The top five epistolary books to read, picked by an Amherst-based writer and editor, were in "The Wall Street Journal" earlier this year.
“I'm not an authority on any of these particular authors, I just come at them from the point of view of a delighted reader,” said Jennifer Acker, herself the editor of the literary magazine The Common and a novelist.
Acker's initial list of epistolary reads was long she said, but for the "The Wall Street Journal," she whittled it down to five. One is nonfiction, “Letters to a Young Poet” by Rainer Maria Rilke, and four novels: “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, “Gilead” by Marilynne Robinson, “Dear Committee Members” by Julie Schumacher and “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker.
The list is a mix of older and contemporary books. Some lighthearted, some serious; all of them earnest, Acker said.
Schumacher’s “Dear Committee Members," a college campus farce, is told through letters of recommendations, all penned by a creative writing professor, teaching at Payne University, in the doldrums over his own career and romantic life.
The genius of the book, Acker said, is that you come to care about the letter writer, Professor Jason Fitger.
“This guy who seems at times like just a pompous jerk. His career has stalled, and he seems to be taking it out on on various people,” Acker said.
One letter begins:
“Dear Dean Hinkler,
I have been tapped once again, and for reasons that defy human understanding, to write a letter during the final, crisis ridden week of the semester, on behalf of my colleague Franklin Cantrell..."
This letter of recommendation goes on to say that if the dean will allow Cantrell to nominate himself into a position of authority, "please, God, let it be the faculty Senate [where] his eccentricities" [will] be at least harmless," because, Fitger writes, the candidate is insane.
Fitger is incredibly rude Acker said, but he's endearing because of his sense of humor.
"You also come to understand over the course of the book that he feels that the humanities are dying, that his students are actually placing a sort of faith in him and his letters — that are far beyond their actual power in the world," Acker said.
Elevating letter writing to an art form
In the right hands, authors can elevate letter writing to an art form, Acker said describing the books on her short list.
In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, first published in 1818, the fantastical story of Victor Frankenstein and the monster he created is told through letters written by a sea captain after he found Victor Frankenstein on an ice flow in the Arctic.
“He’s very bedraggled and emaciated and has clearly been through a terrible time. And then he recounts his story– and the sea captain writes down the story to send to his sister,” Acker explained.
The letters are an elaborate framing device that lay out the heart of the narrative. "Frankenstein" the book has a different flow from various film versions, but one thing remains the same: the monster created from human flesh of the dead causes unimaginable loss to his creator, starting with the murder of Frankenstein’s younger brother.
A letter written to Frankenstein from his father begins with the need to prepare Frankenstein for woeful news.
"My dear Victor, You have probably waited impatiently for a letter to fix the date of your return to us...."
Frankenstein's father says he was at first tempted to write only a few lines, but that would be a "cruel kindness" and he dare not do it.
"What would be your surprise, my son, when you expected a happy and gay welcome, to behold, on the contrary, tears and wretchedness? And how, Victor, can I relate our misfortune? Absence cannot have rendered you callous to our joys and griefs; and how shall I inflict pain on an absent child? I wish to prepare you for the woeful news, but I know it is impossible; even now your eye skims over the page, to seek the words which are to convey to you the horrible tidings.
"William is dead!—that sweet child, whose smiles delighted and warmed my heart, who was so gentle, yet so gay! Victor, he is murdered!
Letters as solace
The letters to and from Frankenstein reveal so much emotion Acker said — regret, suffering and loneliness
That's a theme driving much of Alice Walker's "The Color Purple."
Celie's letters make up the first chapters of Walker's 1985 novel. The first, to God, is a graphic description of being raped by her father (later learned to be her step-father). Other characters and their stories are introduced. Then halfway through the book a correspondence between Celie and her sister Nettie begins.
Dear Celie,
I wrote a letter to you almost every day on the ship coming to Africa. But by the time we docked I was so down, I tore them into little pieces and dropped them into the water. Albert [Mr ___] is not going to let you have my letters and so what use is there in writing them. That's the way I felt when I tore them up and sent them to you on the waves. But now I feel different.
"I think one of the things that letters reveal is the loneliness of the letter writer, that people turn to letter writing in addressing God or addressing a family member or whether or not they will actually receive the letters," Acker said. "It's a form of solace to be able to express yourself."
In Marilyn Robinson’s “Gilead" Acker explained how the narrative is one long letter, containing quite a lot about thinking about the human condition and "some theological rumination as well."
The book is essentially a memoir written by 76-year old John Ames to his seven year old son.
At the start Ames tells his son he is dying and there are many ways to live a good life.
“.... And you said, 'Mama already told me that.' And then you said, 'Don't laugh' because you thought I was laughing at you.
You reached up and put your fingers on my lips and gave me that look I never in my life saw on any other face beside your mother's. It's a kind of furious pride, very passionate and stern. I'm always a little surprised to find my eyebrows unsigned after I've suffered one of those looks.”
The technicalities somehow don't get in the way
It's quite impressive the way authors manage to use only letters to write an entire book, Acker said, knowing herself the technical difficulty of advancing a plot and showing relationships between characters.
"To sort of let the framing of the letter fall away a little bit and pretend that you are just describing the world to someone close to you, and incorporating pieces of dialog and descriptions of places," Acker said.
That and knowing that your "reader has infinite interest and patience," she added with a laugh.