Timothy Findley Analysis

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Every Man Dies Alone, a novel by Hans Fallada, and the novel Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley are two stories that have similar themes, traits, and authors. The reason for writing this essay was to introduce the two authors, to inform the reader of the relevant components of their lives, and novels. The knowledge of an authors background is important since writers greatly shape society, and especially so if one is reading a tale the author had written. The two author’s that are being introduced in this text will be the Canadian author Timothy Findley, and the German author Hans Fallada. These two authors have several similarities, such as their downfalls and successes as writers, yet each of their lives had wild differences as well, …show more content…
He also stated, “Everything in my life ends up in my books”, for, all of his fictional tales are under the name Hans Fallada (Williams, 1998). Perhaps Fallada had taken a likening to adding his own personal experience into his works, perhaps writing stories that had resembled similar life experiences helped him cope, and not feel so alone. He found that having a pen name helped him with his artistic flare and creativity, for maybe this could be the reason that creating a new identity gives one a sense of worth. For instance, Fallada’s first book, Little man, what now?, was published in 1932, it was a hit, and is now known today as a classic (Williams, 1998). During the writing process of his first novel, the author was dealing with morphine addiction, and his brother had passed away during this time as well (Petrikowski, 2015). In the novel, the setting is actually placed in Berlin, to which he also gave an accurate and thorough description of the lives of white-collar workers in the era. Other valid components tied in to the story were the detailed insights on the governmental institutions, along with trade unions at the time as well (Henry B, 225). To add on to Fallada’s psychosis, the author had actually attempted to kill his first wife, and was also imprisoned several times in his adulthood, it had seemed to be, the older he turned, the …show more content…
His family, similar to Fallada were also well off, his father was a stalk broker, and they grew up in a fine neighbourhood (The Famous People, 2015). Growing up, Findley had glandular fever, and despite this, he had to educate himself independently after 9th grade (Gale, 144). He was fifteen when he started writing; his first stories ended up being relatable to his personal life, such as writing about lonely children or stories containing themes of solitude and isolation (New, 366-67). When Findley turned seventeen, he began acting, and actually pursued this career for fifteen years (Gale, 143). Originally, he wanted to be a dancer in ballet, but because of a fused disk he was unable to attend schooling (New, 367). In the 1950’s, Findley was in England for acting; he was apart of the cast of The Matchmaker. It was here, during this play that he was fully convinced to partake in a writing career. Findley had in fact became a fictional writer, for he wrote scripts for the CBC radio, and wrote plays as well (Gale, 143). It seems as if Findley had an imaginative mind, for he wrote thought-provoking

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