Perhaps my fascination is in retrospect, now understanding that so many momentous things happened in the 60’s and I essentially missed out on them because I was a self-absorbed little kid, drawing and writing in my own little cosmos. I had older cousins who looked like hippies and they were so cool, but I didn’t really know what it meant to be one. I had never heard of drugs until the Beatles entered their psychedelic phase and became a topic at the dinner table. I had asked, “What are drugs?” the answer offered was so vague as to not make a lasting impression. I still had no idea what ‘mind-altering’ meant.
It seems that every up-and-coming generation looks back on their childhood years with nostalgia. As that generation comes of age and exerts their influence on the media, television and movies reflect that nostalgia. Back in the 70’s, Happy Days glorified the 50’s. In the late 80’s we had The Wonder Years, the late 90’s brought us That 70’s Show, and the 00’s bring us, well, I’m not really sure since I don’t watch much television, but I’m sure there’s some offering that puts a nostalgic slant on the 80’s.
What I do know about the 60’s was the innocence of perception through the eyes of a pre-teen who does not yet have the context of years to understand just what all that upheaval meant. We didn’t lock our doors. We rode our bicycle up and down the road without fear of strangers. I’m sure adults were aware of pedophiles, but I sure wasn’t. I didn’t even know what sex was until the 70’s. Innocence and ignorance. In many ways it was bliss.
It is against that backdrop that I am allowing my nearly twelve-year-old character, Benjamin Hughes, to experience the summer of 1969, through innocent eyes. It’s going to break my heart when his entire life crumbles around him in the ‘real’ world.
do i smell coffee?
ReplyDeleteGlenn, are you suggesting this highly-irregular, late-night post was caffeine induced? Lol.
Delete...oh, now I get it! You're referring to the title, Spilled Coffee! wow, am I slow...must need some...
DeleteThe sixties were momentous! My first novel took place midst the upheavel of the Vietnam War and, yes, it broke my heart for that exact same reason. But that won't stop you from charging full speed ahead into your story. Nothing will be able to stop you.
ReplyDeleteI am having a good time writing it, Yvonne. It's sort of fun to filter all the upheaval through the eyes of inexperience and wonder. Especially when those eyes--that of a pubescent boy--are focused on 'other' things.
DeleteRemember what Philip Larkin said...
ReplyDeleteSexual intercourse began
In nineteen sixty-three
(which was rather late for me) -
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles' first LP.
http://www.poetryconnection.net/poets/Philip_Larkin/4761
Okay, well, no, I don't remember what Philip Larkin said, lol, but that's only because I remained oblivious to the sexual revolution right into the 70's.
DeleteThanks for sharing that, though. I think it sums up the 60's turning point rather well. I like this line:
Up to then there'd only been
A sort of bargaining,
A wrangle for the ring,
A shame that started at sixteen
And spread to everything.
I believe that 'shame' lingered well into the 70's for many of us late bloomers.
Funny, I'm working on a novel set in the Sixties, too, only mine's in Canada in 1967. Talking to my parents this weekend about their experience of the time, they said they genuinely felt hopeful at the time, like good things might actually be possible.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, how heartbreaking that from there we adolesced into the Seventies, then slid into the muck of the Eighties. And we seem to have repeated that same cycle again (the 2010s have become The New Eighties).
This is my first historical novel, and it's taken me a long time to get over my hang-ups about making it factually correct. Ultimately, I've come around to accepting that I'll be telling a lie (a story) and describing my own internal, imaginary 1967, which I have full rights to, so I need to stop worrying and just get on with it. Above all, I don't want to be showing my homework on the page.
How are you managing this with your novel?
Hamish, at least you have real live people to consult in doing your research, and not just dry pages of factual history!
DeleteIn writing mine, I of course have a slated view of what took place historically. The beauty of novel writing is interpreting a time or situation from your own (your character's) perceptions--in my case, through the eyes of a 12 year old. And as you know, individual perceptions don't always coincide with reality. That's very freeing when it comes to Just Writing It! That said, I picked several events that would stand out to my character, things that affect him (or his family) directly, and explore those.
...the 80's? That was the other lost decade for me...I was reproducing and mothering little kids...don't recall much of the 80's :)
I am going to love this book so much. I can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteAnd I can't wait to have you help me get it ready for public readership! :)
DeleteI was born in 1970 and, other than Star Wars, I have no nostalgia at all for that decade. I hated the clothes, the music, Watergate (yes, I remember that being the only thing on TV for days, and, really, I was just too young to care). The 80s are a different story, though.
ReplyDeleteThe 70's were kind of an odd decade, I mean, the hippies ushered it in, and disco ushered it out. I don't know if it's because I experienced adolescence in the 70's, but that decade felt like a jumbled up, confusing mess to me. I too remember Watergate, though I can't say I really cared much about it either, but talk about sending a mixed message to a young and impressionable generation!
DeleteI'm actually grateful that my 'coming of age' occurred in the 60's. It was the decade of enlightenment and idealism, and I believe it was the decade that saw more societal change, from start to finish, than any other, before or since. In many ways, the successive decades seem 'flat' and without soul, as the 'we' generation turned into the 'me' generation... and managed to NOT find any fulfillment in doing so.
ReplyDeleteI remember hearing about and seeing 'Flower Children' on the media back then. I was drawn to all that without understanding what any of it meant. It does seem that although many of the ideologies of that generation were assimilated into the mainstream, but I think you're right--the subsequent generations kind of missed the point of 'we' the way the 'flower children' intended it. I'm sure there's lots written about that...
DeleteI was born in England in the late 60's. None of this is familiar to me. :)
ReplyDeleteHa! Stina, you did miss out! Though as I understand it, England had their own revolution in the 60's even if you were still too young to remember...
DeleteHow did I miss this earlier? I am two years older then you...and what I remember of 1969, was a huge sense of unease. I do not have good memories of that year. Personal things occurred coincide with the timing of what was going on nationally making it a painful time on the inside and out. Although I don't like thinking about the year, it would be an amazing canvas to write about.
ReplyDeleteI guess we all have at least one of those years in history--personal or otherwise--that we'd like to erase. One of the perks about writing as a 12-13 year-old boy is that it removes 'my' experience from the story. Just the same, there is a certain amount of angst when revisiting those pubescent years--male of female.
DeleteI was in Newfoundland in the Navy through a good part of the sixties. We were in a structured, safe environment watching the riots of the 60's, and assassination reoccurring live on TV. We were pretty sure that we were watching our country die.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I was also in a structured, safe environment watching the 60's, but I had no idea what it all meant. Even now, looking back, I still scratch my head with wonder...
DeleteOh Benjamin Hughes, I love you already. I'm very frightened of what Bridget has in store for you.
ReplyDeleteHa! Lisa, you know me too well! I kind of feel bad putting my characters through so much, but there's always a chance that it won't be him I kill off in the end...
DeleteMy father was born in '63 and I've always been disappointed that he was too young to remember the turmoil of the late '60s. I think it'd be cool to read about a high school or college student from that period.
ReplyDeleteAnd your project sounds awesome!
You should send it my way...
Ethan, nice to see you back around!
DeleteYeah, I'm sort of sorry/glad I was just a little too young to remember a lot of the 60's with much clarity. Google has been a great refresher course on things I vaguely recall--like transistor radios, lol.