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The final paragraph in the Acknowledgements in Still Life, “I went through a period in my life when I had no friends, when the phone never rang, when I thought I would die from loneliness. I know that the real blessing here isn’t that I have a book published, but that I have so many people to thank.” How much do authors notes and acknowledgements influence your appreciation for a book? Did your feelings for Still Life change? Do you follow Louise Penny on social media, receive her newsletters or attend her book tours? How much does her real life charisma influence your enjoyment for the Three Pines books?
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Acknowledgments usually don’t influence my appreciation or judgment of a book, as I don’t equate an author’s notes with the book itself unless they are notes that provide insights into the historical details depicted in the book or it is a non-fiction book. For example, I appreciated the notes in The Frozen River because they provided context for the author’s choices based on the historical records. The one thing I noted from Louise’s acknowledgments is that she thanks all her friends in addition to her husband for supporting her as a writer, and she recognizes the “real blessing.” I liked this because it made me challenge about my assumptions about the lonely, isolated writer toiling away on their own given how writing brought all the things that Louise said she had been missing in her earlier period of life.
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I did read them. I would love to attend a book tour and would be happy to recommend locations in ABQ, NM if Louise was willing! I think I often gloss over the Acknowledgements, regarding them as akin to the lengthy speeches people give after receiving an award. But, I always learn something more from what Louise writes, something that informs my appreciation of the story (I find the same with the acknowledgments of WKK whose TRWR is a current book discussion choice).
And I subscribe to her Newsletter and follow her on Facebook.
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I sometimes read the acknowledgements and appreciate it when they add to the content of the book. Usually, I skim acknowledgement sections, particularly when they seem to be a list of names and positions, similar to what Jane describes above with the speeches at an awards ceremony. But many recommend reading LP’s acknowledgements, and I can understand why.
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Yes, I read the acknowledgement; I usually do in any book I read, if I can. I find it may give me further insight into the author’s thought processes which may or may not enhance my appreciation for what they were trying to accomplish in their story. It sometimes gives clues as to what is important to them, and what motivated them, and also, as Tara mentioned, may also pique my curiosity about something I might want to further investigate about the story. I like seeing a glimpse of who the author is, as well; who they choose to thank, and why. LP often goes even further in her explanations about such things, and it’s made me like and admire her even more as a person. In the case of this book’s acknowledgement, It didn’t change my perspective about what I thought about the book, but it made me appreciate the intensity of the labor that had gone into it; the very human struggle to get this thing accomplished, the appreciation of those who helped along the way, and the acknowledgement that help and the support of others was needed to get this done. And her very human reveal that her life had not always been successful and rosy made her all the more relatable; she was a normal human being who struggled, just like most of us. And yet, look what she had accomplished! It gave me an affirmation that a person’s hopes and dreams may sometimes come true, if they don’t give up. I found it inspirational.
Thus, I have become a total fan of LP. There’s something about her writing and her decency that is very appealing to me, and I try to support it in any way that I can. I do follow her on FB (she’s the reason I started participating on FB at all, really– I was looking to find out more about her books, and that opened me up to social media, for better or for worse), and I subscribe to her newsletter, and last year, I was able to both visit Knowlton, QC and see LP in Lancaster, PA on her book tour. I’ve never done that for any other author, but the opportunity arose and I grabbed at it. I discovered her books at a time when I needed some peace of mind, and that has made them special for me; last year was the first time in years that I had been able to get away from home responsibilities and actually go somewhere, and it just seemed like perfect karma that these opportunities arose!
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