Tracy Kidder uses literary techniques, extensive reporting and an adherence to facts to convey his stories. We see in the excerpt from “The Soul of a New Machine,” Kidder structures his story in an interesting fashion. He first lets the scene set the tone. He talks about the highway and how in the 1960’s deer was a motorists biggest concern. He then goes to describe the non-ostentatious building of Data General. He mentions the orange carpet and the big brother cameras that make him scared to walk on the grass. “The lobby could belong to a motor inn,” he says. He sets the scene for a new industry to grow out the ruins of an old industry that lost itself to outsourcing.
The level of extensive research is apparent in his discussion of how Data General was formed. He discusses to emergence of IBM and their monopoly over the first computers. He even goes so far back as to discuss the invention of chips. He documents the general history of how mini computers were made and marketed and the atmosphere in the business at the time of a revolutionary trade that can make a ton of money without having to be flashy.
The story moved to de Castro, the outlaw that has been omitted from the history of Data General. He discusses the phenomenon of young computer engineers’ tendency to form small businesses producing personal computer outside of their larger firm, using their resources. Note: Steve Wozniak split from HP after they turned down his plans for a personal computer, started his own company and designed Apple-1 and then Apple-2 with Jobs out of his garage. The story’s message is not a history of computers, but a journey into uncharted waters, the chance for new smart young men to make millions out of a beauty parlor or in Jobs case, a garage.
His story was interesting and I wouldn’t rule out “process” journalism. The little man, big picture approach is intriguing and I plan on using it in my non-fiction story. I feel that I could utilize this approach in my story. Since I am doing my story on a farm that has 127 retired, abused and malnourished horses, there is a lot of room for personal stories. The granddaughter horse to Secretariat (who won the Triple Crown in 1973) was a recent addition after being experimented on in a research facility for 16 years. I am considering that as a starting point.
In one of the descriptions, it portrays Kidder as “hanging around” to get his story. Kelly Benham French spoke to our class the other day and made the same point. She said if you give her a few people she could find a story, but if you send her out on foot in a large group of people she could not. This is the principle that stories are there if you scratch the surface or “hang around” long enough. In his book documenting genocide in Africa he starts off with the remarkable story of a man who fled his country and became a medical student. He takes the story further by telling the story of him going back to give medical attention to his country. He then ties the story into the main issue of genocide in those parts. Again we see little man big pictures threads.
Overall, I admire Kidder’s technique. With the combination of good writing, expensive reporting and strong facts his stories are solid and enjoyable.
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