Re: Quiet list? there's always
Camille Scaysbrook (verona_beach@geocities.com)
Sat, 04 Jul 1998 18:28:46 +1000
> Ah, Camille, Camille, I didn't say that Holden is Salinger's opinion.
Neither did I. I just meant that we should keep Holden and Salinger as two
separate entities in our mind. Naturally it's impossible to say that there
is none of Salinger in Holden - there's a little bit of the author in *all*
of his or her characters. But I do think it's dangerous to say, for example
`Holden did this, and therefore that's what Salinger would do.' It's
interesting to speculate on how similar Holden was to Salinger as a young
guy, but ultimately not very productive because A) we'll never know and B)
ultimately it should be irrelevant. I do see your point, but I think I have
a lower estimate of its importance than you do. On the other hand, I
certainly don't
subscribe to Roland Barthes' ideas about the Death of the Author. Naturally
it's impossible for the author not to be present in some way. But in a bad
story, the author is a person standing on a stage reading out his or her
story. In a good story, no matter how close the story or characters are to
their heart, the author should merely be a ghost in the projection room
slowly and nearly silently hand cranking the camera.
> It's like Wuthering Heights, if I remember correctly, which was
> written by Bronte who is, indeed, female, but from a male point of view.
That's a moot point - yes, the frame narrator is male but he only listens
to a female (the servant who tells him the story of Cathy and Heathcliff
and whose name escapes me) tell him the story. So it's not actually from a
male point of view.
Camille
verona_beach@geocities.com
@ THE ARTS HOLE
www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6442