Re: Quiet list? there's always "Salinger and Buddhism"
Tim O'Connor (tim@roughdraft.org)
Sat, 27 Jun 1998 00:28:55 -0400
> I think these and the other questions all show why Hamlet is such a great
> and vastly reinterpretable text. It *is* ambiguous; as ambiguous as life
> itself, which is why we still get so much out of it. The idea of different
> `readings' comes very much into play here, which is why everyone has their
> own different Hamlets, Holdens, Seymours etc in their head - we attempt to
> provide our own individually tailored answers where they are none.
This idea surfaces again and again here, and I think it's a good thing (and
nice to see variations on the theme!), because for me, personally, the
memorable work is elegantly ambiguous -- the way an Escher picture looks
like this, then like that -- and stands up to repeated close examination.
And it spurs the imagination, too, which is always a fine side-effect of
art. Or, as our favorite narrator might dare say, Art.
--tim o'connor