. This book has been influential because the reader can never look at their teenage years, or a girl like Kathy Dobie as a teenager, the same way again. It makes you stop and pause in awe that anyone could survive this experience to create such art. Very different from the world of Warren Buffett, but a much-lauded book and for good reason.

Fri, 04/02/2010 - 22:14 — Compounding

Thanks Alice. I've always

Thanks Alice. I've always been interested in the difference between "authorized" biographies or autobiographies and independently researched biographies that reveal the whole tale - usually a less flattering version. Especially for biographies of eminent people...those who have been built up as a certain image in people's minds.

Memoirs are hit or miss for me - I either feel they're papering over the truth or I appreciate their honesty. Business memoirs, unfortunately, tend to fit in the former category too often.

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