Re: Salinger and Nabokov / Flaubert's Parrot -Reply -Reply
J J R (jrovira@juno.com)
Fri, 04 Sep 1998 22:37:05 -0400 (EDT)
Camille--
I was referring to the assumptions behind the ONE post I replied to, not
to your belief system overall :) The assumptions were intentionalist, so
far as I could tell. Whether consciously or not, I don't know (Ok, now I
do, thank you for the quotes :) ).
But, you see, I did understand you, because you said,
<< But as I said, my question lies in JDS's intention.>>
My point was that JDS's intention is irrelevant. If all you want to ask
is, "What is JD's intention for the Glass family epics? Is he done with
them, has he written more, what's going on?" well, that's fine. I'd like
to know that myself. But the way you were writing your post--it sounded
like this intention might actually impact the meaning of the text. That
was the point at which I disagreed.
<< But this also means that they take on an independent existence outside
of their actual text>>
Now, that's where I disagree with you :) It just seems silly, and is
factually incorrect. Seymour "really" exists only in the words written
to represent him, and those words provide the fantasy of him being real,
living a real life outside the words, but he really doesn't. We can only
take what we have and project outwards to create what's not there
explicitly, but this will be much like shining a light through a lens.
The spot on the wall made by the light will take on the shape and tint of
the lens. In the same way, our outward projection of Seymour's life are
shaped by the texts we have describing him, and limited to those texts.
A real person may have volumes of text written about him or her, but all
the words cannot ever fully capture every instant of the life. In a
fictional character, all the words are the life.
<<Some interesting points raised here, but again, *please* check your
facts
before pointing e-fingers!
Camille >>
GAWD Camile, lighten up, my text was written as a joke. THEORY WARS? A
LONG TIME AGO ON A LISTSERVE FAR, FAR AWAY? And you took that seriously?
heh ;)
Jim
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