Movies and Films
This is the forum for Movie and Film discussions. Again, our topic is naval warfare in WWII for the most part.
Re: Journalist on Board
Posted by:
cate
()
Date: August 18, 2003 01:49PM
<HTML>Hi Io
I didn't think Buchheim was a journo as such, but a war artist. His natural flair for wrting was purely a bonus his bosses were only too glad to make use of - and I think his subsequent achievements in the written medium were for that reason all the more remarkable.
It takes real literary ability to evoke life at sea, it's hardships, it's humour, the sub-culture, dynamics and individual characters of the crew so convincingly - the skill is in the evocation, not in a rehearsal of events, true or otherwise. I think he achieved all this with remarkable vividness and subtlety, which is perhaps why some people only see it as 'inferior journalism' (ie a narrative of actual events that didn't even stick to the facts). Shaping an account out of real experiences which sharpens ironies, and draws moral and artistic significance from them is a creative skill fundamental to literature, and is not necessarily inferior to inventing imaginary ones. If Buchheim fabricated very little, that is more I think a tribute to the fact he had in the U-boat service a microcosm for the themes of war and humanity he wished to explore so rich that he didn't need to concoct more.
warm rgds
cate</HTML>
I didn't think Buchheim was a journo as such, but a war artist. His natural flair for wrting was purely a bonus his bosses were only too glad to make use of - and I think his subsequent achievements in the written medium were for that reason all the more remarkable.
It takes real literary ability to evoke life at sea, it's hardships, it's humour, the sub-culture, dynamics and individual characters of the crew so convincingly - the skill is in the evocation, not in a rehearsal of events, true or otherwise. I think he achieved all this with remarkable vividness and subtlety, which is perhaps why some people only see it as 'inferior journalism' (ie a narrative of actual events that didn't even stick to the facts). Shaping an account out of real experiences which sharpens ironies, and draws moral and artistic significance from them is a creative skill fundamental to literature, and is not necessarily inferior to inventing imaginary ones. If Buchheim fabricated very little, that is more I think a tribute to the fact he had in the U-boat service a microcosm for the themes of war and humanity he wished to explore so rich that he didn't need to concoct more.
warm rgds
cate</HTML>
