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John R. Carpenter

Goodreads Author

Born

in Cambridge MA, The United States

Website

http://www. amazon.com/author/carpenterj

Twitter

John_Randell1

Genre

History, Nonfiction, Poetry

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(See Profile)

Member Since

November 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/johnrcarpenter

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John Randell Carpenter
Writer, Translator, Editor. Brought up in Massachusetts and California. Schools in Berkeley, Ojai, Putney Vermont. Harvard College. Doctorate (Sorbonne) in Comparative Literature. Numerous publications. Translation awards: Islands and Continents Translation Award, Witter Bynner Poetry Translation Award, Award Andrew Mellon Foundation, Translation Center Award Columbia University, Fellow National Endowment for the Arts, twice in writing twice in translation. Married to Bogdana Chetkowska Carpenter. Two children, four grandchildren. Lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, part of year in Warsaw.

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So, if authors, artists and writers changed perspective following WWII, can you tell me why, even for some who saw it first hand - why they could not remember accurately? Or is it the victor's syndrome?

John R. Carpenter Very good question that ought to get at least two answers depending on the time frame. First, during the war itself, the answer Steinbeck found descri…moreVery good question that ought to get at least two answers depending on the time frame. First, during the war itself, the answer Steinbeck found described in my chapter "The Riddle.' Steinbeck interviewed several soldiers about an action in Italy, and they remembered everything right up to the moment it became dangerous to survival-- then clear memory came to a stop, their "perceptions seemed to become covered in cotton wool." Steinbeck thought this was probably an involuntary defense mechanism, a subconscious type of denial. Later, memory would not necessarily become better; often after 1945 it became worse, with all kinds of reasons and motivations for distortion, "victor's syndrome" prominent among them. I sometimes think of it as "creeping anachronism"; creeping in different ways one day, ten months, ten years-- twenty, fifty-- after the events.

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How do you deal with writer’s block?

John R. Carpenter Wait it out by doing something else. Anything else. Maybe best is something outdoors and away from the computer; a real change of pace.

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John R. Carpenter’s books

Average rating: 3.96 · 23 ratings · 8 reviews · 3 distinct works

	Wall, Watchtower, and Pencil Stub: Writing During World War II 4.21 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2014 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bearing Witness: How Writers Brought the Brutality of World War II to Light 3.69 avg rating — 13 ratings — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wall, Watchtower, and Pencil Stub: Writing During World War II by John R. Carpenter (2014-09-09) by John R. Carpenter (Goodreads Author), Unknown Author 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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John R. Carpenter's Blog

September 1939 map dividing Europe into two parts

The map shows the clear signatures of Stalin and Ribbentrop. Stalin's signature with florid cursive Cyrilic letters and a tail drops down to the bottom of the page. Ribbentrop's signature is accompanied by the Roman numeral "IX" for September. Five secret"Protocols" followed later in the month. It is impossible to understate the importance of this map: it was a blueprint for the mass invasions tha Read more of this blog post »

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