Comparison

Category: Not About Heroes
By W Lawrance

Updated: 02 Aug, 2007 - 15:20:17

FACT IN FICTION - A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT

The use of well-known and well-reported facts in a work of fiction is always going to be fraught with problems. However, given the subject matter of the First World War, the use of historical facts within fictional works is inevitable. Sometimes problems arise when either that factual element is taken too seriously or too literally, or when the facts themselves are misrepresented or exaggerated. Apart from Stephen MacDonald, among the great number of modern authors who have included realistic elements of the war, or that period, within their novels are Pat Barker (Regeneration), Sebastian Faulks (Birdsong) and Sebastian Barry (A Long Long Way).

When, like Stephen MacDonald, an author’s source of information is the letters and memoirs of the deceased, there is a vast responsibility on him not to misrepresent or misinterpret their words, simply because they are no longer able to correct him. In his introduction to this play, Stephen MacDonald makes it clear that the words involved are his: he has ‘borrowed’ from Sassoon and Owen, but used his own words to tell their story. However, for the reader or audience, this can be easily forgotten, especially with the inclusion of their poetry, which adds to the authenticity and, one can begin to believe that the two men actually said and did everything that is represented here. This is, in fact, a tribute to the playwright, who has captured the essence of these men with, sometimes startling, accuracy.

Stephen MacDonald, writing in the early 1980s, without access to Sassoon’s diaries, which were yet to be published, represents him as a diffident, yet somewhat tempestuous character. These traits are echoed by Sassoon’s most recent biographers, Jean Moorcroft Wilson, John Stuart-Roberts and Max Egremont, who paint a similar portrait of their subject. Max Egremont, in particular, was granted unprecedented access to Sassoon’s papers, giving his portrayal a great depth and clarity and many of the scenes and conversations in the play are confirmed within this biography. That said, the reader or audience must always allow for artistic license: an omission or addition which is necessary to make the play flow better, or condense it down to fit into a reasonable timescale.

End of sample text taken from an article contained in the "Not About Heroes" category.