[Marxism] Re: Preliminary comments on Sheppard's memoir

[Brian Shannon <Brian_Shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't think that comments on Barry's omission of one or another
personal relationship are justified.

While it is entirely legitimate to write about one's own feelings, the
writer has to be aware that even when you write about your personal
relationships, you have to bring in factual elements and opinions of
the other person. A writer may justifiably fear that s/he has made the
wrong selection of facts, or misinterpreted psychological and emotional
elements. In other words, the result of your writing could end up a
useless partial lie as well as a useless partial truth.

More than one person is involved and in general, not only is it no one
else's business, it would add nothing to a "political" memoir.

I think that it is entirely legitimate to pass over, not only earlier,
but even present relationships, or to bring them in solely to make a
useful political or social comment, or in some cases, to describe your
own thought processes as indicative of the political period.

I think that Barry does that where it is useful. He has probably judged
that it was not useful regarding his first marriage.

I knew Barry politically but not personally when I was in the SWP. I
know him somewhat better now that both of us are out of the SWP. I also
met his first wife and knew her slightly. Neither of them ever said
anything to me about the other person. So why should he now tell the
whole world?

We should consider his memoir on what he wrote, not on what he didn't
write.


Brian Shannon


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