Interview Tidbit

James Wynn · 29 Nov 2008, 06:51 · from 2008-November.txt.gz

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From: crushtv at gmail.com (James Wynn)
Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:51:03 -0600
Subject: (urth) Interview Tidbit
References: <W421921528144511227742855@webmail1><9d6d9c7e0811261742k1fffcb1ep566dc847032e03ef at mail.gmail.com><1F210C46-4713-4986-9649-9142A77CC3DB at butcherbaker.org><9d6d9c7e0811261931h50381a08g631a4afcfcc51e7b at mail.gmail.com><118690.87447.qm at web37606.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
	<002101c951af$8d806b60$37d24a0c@rclackey>
Message-ID: <4B3753C100BD4246BD2BFC72F97BCCBF@GATEWAY>

>Separating the wheat from the chaff is the problem...
>But I do take issue with all the crap lately about ignoring
>the details and just looking at the Big Picture.
>Each piece of the mozaic is important, particularly
>when the Big Picture has been broken and the pieces
>are scattered all over the landscape.

I think Roy has put his finger on the biggest problem when reading Wolfe.

Any "big picture" must conform to the details. But it is impossible to 
separate the wheat details from the chaff details in a Wolfe novel *without* 
applying a big picture to it. You can't ask the details to vote for their 
own leader. And one must also remember that Wolfe typically grants himself 
an unreliable narrator: either crazy (There Are Doors), forgetful and crazy 
(Latro and, yes, Severian too), suffering from Lost Time (Able), wasn't 
there for most of the events (Long Sun), or doubts the authenticity of his 
memories (Weer and Severian). He has even offered the following explanation 
to readers questioning certain disjointedness between reported events and 
statements by his narrators and characters: "Did it never occur to you that 
this person might have lied?"

And one person's "big picture" is another person's "over-fecund 
imagination". I've seen listers reject--with venom--"big picture" 
explanations that conform to the details in every way merely because they 
personally found them aesthetically unappealing. Then I've seen those same 
listers happily wave alternate explanations that strike me as manufactured 
all but entirely of whole cloth. So, some self-awareness should be taken 
just prior to examining the "big pictures" presented by others...also a 
*willingness* to be convinced if possible.

J.

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