Question 5:

In her article, “Green Grass, Running Water: Theorizing the World of the Novel,” Blanca Chester observes that “the conversation that King sets up between oral creation story, biblical story, literary story, and historical story resembles the dialogues that Robinson sets up in his storytelling performances (47). She writes:

Robinson’s literary influence on King was, as King himself says, “inspirational.” When one reads King’s earlier novel, Medicine River, andcompares it with Green Grass, Running Water, Robinson’s impact is obvious. Changes in the style of the dialogue, including the way King’s narrator seems to address readers and characters directly (using the first person), in the way traditional characters and stories from Native cultures (particularly Coyote) are adapted, and especially in the way that each of the distinct narrative strands in the novel contains and interconnects with every other, reflect Robinson’s storied impact. (46)

For this blog assignment I would like you to make some comparisons between Harry Robson’s writing style in “Coyote Makes a Deal with the King Of England” and King’s style in Green Grass, Running Water. What similarities can you find between the two story-telling voices? Coyote and God are present in both texts, how do they compare in character and voice across the stories?

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After reading the first two lines of King’s Green Grass Running Water, I had to flip back to the front cover to check whether I was reading the correct novel; I felt as if I was reading a continuation of Robinson’s story. As I progressed through King’s novel, I recognized both differences and similarities in the style of writing between both works.

As I have mentioned in a previous post, Robinson overuses the word “so” in his story, to the point where it is present on every page. “So” creates a casual tone and informal atmosphere – similar to what one would expect when listening to a story. King’s immediate use of Robinson’s language to begin his own story shows “the [clear] influence of Robinson’s voice [in his] own written storytelling” (Chester 44). King says, “So. In the beginning, there was nothing. Just the water” (1). Short, choppy sentences prepare the reader (or listener) for a similar voice like Robinson’s. King incorporates Robinson’s style of abstract syntax choices and incomplete sentences to mimic the effect of his storytelling. The narrator speaks to the audience, engaging them directly by saying “I can tell you that” (King 1) – again, addressing the listener in an oral fashion. Paterson notes in lesson 3:1 that King’s novel is “deeply rooted in the story-telling tradition of Harry Robinson and in literary imitations of orality”.

While there are aspects of Robinson’s voice in King’s novel, Green Grass Running Water uses a variety of stylistic changes as King jumps back and forth from voice to voice and story to story. King integrates the storyteller voice by strategically spreading those pieces out throughout the story; this acts as a constant reminder of oral literature, and brings attention back to the atmosphere of traditional storytelling. There is “no real beginning, no middle, and no end [in Green Grass Running Water] – it is a continuous cycle that is always beginning again, as the world itself is being re-created, through story” (Chester 46). Here, Chester sees how the frameless structure of King’s novel elaborates further on Robinson’s idea of story presentations. After the introduction of Green Grass, King alters his writing techniques by switching to a more academic style with increased fluidity. Vast amounts of dialogue still remain, but it is connected to the rest of the writing in a fashion that is easier to follow. Chester notes King’s heavy use of dialogue as well, and also comments on how the relationship between writer and reader is imitated through dialogue between storyteller and audience.

Overall, Robinson distinctly influences King’s writing style, but King strays away from an informal voice in order to artistically portray the story he needs to tell.

Works Cited:

Chetser, Blanca.  “Green Grass Running Water: Theorizing the World of the Novel.” Canadian Literature. 161/162, 1999. 44-61.

King, Thomas. Green Grass Running Water. Toronto: Harper Collins, 1993. Print.

Paterson, Erika. ENGL 470A Canadian Studies: Canadian Literary Genres. University of British Columbia, 2013. Web. 13th April. 2014.

Robinson, Harry. “Coyote Makes a Deal with the King Of England.” Living by Stories: a Journey of Landscape and Memory. Ed. Wendy Wickwire. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2005. 64-85.