What does "based on a true story" really mean? Aren't all stories based on some truth?
I started thinking about these questions a few years ago when I read the delightful book "The Wilder Life," which examines the Little House series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. As a child, I was infatuated with those books to the point that I would spend hours re-enacting scenes and dressing up as the books' characters. It all seemed perfectly normal at the time. Who wouldn't want to pretend their picnic table was a covered wagon and drag all their possessions to the back yard? Looking back now, I must have been a very odd child.
As soon as I started reading Wendy McClure's "The Wilder Life," I instantly regretted not writing the book myself. In it, she travels across the midwest to the many homesteads, memorials and museums that honor the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. To me, that sounds like the road trip of a lifetime. Some of the places were more impressive than others, but at each stop, McClure pondered the question of what was historically true and what was invented for the novels.
Yes, they are novels. The Little House books aren't biographies or non-fiction. They are shelved with the children's literature and classified as fiction. Many of the stories, McClure writes, are based in reality, but are not factually true. In fact, some of the books may have been written by Laura's daughter, Rose.
Does the truth of the stories really matter? Do we learn less from these books if all the events didn't actually happen? I don't think so. Stories, whether they are true or real or fantasy or fiction, exist to tell us about something. We may see ourselves in facets of the stories or we may simply be entertained by their plot lines. I haven't quite figured out why the Little House books were so appealing to me but they have inspired in me a love of storytelling and a love of reading.
Now, I am reading and enjoying Bich Minh Nyguen's "Pioneer Girl," which tells of a Vietnamese family's ties to Laura Ingalls Wilder. It also asks questions about how truthful stories can be.
We tell stories to mark our time on Earth, to tell of what happens in our lives, whether it's insignificant or not. Stories are told in books, on television and in movies. I love to read (and watch) stories of all types. I hope I never run out of stories to hear.
