annethology
  • Home
    • About Annethology
    • About me >
      • A little more about me
    • About my books
    • Author talks
    • Contact me
    • Forthcoming events
    • World Mental Health Day
    • Privacy
    • Sign up for my newsletter
  • First two novels
    • Sugar and Snails >
      • Acknowledgements
      • Blog tour, Q&A's and feature articles >
        • Birthday blog tour
        • S&S on tour 2022
      • Early endorsements
      • Events >
        • Launch photos
        • Launch party videos
      • in pictures
      • Media
      • If you've read the book
      • Polari
      • Reading group questions
      • Reviews
      • In the media
    • Underneath >
      • Endorsements and reviews
      • Launch party and events
      • Pictures
      • Questions for book groups
      • The stories underneath the novel
  • Matilda Windsor series
    • The accidental series
    • Matilda Windsor >
      • What readers say
      • For book groups
      • Interviews, articles and features
      • Matty on the move
      • Who were you in 1990?
      • Asylum lit
      • Matilda Windsor media
    • Stolen Summers >
      • Stolen Summers reviews
    • Lyrics for the Loved Ones
  • Short stories
    • Somebody’s Daughter
    • Becoming Someone (anthology) >
      • Becoming Someone (video readings)
      • Becoming Someone reviews
      • Becoming Someone online book chat
    • Print and downloads
    • Read it online
    • Quick reads
  • Free ebook
  • Annecdotal
    • Annecdotal blog
    • Annecdotal Press
    • Articles >
      • Print journalism
      • Where psychology meets fiction
    • Fictional therapists
    • Reading and reviews >
      • Reviews A to H
      • Reviews I to M
      • Reviews N to Z
      • Nonfiction
      • Themed quotes
      • Reading around the world
  • Shop
    • Inspired Quill (my publisher)
    • Bookshop.org (affiliate link)
    • Amazon UK
    • Amazon US
    • books2read
  • Main site

Welcome

I started this blog in 2013 to share my reflections on reading, writing and psychology, along with my journey to become a published novelist.​  I soon graduated to about twenty book reviews a month and a weekly 99-word story. Ten years later, I've transferred my writing / publication updates to my new website but will continue here with occasional reviews and flash fiction pieces, and maybe the odd personal post.

ANNE GOODWIN'S WRITING NEWS

A novelist meets a psychotherapist: The Good Story by JM Coetzee and Arabella Kurtz

26/11/2015

 
I’ve mentioned before that I think novelists and psychotherapists are in a similar business, yet the fictional therapists we encounter on the page sometimes fail to convince. So what better way for the writer bent on creating a credible fictional therapist than to eavesdrop on a conversation between a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and a clinical psychologist, lecturer and psychoanalytic psychotherapist? As JM Coetzee and Arabella Kurtz toss ideas back and forth about the intersection between truth, story and morality, the writer is afforded a remarkable insight into the workings of the therapist’s mind.

Picture
While the non-linear structure of The Good Story might frustrate some readers, I delighted in the way that, exactly as in therapy itself, the exchange meanders back and forth, returning to the core preoccupations to contradict earlier arguments or address them in a new light. From the psychology of the individual, the group or an entire culture, the authors play with the various meanings of good in relation to our stories, exploring notions of self-serving narratives, emotional truth, truth as a process and the false self. Literary examples are put forward and core concepts of psychoanalytic theory are discussed and defined.

Coetzee’s interrogation of the ideals and fictions of therapy is thoughtful, persistent and respectful. Yet his contribution came across to me as that of a generic intellectual, rather than as one of anti-apartheid most distinguished white writers. Coming to this shortly after rereading his novel Disgrace for my reading group, I jotted down the title in the margin at a couple of points but, although a few of his other novels are referenced in passing, I found no mention of Disgrace in the text, nor South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission which it is said to allegorise. I suspect this omission is attributable more to Coetzee’s famed reticence than a lack of curiosity on the part of his co-author. Another gap from my point of view was that, while the relational truth constructed between therapist and patient was repeatedly acknowledged, the coupling of reader and writer in the creation of a good novel was barely explored.

Overall, The Good Story is a thought-provoking and highly readable examination of the story of psychoanalytic therapy, addressed to the literary and philosophically inclined. Published by Harvill Secker, I was given a copy by Arabella Kurtz, a former colleague with whom I have had the pleasure of teaching clinical psychology trainees over a number of years. For that reason, and because I rarely read non-fiction, I’m not claiming this as a proper review but as reflections on my reading that might be of interest to some readers of this blog.
It also might be of interest to a writer like Siri Hustvedt who presents a psychotherapist’s take on truth in her novel, The Sorrows of an American (p86):

There is no clear border between remembering and imagining. When I listen to a patient, I am not reconstructing the “facts” of a case history but listening for patterns, strains of feeling, and associations that may move us out of painful repetitions and into an articulated understanding … we make our narratives, and those created stories can’t be separated from the culture in which we live. There are times, however when fantasy, delusion, or outright lies parade as autobiography, and it’s necessary to make some nominal distinction between fact and fiction. Doubt is an uncomfortable feeling that can quickly become suspicion, and under the intimate circumstances of psychotherapy, it may be nothing short of dangerous.

This book also got me thinking about my distaste for cosy fiction; it’s not that I want to be made miserable, but the overly cheerful seems a denial of my own truth. What’s your view on the role of truth in the good story you tell yourself?
Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
Norah Colvin link
26/11/2015 10:55:24 pm

This one appeals to me, Anne. I love these types of philosophical discussions. I get drawn in and enjoy contemplating issues that are raised. I recognised the name Coetzee but am not convinced I have read anything. Interesting to read of the connection between you and Kurtz. I'm sorry that you don't have a cosy truth to tell. Maybe none of us do, and that is perhaps one of the reasons that escapism in "literature" and films is sought by so many. I love the search for truth in fiction and non, but find harsh reality not to my taste. Thanks for sharing this one, if it's an audiobook, it's on my list!

Annecdotist
27/11/2015 09:11:02 am

I think you would like it, Norah, especially as it relates psychoanalytic ideas to the “real world” – and Coetzee talks about Australian culture, what more could you want?
Yeah, quite nice to be able to bring the work of people I know in the real world to the blog, although also still a bit weird.
Hah, I have a pretty cosy truth in my own life right now, although it’s not very interesting to write about, and I’m pretty well adapted to the less cosy past!

Norah Colvin link
6/12/2015 07:38:05 am

Pleased to hear you're feeling cosy now. Disappointed the book is not available on audio. :( I have chosen "To Kill a Mockingbird" instead. Surprisingly I have not read it!

Annecdotist
7/12/2015 03:25:50 pm

Shame about the lack of audiobook, but I'm sure you'll enjoy Mockingbird. Will you go for Watchman afterwards?

geoff laptop link
27/11/2015 06:44:17 pm

there's another point that occur in reading this and that is could a positive review that suggests a very readable text overcome my antipathy arising from the fact I thought Disgrace was exceedingly poor and trite and struggled for about three quarters before t went in the bin quite literally and very unusually for me). I want truth in m yfiction but I want a good story well told even more

Annecdotist
28/11/2015 01:45:48 pm

Gosh, Geoff, I thought Disgrace was marvellous, even before I realised it was meant to be allegorical. So I must confess I didn't get much from a couple of other novels of his I tried. Since this book isn't very much about Coetzee's fiction, it might work for you.

Paula link
30/11/2015 01:36:41 pm

Your distaste for "cozy fiction" parallels my distaste for "cozy sermons." Having been a clergyman's wife, and listened to the creative process behind them for years, I have always distrusted the "composite person" whose experience is used to illustrate a particular "gospel truth." I can smell them a mile off.

Annecdotist
1/12/2015 03:45:12 pm

Interesting, Paula, as the "composite person" sounds like a device psychotherapists often use to preserve confidentiality when writing about their client/patients, and I actually don't mind it, but maybe the way they use them enables some degree of choice over the "truth" the reader takes from it.
But, while I do try to be open to people with different beliefs, I'm generally rather wary of clergymen, I'm afraid.

Charli Mills
1/12/2015 06:57:04 pm

There is empowerment in claiming one's truth, writing into the truth, yet it is also a personal endeavor. How much of fiction is discovery, how much of it is denial? I suppose cosy fiction is the desire to deny truth, to write things the way they "ought" to be; sort of selling a truth many want to believe. I used to love romance novels in my younger days for that reason. It's why we like fairy tales and characters that always do good. Yet, writing into truth gets sticky, messy, murky. I believe it has to have a purpose. Neither do I like stories that simply exposes raw truth with no way to understand it. I like stories that write into the murkiness of truth but to seek meaning. Without purpose I don't think a story can be good on the merit of its truth alone. interesting book and discussion, Anne.

Annecdotist
2/12/2015 12:45:15 pm

Thanks for this thoughtful comment, Charli. Yes, I think it’s that I don’t like fiction that feels like a cover-up to my truth, although I’ve nothing against fiction as a distraction from the discomforts of life – and your comment is making me realise that I do see a distinction. I think it’s that I don’t like stuff that takes a look at the bleakness and then tries to pretend it’s all okay. But yeah, I don’t like gratuitous nastiness either. I’m not sure I’d go as far as saying it has to have meaning, but it does have to have some purpose within the story.
Fascinating as we try to work out the parameters of what we like and don’t like is readers.

Charli Mills
3/12/2015 03:03:32 am

Sometimes I think readers don't even know, and the writers are trying to figure it out! :-)

Annecdotist
4/12/2015 03:06:43 pm

I think you're right, Charli.


Comments are closed.
    Picture
    Free ebook: click the image to claim yours.
    Picture
    Available now
    Picture
    The poignant prequel to Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home
    Picture
    Find a review
    Picture
    Fictional therapists
    Picture
    Picture
    About Anne Goodwin
    Picture
    My published books
    entertaining fiction about identity, mental health and social justice
    Picture
    My third novel, published May 2021
    Picture
    My debut novel shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize
    Picture
    Picture
    My second novel published May 2017.
    Picture
    Short stories on the theme of identity published 2018
    Anne Goodwin's books on Goodreads
    Sugar and Snails Sugar and Snails
    reviews: 32
    ratings: 52 (avg rating 4.21)

    Underneath Underneath
    reviews: 24
    ratings: 60 (avg rating 3.17)

    Becoming Someone Becoming Someone
    reviews: 8
    ratings: 9 (avg rating 4.56)

    GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 4 GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 4
    reviews: 4
    ratings: 9 (avg rating 4.44)

    The Best of Fiction on the Web The Best of Fiction on the Web
    reviews: 3
    ratings: 3 (avg rating 4.67)

    2022 Reading Challenge

    2022 Reading Challenge
    Anne has read 2 books toward their goal of 100 books.
    hide
    2 of 100 (2%)
    view books
    Picture
    Annecdotal is where real life brushes up against the fictional.  
    Picture
    Annecdotist is the blogging persona of Anne Goodwin: 
    reader, writer,

    slug-slayer, tramper of moors, 
    recovering psychologist, 
    struggling soprano, 
    author of three fiction books.

    LATEST POSTS HERE
    I don't post to a schedule, but average  around ten reviews a month (see here for an alphabetical list), 
    some linked to a weekly flash fiction, plus posts on my WIPs and published books.  

    Your comments are welcome any time any where.

    Get new posts direct to your inbox ...

    Enter your email address:

    or click here …

    RSS Feed


    Picture

    Tweets by @Annecdotist
    Picture
    New short story, “My Dirty Weekend”
    Picture
    Let’s keep in touch – subscribe to my newsletter
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Popular posts

    • Compassion: something we all need
    • Do spoilers spoil?
    • How to create a convincing fictional therapist
    • Instructions for a novel
    • Looking at difference, embracing diversity
    • Never let me go: the dilemma of lending books
    • On loving, hating and writers’ block
      On Pop, Pirates and Plagiarism
    • READIN' for HER reviews
    • Relishing the cuts
    • The fast first draft
    • The tragedy of obedience
    • Writers and therapy: a love-hate relationship?

    Categories/Tags

    All
    Animals
    Annecdotist Hosts
    Annecdotist On Tour
    Articles
    Attachment Theory
    Author Interviews
    Becoming Someone
    Being A Writer
    Blogging
    Bodies
    Body
    Bookbirthday
    Books For Writers
    Bookshops
    CB Book Group
    Character
    Childhood
    Christmas
    Classics
    Climate Crisis
    Coming Of Age
    Counsellors Cafe
    Creative Writing Industry
    Creativity
    Cumbria
    Debut Novels
    Disability
    Editing
    Emotion
    Ethics
    Ethis
    Family
    Feedback And Critiques
    Fictional Psychologists & Therapists
    Food
    Friendship
    Futuristic
    Gender
    Genre
    Getting Published
    Giveaways
    Good Enough
    Grammar
    Gratitude
    Group/organisational Dynamics
    Hero’s Journey
    History
    Humour
    Identity
    Illness
    Independent Presses
    Institutions
    International Commemorative Day
    Jane Eyre
    Kidney Disease
    Language
    LGBTQ
    Libraries
    Live Events
    Lyrics For The Loved Ones
    Marketing
    Matilda Windsor
    Memoir
    Memory
    Mental Health
    Microfiction
    Motivation
    Music
    MW Prequel
    Names
    Narrative Voice
    Nature / Gardening
    Networking
    Newcastle
    Nonfiction
    Nottingham
    Novels
    Pandemic
    Peak District
    Perfect Match
    Poetry
    Point Of View
    Politics
    Politics Current Affairs
    Presentation
    Privacy
    Prizes
    Psychoanalytic Theory
    Psychology
    Psycholoists Write
    Psychotherapy
    Race
    Racism
    Rants
    Reading
    Real Vs Imaginary
    Religion
    Repetitive Strain Injury
    Research
    Reviewing
    Romance
    Satire
    Second Novels
    Settings
    Sex
    Shakespeare
    Short Stories General
    Short Stories My Published
    Short Stories Others'
    Siblings
    Snowflake
    Somebody's Daughter
    Stolen Summers
    Storytelling
    Structure
    Sugar And Snails
    Technology
    The
    The Guestlist
    Therapy
    TikTok
    TNTB
    Toiletday
    Tourism
    Toxic Positivity
    Transfiction
    Translation
    Trauma
    Unconscious
    Unconscious, The
    Underneath
    Voice Recognition Software
    War
    WaSBihC
    Weather
    Work
    Writing Process
    Writing Technique

    Archives

    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Picture
    BLOGGING COMMUNITIES
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos from havens.michael34, romana klee, mrsdkrebs, Kyle Taylor, Dream It. Do It., adam & lucy, dluders, Joybot, Hammer51012, jorgempf, Sherif Salama, eyspahn, raniel diaz, E. E. Piphanies, scaredofbabies, Nomadic Lass, paulternate, Tony Fischer Photography, archer10 (Dennis), slightly everything, impbox, jonwick04, country_boy_shane, dok1, Out.of.Focus, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Elvert Barnes, guillenperez, Richard Perry, jamesnaruke, Juan Carlos Arniz Sanz, El Tuerto, kona99, maveric2003, !anaughty!, Patrick Denker, David Davies, hamilcar_south, idleformat, Dave Goodman, Sharon Mollerus, photosteve101, La Citta Vita, A Girl With Tea, striatic, carlosfpardo, Damork, Elvert Barnes, UNE Photos, jurvetson, quinn.anya, BChristensen93, Joelk75, ashesmonroe, albertogp123, >littleyiye<, mudgalbharat, Swami Stream, Dicemanic, lovelihood, anyjazz65, Tjeerd, albastrica mititica, jimmiehomeschoolmom, joshtasman, tedeytan, striatic, goforchris, torbakhopper, maggibautista, andreboeni, snigl3t, rainy city, frankieleon