PEACE: is Weer's biography knowable? (long)

William Ansley · 03 Dec 2000, 23:03 · from urth-v0030.mbox · original

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From: William Ansley <wansley at warwick.net>
Subject: Re: (urth) PEACE: is Weer's biography knowable? (long)
Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2000 23:03:32
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At 12:35 PM -0800 12/3/00, Adam Stephanides wrote:
>But it seems just as
>possible to me that Wolfe intended the book as a trap for the reader who
>would be lured into trying to construct Weer's biography, hunting for
>answers that aren't there and seeking definitiveness where there is only
>ambiguity.  The quote I cited earlier, about Weer trying to arrange the
>_Life_s in chronological order and failing, seems to suggest this.  It
>may also be the case that Wolfe did have a "true" biography in mind, but
>failed to provide unambiguous indications of this, for whatever reason.

I agree that Wolfe probably didn't intend the reader to be able to=20
reconstruct a biography of Weer from _Peace_. I love the idea that=20
Weer's failure to be able to sort out "Life"s in chronological order=20
is a clue that this is the case. It does seem like something Wolfe=20
would do.

Right now, I feel that the word "trap" is a trifle strong, but I have=20
accused Wolfe of worse things, after various bout of frustration=20
brought on by trying to figure out various of his works.

--=20
William Ansley

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