[big spoiler] Narrative technique in _Return_,

Spectacled Bear · 08 Feb 2001, 18:13 · from whorl-v0012.mbox · original

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From: Spectacled Bear <spectacled.bear at pobox.com>
Subject: Re: (whorl) [big spoiler] Narrative technique in _Return_,
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 18:13:59 +0000
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At 10:23 2001-02-08 +0000, Adamwrote:
...
> why do the
>editors keep up the ambiguity over the protagonist's identity until almost
>the end?  One possibility is that they don't want to admit that Horn is
>dead, but there are a couple of problems with this: apparently Hide and Ho=
of
>never did believe that the protagonist was Horn (see the start of Hoof's
>narration on p. 337); and when the editors finally do name the protagonist,
>they unambiguously call him Silk.

Well, they *are* writing a book, and you must admit it reads better
this way. It's a dramatised account, not a dry history, so I think
they did it for the same reason as Wolfe did. Considering the probably
influence of the Book of the Long Sun on their literary style, I'm
grateful that the Book of the Short Sun is as clear and explicit as
it is!

>Another case where the editors create a
>mystery and I don't see why: it's clear that "Horn" gives an eye to Pig, b=
ut
>as far as I can recall this is never stated.

You said it yourself: "it's clear". We can allow them a little
literary licence, as long as it doesn't cause actual confusion.

Spectacled Bear.

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