Wolfe being clear on 5HoC

Tony Ellis · 10 Sep 2006, 15:29 · from 2006-September.txt.gz

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From: tonyellis69 at btopenworld.com (Tony Ellis)
Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 16:29:20 +0100
Subject: (urth) Wolfe being clear on 5HoC
Message-ID: <000001c6d4ed$e2bea380$6401a8c0@cthulhu>

bsharp wrote:
>I agree about the puzzles, but are you suggesting the puzzles are
completely 
>internal?  That an extremely intelligent reader could read BotNS as a
first 
>book and solve all the mysteries with no other sources? 

Completely internal? Oh no, I think that Wolfe expects his reader to be
far too well-read for that to ever be the case. 

What I *don't* think, on the other hand, is that Wolfe wrote The Fifth
Head of Cerberus thinking "I don't need to make it clear that Victor is
a shapeshifter, because I'm going to tell everyone that in an interview
in 15 years time." 

I don't think we're supposed to solve the mysteries Wolfe sets up by
going through his interviews any more than we're supposed to solve them
by going through his dustbins. And so to do so, for me, 'sometimes feels
like cheating'. It's a personal foible, not a proscription. :-)

Dan'l wrote:
>Incidentally, I love "Waiting for Godot," but I think it's rarely
>performed well or with understanding. Done right, it's an
>uproariously _funny_ play.

You should come here for a visit. :-) Sir Peter Hall's 50th anniversary
production of Waiting for Godot was so popular last year that it has
been revived for another tour, and I can vouch for the comedy, the
pathos, and the human warmth. (Sir Peter Hall directed the first ever
English language production - and the world has never been quite the
same since.)

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