How important is it for the reader to know the author's purpose in writing a book?
How important is knowing something about the author's background and philosophy?
Do we need to know more about Irene N.'s life in order to understand her point of view?
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
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The Authors Purpose
How important is it for the reader to know the author's purpose in writing a book?
How important is knowing something about the author's background and philosophy?
Do we need to know more about Irene N.'s life in order to understand her point of view?
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/627433/Vichy-France
MaryZorro,
When I visit
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/627433/Vichy-France,
I have 5-10 seconds before Britannica Online covers up the words with a free trial offer. That usually means it's something I'll have to pay for later, so I haven't clicked on it. (If I'm wrong, please help me understand.)
Since the subject is Vichy France, I looked that up in Wikipedia, which may not be as authoritative as Brittanica, but has the advantage of being free. Wikipedia tells me:
"Vichy France, or the Vichy regime, are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944. ... Vichy France had legal authority in both the northern zone of France, which was occupied by the German Wehrmacht, and the unoccupied southern 'free zone', where the regime's administrative center of Vichy was located."
One map shows Paris right in the middle of the northern German occupied territory of France:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vichyfrance.GIF
I'm sharing this information in case any other buddies have been stopped by Brittanica's "free trial" offer as I was. Is anybuddy a paid member?
I am not a member, and I was able to see the video. I wonder why??
It's a video? I didn't get far enough to discover that.
MaryZorro said, "The video is over to the right and you see a picture of Hitler and the Eiffel Tower with an arrow to begin."
I got to the video, but 5-10 seconds into it (when the "free trial" thing popped up), the video stopped. So I was unable to see more than enough to recognize it's like a movie newsreel. I hope others are able to view the video.
I personally like to know as much as I can about the author of any book--I think it enriches my understanding of what the author is trying to convey. I guess you could say it is more of a preference than a need, but in this case, I think it is important to know that she was writing this so soon after the events transpired.
Agree. It enriches our understanding of the book. Which part is real & which part is fictionalized may be harder to separate. I'm wondering if the writer's manuscripts are her manuscripts that was stored away for her travel in real life. So far, very good book, but also very depressing. To think of all that the French people went thru because of a madman!So very sad & for no good reason at all.
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