Introduction and Breath

DAVID STOCKHOFF · 18 Apr 2011, 20:46 · from 2011-April.txt.gz

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From: dstockhoff at verizon.net (DAVID STOCKHOFF)
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:46:31 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: (urth) Introduction and Breath
In-Reply-To: <4DAC8E90.6030908 at gmail.com>
Message-ID: <29736.43979.qm at web84107.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Right. Similarly, Humbert Humbert tends to narrate by focusing on descriptions of his thoughts and emotions. This not only makes him appear a more reasonable person than he could possibly be, but tends to minimize all sorts of things central to the plot, perhaps especially Quilty (whom I can barely remember). Naturally he does not mention his murder of Quilty (IIRC), but he hardly even mentions Quilty at all. He's like a truly mad and dishonest Severian; his memory is intact but his attention has a vast blind spot.

--- On Mon, 4/18/11, James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: (urth) Introduction and Breath
> To: "The Urth Mailing List" <urth at lists.urth.net>
> Date: Monday, April 18, 2011, 3:18 PM
> Additionally,
> 
> e)? Almost all of what he sees and hears that he
> considers important and also his interpretation on that.
> However, 1) some things he describes that he considers
> incidental are more important than he realizes,? 2)
> some things he sees as significant he interprets wrongly. In
> both, cases the author presents enough information (or
> believes he has) that the reader can properly interpret
> them.
> 
> f)? All of the above, but neither the narrator nor the
> reader has enough information to interpret the data. This is
> done to add a sense of depth to the plot such as when the
> dwarves sing of Nargothrond in "The Hobbit".? But, when
> Wolfe does it, he is far more ornery such as when Severian
> first meets Apu Punchau.
> 
> J
> 
> 
> On 4/18/2011 12:52 PM, DAVID STOCKHOFF wrote:
> > Basically, the narrator may tell us
> > 
> > (a) everything? he sees, hears, knows, and thinks
> (as above)
> > (b) only what he sees and hears but not what he
> thinks
> > (c) only some of what he sees and hears (i.e., he
> withholds)
> > (d) some dramatic combination, e.g., where he tells us
> everything but the identity of the killer, which he knew
> from page 1.
> 
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