Fiction novelist Jonathan Franzen instantly captured the attention of the audience with his quick-witted and literary-based jokes while speaking to a crowded Hendricks Chapel on Tuesday night.

He began his lecture with an unorthodox discussion about the four most annoying questions he is asked as a writer, and he finished by discussing the struggles he faced while writing his third and most famous book, ‘The Corrections.’

One of the most unpleasant questions writers are asked, Franzen said, is who influenced their work. In quick summation, Franzen half-jokingly recited authors and musicians who have made a significant contribution to his writing style, such as C.S. Lewis and the Moody Blues. But he concluded that he is now only influenced by his own work because that is what consumes him.

‘When I write I don’t feel like a craftsman influenced by earlier craftsmen who were influenced by earlier craftsmen,’ Franzen said.

The question that people believe is the safest and most polite to ask writers, Franzen said, is asking what they actually write about. The question is most frequently asked when there is nothing else to say, he said.

The third perennial question that Franzen said is asked is whether an author’s characters take over the story and tell the author how to write it.

‘The novelist’s primary responsibility is to create meaning,’ he said. ‘And if he could leave this job to characters you would necessarily be avoiding (this responsibility) yourself.’

Franzen went on to say that writers are limited by this duty. They need to make things believable, entertaining and original while creating meaning at the same time.

The fourth and final annoying question Franzen said people ask is if an author’s work is autobiographical. He said that most novelists would deny this, and that he himself is tempted to do so as well.

‘In 30 years, I don’t think I’ve published more than 20 or 30 pages of scenes drawn from real life events that I participated in,’ he said.

His only example of autobiographical elements in his work is from a scene in ‘The Corrections’ in which the main character ‘wets the bed.’ Franzen tentatively admitted he took many details from his real life to write that scene.

Though he wishes he could always deny writing about his own experiences, Franzen said that fiction is sometimes extremely autobiographical.

‘The conception of a novel is that it ought to be a personal struggle, a direct and total engagement with the author’s story of his or her life,’ he said.

After he finished discussing his least favorite questions, Franzen moved on to a much more somber issue: the struggles he endured while writing ‘The Corrections.’

Published in 2001, ‘The Corrections’ received extensive acclaim and won a National Book Award the same year. But during the eight years it took Franzen to write the novel, he said he had to overcome shame, guilt and depression before finally finishing his third book.

‘By my mid-30s, I was ashamed of almost everything I had done in the previous 14 years,’ Franzen said. ‘I wanted to write a novel about the big issues of my day.’

His struggles began after marrying his wife in 1982. He and his wife set out to work as a team to create literary masterpieces. But when he was able to sell his book and his wife was not, Franzen felt guilty rather than excited about his early success, he said.

Guilt continued to be the focal point of Franzen’s life when he and his wife separated in the early 1990s.

All the while, Franzen continued to write ‘The Corrections,’ but he was unable to incorporate the original main character, Andy, into the story. He was also unwilling to part with Andy, who reflected his own depressed personality. Finally, after Franzen got over his guilt and depression, he scrapped the character that was too much like him and instead created the family that would become the main characters of the book.

Jacob Kriss, a graduate student studying public relations, said he really appreciated that the University Lectures Series brought Franzen to Syracuse University.

‘He is a fantastic writer,’ Kriss said. ‘His writings make you examine yourself and how you are conducting yourself and the way you are pursuing things to try to find fulfillment.’

tagreena@syr.edu 

Published on March 6, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Tyler: tagreena@syr.edu