Colour me surprised
As regular readers will know, I am presently working on a biography of Conan Doyle's Windlesham years. The reason I waited almost three years after the publication of my last book came down to one word.
And that word was Spiritualism.
Knowing I would have to tackle this area of Conan Doyle's life scared me. It scared me because I feel a biographer needs to be even-handed and I could not see how I could be even-handed about a subject I don't believe in.
However, I have discovered that which I should have realised at the start. Namely, that you can choose not to believe in something and yet treat it with respect. As people we do it all the time.
Freed of that fear I find that I'm now really enjoying writing about this facet of Conan Doyle's life. I cannot but admire his drive and integrity and get annoyed at the merciless ridicule he endured for his beliefs.
I hope to do him some justice but only you can be the judge of whether I succeed.
Written by Alistair Duncan
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And that word was Spiritualism.
Knowing I would have to tackle this area of Conan Doyle's life scared me. It scared me because I feel a biographer needs to be even-handed and I could not see how I could be even-handed about a subject I don't believe in.
However, I have discovered that which I should have realised at the start. Namely, that you can choose not to believe in something and yet treat it with respect. As people we do it all the time.
Freed of that fear I find that I'm now really enjoying writing about this facet of Conan Doyle's life. I cannot but admire his drive and integrity and get annoyed at the merciless ridicule he endured for his beliefs.
I hope to do him some justice but only you can be the judge of whether I succeed.
Written by Alistair Duncan
I am looking forward to your take on that time in his life. I would imagine that grief played a big role in it.
ReplyDeleteNot as much as you might think. I will say no more. I don't want to ruin your reading experience.
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