Wolfe's Attitude toward his Readers

Gerry Quinn · 15 Aug 2010, 14:54 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: gerryq at indigo.ie (Gerry Quinn)
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:54:56 +0100
Subject: (urth) Wolfe's Attitude toward his Readers
References: <SNT123-W3357051532538312747CC7CF990 at phx.gbl><97E73DA3D69A41E2B03E9CE9CF304B61@jill>
	<4C67EAC7.107 at gmail.com>
Message-ID: <07B38D561C374990853DB32A940B73C1@jill>


From: "Ant?nio Marques" <entonio at gmail.com>
> Gerry Quinn wrote:

>> But that raises a question. Suppose we convincingly solved such a
>> cryptogram. Now, how do we explain the fact of that particular vault
>> under Viron having a number with this secret meaning?
>
> It would be breaching the 4th wall. One needs a little fun every now and 
> then.

Writing it would be breaching the 4th wall, surely?  Of course, Wolfe does 
that sometimes, but he does not do it often.

>> I think that we cannot, just because Wolfe is the author, assume that
>> some elements of a story are not merely 'colour'. It would be very
>> restrictive for Wolfe. Every time a character booked a hotel room, Wolfe
>> would be constrained from saying "he was given the key to room 167", for
>> fear that readers would waste time searching for some numerological clue.
>
> But in fact I think Wolfe would merely say he was given the key to *a* 
> room if the number had no significance. In real life, if the number had no 
> singificance, we'd probably just not mention it. Though I also think that 
> the significance of some or even many details can't be determined from the 
> text, and will never be. I mean, lesser authors sprinkle their stories 
> with random detail (if they do at all). But in Wolfe's case (as in many 
> other good authors') I fully expect there to be some embryo of 
> significance there. Even if it may not never be developped anywhere else.

You have to stop somewhere.  If Wolfe writes "Three uhlans galloped towards 
us", must we attempt to decipher the mystical significance of the number 
three, or just admit that an uhlan patrol must be made up of some number of 
uhlans, and the narrator might instinctively count them?

- Gerry Quinn

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