Questions for Bruce Machart?

[MSaff]

Hi Bruce and Welcome to our little corner of the universe,

  Thank you for sharing the novel with us here at First Look.  We are a friendly group who all love to read.  I personally love to get new books from new authors.  It's exciting and being able to discuss the work with the author is just a wonderful plus.

  My question is this -  I am find this novel to very dark and abusive.  How did you come up with the story line and is there any truth to the story? 

[nbmars]

I notice you keep getting compared to Cormac McCarthy.  How do you feel about that?  Do you feel you write like him?  (And/or) What writers have inspired you?

[scnole]

Bruce,

I'm interested in your answer to this question also.    It does remind me a lot of reading Cormac McCarthy's novels.

Even though the content is harsh and sometimes difficult to read, the story is beautifully written.  

Mary Ann

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nbmars wrote:

I notice you keep getting compared to Cormac McCarthy.  How do you feel about that?  Do you feel you write like him?  (And/or) What writers have inspired you?

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[CAG]

Again, I love your book and have already started reading it one more time because of the rich, vivid language. You have such a unique style and you are an excellent writer. I have one more question for you. Who are your favorite writers and have they inspired you?

[wheeze]

Bruce, I am loving the book and still barely into it. It's really catching my eye!

My question... How does your family feel about the story line? (I'm sure they are quite proud ) Yet with such a horrible family your charaters had, did your family agree with you to take the story in that way? Thanks Bruce!

[Sheltiemama]

Not a question, just a comment. I didn't realize so many Czech immigrants settled in Texas. It's interesting to think about the impact the two cultures had on each other.

[Peppermill]

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Sheltiemama wrote:

Not a question, just a comment. I didn't realize so many Czech immigrants settled in Texas. It's interesting to think about the impact the two cultures had on each other.

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Sheltie Mamma -- I found the following about Lavaca County interesting:

"Fueled by the influx of new immigrants, the population also rose markedly during the second half of the nineteenth century. It was 9,158 in 1870, 13,641 in 1880, 21,887 in 1890, and 28,121 in 1900. The majority of the new settlers were Germans and Czechs (in this case, Czech-speaking Bohemians). The 1890 census listed 4,402 foreign-born residents, with the largest contingents from Germany (1,884) and Austria (1,748). The German, Moravian, and Czech immigrants founded numerous new ethnic farm communities, including Glecker, Breslau, Witting, Moravia, and Vienna. As a result the once decidedly Anglo-American county took on something of a Central European character. By the turn of the century a wide range of German and Czech newspapers were being published, among them Obzor, Treue Zeuge, Novy Domov, Prozor, Vestnik, and Buditel, and many of the county's towns had Czech social organizations, such the National Sokol Society and the Slavonic Benevolent Order."

From Handbook of Texas Online - Lavaca County

I knew from personal experience that Czechs had settled across the Midwest.  In fact, the story brought back college memories of once having dated someone with one of the Czech names in this story!  (Sadly, who died not terribly long after we graduated.)

I still haven't figured out who the Czechs replaced in Texas as described in the story -- "red haired and ruddy settlers". p. 10.  My guess is the reference is to the Scot-Irish like Patrick Dalton, but I am uncertain and the link above did not add to the probability of the correctness of my guess.

[Vermontcozy]

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Peppermill wrote:

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Sheltiemama wrote:

Not a question, just a comment. I didn't realize so many Czech immigrants settled in Texas. It's interesting to think about the impact the two cultures had on each other.

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Sheltie Mamma -- I found the following about Lavaca County interesting:

"Fueled by the influx of new immigrants, the population also rose markedly during the second half of the nineteenth century. It was 9,158 in 1870, 13,641 in 1880, 21,887 in 1890, and 28,121 in 1900. The majority of the new settlers were Germans and Czechs (in this case, Czech-speaking Bohemians). The 1890 census listed 4,402 foreign-born residents, with the largest contingents from Germany (1,884) and Austria (1,748). The German, Moravian, and Czech immigrants founded numerous new ethnic farm communities, including Glecker, Breslau, Witting, Moravia, and Vienna. As a result the once decidedly Anglo-American county took on something of a Central European character. By the turn of the century a wide range of German and Czech newspapers were being published, among them Obzor, Treue Zeuge, Novy Domov, Prozor, Vestnik, and Buditel, and many of the county's towns had Czech social organizations, such the National Sokol Society and the Slavonic Benevolent Order."

From Handbook of Texas Online - Lavaca County

I knew from personal experience that Czechs had settled across the Midwest.  In fact, the story brought back college memories of once having dated someone with one of the Czech names in this story!  (Sadly, who died not terribly long after we graduated.)

I still haven't figured out who the Czechs replaced in Texas as described in the story -- "red haired and ruddy settlers". p. 10.  My guess is the reference is to the Scot-Irish like Patrick Dalton, but I am uncertain and the link above did not add to the probability of the correctness of my guess.

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Thank you Pepper for the information. ..I always like the back story,especially how the immigrant population changed the landscape of America,,TWOF.has opened many doors in understanding that part of our America,,Bruce has captured a piece of history,that I had not about known before..Susan

[Peppermill]

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Vermontcozy wrote:

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Peppermill wrote (link only copied here.  See above for excerpt, comment, question):

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Sheltiemama wrote:

Not a question, just a comment. I didn't realize so many Czech immigrants settled in Texas. It's interesting to think about the impact the two cultures had on each other.

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From Handbook of Texas Online - Lavaca County

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Thank you Pepper for the information. ..I always like the back story,especially how the immigrant population changed the landscape of America,,TWOF.has opened many doors in understanding that part of our America,,Bruce has captured a piece of history,that I had not about known before..Susan

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You are most welcome, Susan.  One of the things that these boards encourage for me is taking the time to find that back story.  Doing so is certainly enriching my reading experiences.  Having done so, it is nice to be able to share.  Many thanks to Google, Wikipedia, and advanced searches in the .edu domain, although only the first of those for this particular "find."

[PiperMurphy]

Hello,

I am really enjoying your book, it's excellent. The characters are so well developed. They're believable and true to their time and setting. Believe it or not, I really like Vaclav - not as a person (he's a terrible person), but as a character. He's fascinating and intriguing because there are so many layers to him. I was wondering what it was like to write him? How did you go about creating him? I bet he was fun to invent.

[Vermontcozy]

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PiperMurphy wrote:

Hello,

I am really enjoying your book, it's excellent. The characters are so well developed. They're believable and true to their time and setting. Believe it or not, I really like Vaclav - not as a person (he's a terrible person), but as a character. He's fascinating and intriguing because there are so many layers to him. I was wondering what it was like to write him? How did you go about creating him? I bet he was fun to invent.

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Thanks for asking  those  wonderful questions Piper,I can't wait for Bruce to be here on Monday..His answers will certainly be so enlightening...SusanVtc..

[coffee_luvr]

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Vermontcozy wrote:

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Peppermill wrote:

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Sheltiemama wrote:

Not a question, just a comment. I didn't realize so many Czech immigrants settled in Texas. It's interesting to think about the impact the two cultures had on each other.

---

Sheltie Mamma -- I found the following about Lavaca County interesting:

"Fueled by the influx of new immigrants, the population also rose markedly during the second half of the nineteenth century. It was 9,158 in 1870, 13,641 in 1880, 21,887 in 1890, and 28,121 in 1900. The majority of the new settlers were Germans and Czechs (in this case, Czech-speaking Bohemians). The 1890 census listed 4,402 foreign-born residents, with the largest contingents from Germany (1,884) and Austria (1,748). The German, Moravian, and Czech immigrants founded numerous new ethnic farm communities, including Glecker, Breslau, Witting, Moravia, and Vienna. As a result the once decidedly Anglo-American county took on something of a Central European character. By the turn of the century a wide range of German and Czech newspapers were being published, among them Obzor, Treue Zeuge, Novy Domov, Prozor, Vestnik, and Buditel, and many of the county's towns had Czech social organizations, such the National Sokol Society and the Slavonic Benevolent Order."

From Handbook of Texas Online - Lavaca County

I knew from personal experience that Czechs had settled across the Midwest.  In fact, the story brought back college memories of once having dated someone with one of the Czech names in this story!  (Sadly, who died not terribly long after we graduated.)

I still haven't figured out who the Czechs replaced in Texas as described in the story -- "red haired and ruddy settlers". p. 10.  My guess is the reference is to the Scot-Irish like Patrick Dalton, but I am uncertain and the link above did not add to the probability of the correctness of my guess.

---

Thank you Pepper for the information. ..I always like the back story,especially how the immigrant population changed the landscape of America,,TWOF.has opened many doors in understanding that part of our America,,Bruce has captured a piece of history,that I had not about known before..Susan

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Although not directly related to TWOF, an interesting true story called The Captured by Scott Zesch, tells about an area in central Texas (Llano County and areas around there, a bit north of Lavaca County) where German's settled and a farmer's child gets abducted by Comanches. The story is an interesting snapshot of Texas, the time period around the 1870's and the German people that settled there.  A bit before the time period of this book, but if anyone is interested in some more history about areas of Texas, this is an interesting story.

[sandrabrazier]

Hi Mr. Machart,

I found your book to be an inspiring and beautiful experience. One thing I noticed right off was that many of your sentences are excessively long, bordering on what teachers would call run-on sentences. Since you were so meticulous about style and word choice, I wonder if the use of such sentences was purposeful, if maybe they were meant to evoke the meandering, slower-paced life of the old mid-west. In any case, that's what those sentences did for me. Thanks again for such a treasure.

Sandra

[erinsam]

Is the title meant to be an ironic twist on the life of Karel?  Forgiveness is not a quality I would use to describe any of the characters with the exception of Sophie.  Thought provoking book.

[Bruce-Machart]

Hello, everyone!  Thanks so much for all of your fascinating comments and questions thus far.  I am going to jump into the fray a couple days early here, while I have a few minutes, so that I don't get too far behind.

Annemd:

Thank you so much.  You are very kind.  The process of writing any narrative is, for me, one the necessitates image and detail.  We human being are, after all, highly evolved animals (VERY highly evolved, thank God!), and as such we experience the world primarily through our senses.  Image, then, is really obligatory in fiction.  For instance, I wonder how long it would take one of us to realize it if we read a book that had NO olfactory images.  It is possible that we wouldn't notice exactly WHAT felt unreal about the book, but I feel strongly that we WOULD notice that SOMETHING felt a bit off!

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annemd wrote:

Bruce, the descriptions in your book are vivid, detailed, and for me evoke the period and locale wonderfully well.  What was the process of writing in such descriptive detail like for you? I am really enjoying the book. 

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[Bruce-Machart]

DSaff,

I tend to get emotional when I finish something.  A chapter.  A section.  Certainly, when I finished the novel, I felt a surge of emotion.  But I didn't have a difficult time.  It is the writer's job to empathize with all of his or her characters.  In fiction, unless one is reading really poorly wrought or formulaic fiction, every character gets to be a human being.  Because that is true, I love all of my characters.  I may not like what they do.  I may not like the choices they make.  I may not like how they suffer or cause suffering.  But I do love them because I empathize with them, and because I empathize...yes.  I feel for them as if they lived and breathed. 

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DSaff wrote:

Welcome to FL, Bruce, and thank you for your time! I have a question for you about emotions. I am feeling very strong emotions as I read this book (only through first section for first week). Did you have a hard time writing about your characters or situations? If so, how did you get through it? Thank you 

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[Bruce-Machart]

Hi, TWJ,

Thanks for the kind words.  I was trained in the craft of narrative at the MFA program at The Ohio State University.  I had marvelous teachers.   Literary art (all art, really) resides at the intersection of mechanics and concept.  The mechanics can be taught, and they teach them very well at OSU.  I had two wonderful mentors (Lee K. Abbott and Melanie Rae Thon), and they gave me gifts that I will never be able to repay.

As for the conceptual side of writing, I don't believe that can be taught.  I don't think you can teach someone how to imagine more vividly, how to dream characters into being, how to see a whole world in one's head.  I only know to count my blessings that I seem, most days, to be able to do so.

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thewanderingjew wrote:

Hi,

I feel exactly the same way as annemd. 

I wondered where did you get your education and writing skills?

You have such a wonderful way with words! Although the story has a heavy theme, the descriptions are not heavy handed. They are so full of images and voices that the tale lifts off the page; yet, the overall effect is not overbearing. You seem to have achieved just the right measure of expression to capture and hold your audience.

twj

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annemd wrote:

Bruce, the descriptions in your book are vivid, detailed, and for me evoke the period and locale wonderfully well.  What was the process of writing in such descriptive detail like for you? I am really enjoying the book. 

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[Bruce-Machart]

Hi, Clevegal!

Oh, now you've done it!  You've asked the first question that I really hesitate to answer.  I'd rather not talk about my intended thematics, or the tools that I've used to try to convey them (sometimes consciously, sometimes not).  I believe that the reader should trust the art (when it comes to deriving meaning) rather than the artist (I am a human being, after all, and it is possible that what I THINK I have created is really rather something else entirely.

But I will say this:  I have a deliberate reason for everything I am doing structurally in the novel.  It speaks, in my mind, to theme.  I find it interesting, for instance, that there has been so much talk about the shifts in time in the novel, and yet, to the best of my knowledge, no one has discussed the use of tenses....which were of great interest to me in the composition of the book.

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Clevegal42 wrote:

Hello,

I was wondering why you decided to make the story jump to different points in time throughout the book.  I'll admit that it made it hard for me to read at times because I would have to put it down and then pick it back up and I would forget what "time" I was currently reading.  It isn't like some of the other books I've read that has flashbacks, but it did make it very interesting.

Thanks for the opportunity to read and discuss your novel - it was an interesting story that I'll be reading again throughout the discussions.

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[Bruce-Machart]

Hi, Katiegirl,

I did a great deal of informal research.  Mostly, I read ALL of the local papers for the years depicted in the book.  There were weekly papers in Shiner, Hallettsville, Moulton and Yoakum, and I read every one.  This is a wonderful exercise because you get a feel for the language of the time and region, plus you learn really handy facts, like how much things cost and the names of local businesses and such.

As for Sophie, I can only say that I love her as a character but still feel as if this is primarily Karel's story.  He is the intended protagonist, and while I have tried to construct an omniscient narrator that has the power to enter the consciousness of any character, I was also working to model in narrative focus Karel's psychological environment, which is one in which women are constantly present but in significant ways out of reach.

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katiegirl wrote:

How much research did you do on how the English language was spoken at that time? Why wasn't there more info about Sophie in the book?

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[Bruce-Machart]

Hi, Susan,

I'm so glad that you liked the trailer.  It was made by a young and wildly talented filmmaker out in L.A., and so far we have had nothing but positive feedback.  It's so much better (from my perspective) than a video in which the author sits talking about his or her own work.  That seems overtyly self-conscious to me.  Handled poorly, it could have been terribly cheesy, but the folks at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt have done such a fine job from start to finish.  I wasn't at all surprised (though I was delighted) with how well it all came out!

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Vermontcozy wrote:

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DSaff wrote:

Welcome to FL, Bruce, and thank you for your time! I have a question for you about emotions. I am feeling very strong emotions as I read this book (only through first section for first week). Did you have a hard time writing about your characters or situations? If so, how did you get through it? Thank you 

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I agree Donna...All sorts of emotions arise...Great question's.as well...I think besides not wanting the story to end,I have also only read through the first section,The Trailer.was Better than an Actual "Movie" trailer..It was so beautifully done.,..I wonder what other feedback Bruce has received concerning the trailer. ...Bruce,What a wonderful review in the WSJ..How fortunate we are to read and discuss your Book.!!.  Looking forward to meeting you on Sept 13th... Susan

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