Hi all,
Been thinking a bit of Stephen King and his accident influencing his work (most notably Duma Key )and have been thinking of making a reading list of similar works. Another example would be Charles Dicken’s experience of being apprenticed out in some kind of horrible factory, which influenced David Copperfield and other works of his. I have lots of time on my hands (laid off and for various reasons, not really jumping to get back into the work force) and a library card in good standing, so interested to hear about other author’s lives affecting their work.
Every author’s life affects his or her work. Just about all of them at some time write about actual experiences they had, so any author who had a bad experience probably found a way to put it into fiction.
Joe Haldeman’s “More than the Sum of His Parts” was based upon his being wounded in Vietnam (well, broadly; the specific events didn’t happen to him).
Anne McCaffrey’s story, “The Ship Who Sang” was based upon her reaction to the death of her father.
Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five was about his witnessing the Dresden firebombing.
Gustav Hasford’s Short Timers, filmed by Kubrick as Full Metal Jacket, was based on his experiences in boot camp. Of course, there are about a million war books based on the writer’s own experiences.