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A review by kaylabjohnson
Biography: A Very Short Introduction by Hermione Lee
3.0
I read this book for a junior seminar course I am taking on the art of biography, autobiography, and memoirs.
It gave a really great overview of some of the conventions and trends in biography writing as they evolved with the changing societal and literary standards throughout different decades. The book includes lots of helpful references to and analysis of specific biographies and autobiographies, as well as the conventions they broke or introduced.
I tend not to read a lot of biographical work, but this book really got me to think about the moral implications of biography for the first time. I never realized how much public scrutiny and skepticism there was for biography before, and I found the conversation about privacy, whether to tell a story warts-and-all and whose life is worth being written down to be incredibly fascinating.
My favorite part of the book was the brilliant metaphor of biographical writing as either an autopsy—a posthumous examination of a person’s life which is very scientific and factual, but cold— or a portrait which can capture someone’s essence, personality, and “vital spark”, but may become idolatrous and distorted.
There are no true rules to biography and it can take various formats, but there is truly an art to being able to capture someone's essence in what is just a few words in comparison to the whole scope of their life.
It gave a really great overview of some of the conventions and trends in biography writing as they evolved with the changing societal and literary standards throughout different decades. The book includes lots of helpful references to and analysis of specific biographies and autobiographies, as well as the conventions they broke or introduced.
I tend not to read a lot of biographical work, but this book really got me to think about the moral implications of biography for the first time. I never realized how much public scrutiny and skepticism there was for biography before, and I found the conversation about privacy, whether to tell a story warts-and-all and whose life is worth being written down to be incredibly fascinating.
My favorite part of the book was the brilliant metaphor of biographical writing as either an autopsy—a posthumous examination of a person’s life which is very scientific and factual, but cold— or a portrait which can capture someone’s essence, personality, and “vital spark”, but may become idolatrous and distorted.
There are no true rules to biography and it can take various formats, but there is truly an art to being able to capture someone's essence in what is just a few words in comparison to the whole scope of their life.