The amount of people she interviewed and spoke with for the book was very striking to me. It gives an understanding of the amount of reporting necessary to capture the full breadth of a story. I found it especially great in the pieces of the book that recreated scene, such as the “This Endless Night” chapter. She accounted for every angle of the story, including even small details. Including the details about what friends were doing in other places on campus on the time gave it a full feel. It was eery thinking about the scene at Dewaters and cop cars rolling through campus while everyone slept and studied. Especially being a K student, this resonated with me.
Thinking about all the reporting brought me back to what we keep discussing: the outline. I’m wondering about the process in taking on a project like this and how she tackled it. With the hours of interviews she had to have, it would seem daunting to begin filing that down to a cohesive unit. I’d like to discuss if she did create an outline for the book and how she found and maintained a structure.
Lastly, I though that at times it was very beneficial to the story that Gail was a professor and member of the K community. She was able to capture subtle details of the college, as well as provide an insight into some of those involved beyond the reporting scene. I am wondering how it may have read differently had someone with no connection to K had written it? Not really sure how I think it would affect it, but some food for thought.
I also thought about how daunting the outlining process for this book must have been. How did Gail sort through all of those interviews? As well as her personal feelings on the event? The organization is incredible, and it really sets the story up to fully engage the reader until the end. I wonder if there were any parts Gail struggled with including or leaving out? I know she mentioned that someone told her to not include the letter Neenef left about his intentions, and it makes me think that there was a very delicate balance in choosing the content of the book.
ReplyDeleteYour question about how it might have read differently had someone with no connection to K had written is something I thought about too....I feel like one of the most captivating aspects of the book is how well Gail frames K. But, then again, that probably only sticks out to me because I go to K. Maybe it only makes a difference to us because we're students here?
I think "This Endless Night" was definitely one of my favorite chapters. I think the way in which she was able to introduce so many characters into it that would show up later in the book was incredible. It's funny to think that she had wanted to introduce them in a different part when it seems so perfect there!
ReplyDeleteI agree that the outline part must have been incredibly hard and her attention to every little detail probably made it more difficult. Hearing her talk about it in class just enforced this. Having a million little notecards is definitely one way outlining, and I think it allows the quotes and storyline to be much more mobile than if everything was on one sheet of paper. I don't know if that is the way that I would write a story, but it's definitely a tactic to consider!