Laura/Madonna/Marlene Dietrich

Oh, I didn't mean to imply that Wolfe was thinking of Madonna--I was remarking on my failure to properly understand Laura until I could find a analogue in the current world. This is a problem with all fiction--readers must have some way to understand what they read, and often it is by analogy with the already known (cognitive science implies we start by trusting our mouth, then the hands, then the eyes...ever enlarging circles of knowledge, each built on the one before). For example, historian Colin McEvedy refers to Greek "science" of the classic era as a "fad"--a wildly popular diversion with no significant consequence. This makes its failure to spark an industrial revolution understandable in a way which calling it "science" wouldn't. Wolfe's interest in things sometimes far from my current experience means that often it's hard for me to find the current analogue. Is that clearer? -John