Subject: (whorl) A Mania for Conversations

From: Michael Straight <straight at email.unc.edu>
Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 15:48:00 +0000

Horn's statement about having a mania for recording coversations struck me
as a key insight into Wolfe's writing.  Could it be that Wolfe's eliptical
style is largely based on a preference for writing conversations rather
than describing actions?  I'd have to do some more reading with this idea
in mind, but I have the impression that quite a lot of the gaps in Wolfe's
narratives come when a conversation is interrupted by some event, and we
skip the event for another conversation in which someone may or may not
describe or allude to the event itself.

-Rostrum

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From: Steve Strickland <sstrickland at satx.rr.com>
Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 15:53:06 +0000

I took Horn's statement as a bit of self-deprecating humor on the part of
Mr. Wolfe.  No doubt as a result of the extensive narrative sections in the
latter volumes of Long Sun, Wolfe received more than a few comments like,
"Can't you write anything but dialogue?" or "Can't you pepper the dialogue
with a little more description?" (And I'm sure he received less critical
observations regarding the same.)

As I see it, Horn's statement is Wolfe's playful nod to the critics (while
playfully placing the blame on the narrator-character, Horn.)

Very cute.

Imperator

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Straight" <straight at email.unc.edu>
To: <whorl at lists1.ba.best.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 10, 2001 2:48 PM
Subject: (whorl) A Mania for Conversations

> *To leave the list, send "unsubscribe" to whorl-request at lists.best.com
ranjit at moonmilk.com

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From: Steve Strickland <sstrickland at satx.rr.com>
Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 15:53:06 +0000

Very cute.

Imperator

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Straight" <straight at email.unc.edu>
To: <whorl at lists1.ba.best.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 10, 2001 2:48 PM
Subject: (whorl) A Mania for Conversations

ranjit at moonmilk.com

---

From: Michael Straight <straight at email.unc.edu>
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2001 09:14:49 +0000

> playfully placing the blame on the narrator-character, Horn.)

So what you're saying is that lots of people have noticed this already,
but I didn't get it until Wolfe pointed it out himself.

-Rostrum