John Irving: A Literary Life

What It Takes®

Academy of Achievement

Film, Politics, Arts, Self-help, Sports, Society & Culture, Success, Literature, Humanitarian, Military, Social Justice, Technology, Podcast, Achievement, Music, Science

4.6 • 943 Ratings

🗓️ 10 October 2016

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

One of America's greatest living novelists begins every book by writing the the last sentence first. In this episode, John Irving, author of The World According to Garp, A Prayer for Owen Meany, and The Cider House Rules, explains why. And he might just convince you that his uncommon approach is the only one that makes sense! Irving also opens up about his early life, and reveals how his mysteriously absent father, his learning disability, and his passion for wrestling all contributed to his success as a writer. Whether you've read every John Irving novel or none, this is a fascinating story about the writing process, and about an author some critics have called the Charles Dickens of our time. (c ) American Academy of Achievement 2016

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'll begin where I always begin which is at the end. I've never started to write a
0:07.9	novel or a screenplay without knowing the ending first and I don't mean that I need only to know what happens
0:15.8	at the end of a novel or a screenplay
0:17.9	before I begin.
0:19.9	I need to know the sentences themselves. But I need to start the sentences themselves.
0:23.6	But I need to start at the beginning.
0:25.8	That voice belongs to John Irving.
0:28.2	He's one of the finest and most widely read American novelists of the past 50 years. The world according to Garp, A Prayer for Owen
0:36.2	Meany, The Sider House Rules, All His, and most recently, Avenue of Mysteries. Five of his novels have been turned into movies.
0:46.2	Before we return to the story of John Irving's approach to writing stories,
0:51.0	end first, I need to say this is what it takes from the Academy of
0:56.5	Achievement. I'm Alice Winkler.
1:00.3	Had a maid, this child is gifted and I heard that enough that I started to believe it.
1:07.7	If you have the opportunity, not a perfect opportunity and you don't take it you may never have another
1:13.5	job it all was so clear it was just like the picture started to form itself
1:18.4	there was no way in which a lie could prevail over the truth, darkness over light, death over life.
1:26.0	Every day I wake up and decide. Today I'm going to love my life.
1:31.0	Decide. My advice is if they go and break your leg once when you go
1:37.0	on that place stay out of there.
1:39.1	And then along come these differential experiences that you don't look for you don't plan for but boy you
1:45.8	better not miss them.
1:48.8	I interrupted John Irving with my introduction. He was starting to explain how he never begins
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Academy of Achievement, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Academy of Achievement and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.