by Anura Guruge
on February 27, 2023
I am (I think) still a huge James Michener fan. As the above image shows I have read a fair number of his mammoth works — & (I realize) that that might be an issue. It is possible that I have become jaded, i.e., Michener overload.
I am currently LISTENING on ‘Audible‘ to ‘Poland‘ & I am about halfway through & only have another 18 hours left! I also appreciate that listening to a book is profoundly DIFFERENT to that of reading it. The experience, your connection with the book is different. I have still to fully work it out, but I kind of think that listening is a more DETACHED experience — you get more of a chance to reflect on what is being said. But, I am, as yet, not 100% sure whether that is really the case. But, what I do know is that listening to Michener’s Poland makes me QUESTION the true greatness of the man.
No doubts his works are monumental & required Herculean efforts to pull them off. However, in the case of Poland, especially in light of what he talks about in the ‘Acknowledgment’ section, I have started to wonder if he had others writing sections of the book for him.
I have never done this before but on a whim I just Google ‘james michener criticism‘. Wow. There is a lot & just scanning through a few summaries I can see that others, as ever, have been way ahead of me in their doubts as to his true literary ‘genius’. Interesting. I really must read some of these — IF I ever get the time.
I also just did some math. He was 76 when he wrote Poland. Wow. But, I have to say, it shows! In my opinion the storytelling comes across as TIRED. Stilted. Contrived. Dare I even say so — amateurish! Hence, my questioning as to how he would be received today, IF he was just starting off.
Just recently I stated, right here, that I reckon that ‘Rose Tremain’ is a better storyteller than Michener. I stand by that. And since then, I have listened to the transfixing ‘The Lincoln Highway‘ by ‘Amor Towles’. He is a 21st century writer. Very slick, clever & inspired. Compared to him & Tremain, Michener comes across as old-fashioned (which he was).
Then there is also the matter of technology. Michener did the bulk of his writing on a typewriter. I am sure his style would have been different IF he had access to ‘Word’ — from the getgo. I, as a writer myself, can attest that writing in Word changes your style & fluency because making changes is so trivial.
Bottom line here, for now, is that listening to Poland has made me realize, more painfully than ever before, that Michener tries to tell a good story BUT maybe he isn’t that great at telling it. That said, I am eternally GRATEFUL to Michener for all the world history he has told me. After Poland, I really must stop getting anymore Michener books.
