Urth Net
Harry S Truman
3 quoted lines · 1–2 deep
David Duffy wrote:
In fact, it seems more than just plausible that Smoky's middle initial doesn't stand for anything--remember that he wears "A Suit of Truman's" to be married in and that the 'S' in Harry S. Truman is without further signification. I think that's the solution to the middle initial mystery.
Truman's name is actually written Harry S Truman -- not having the book here, what is the exact punctuation?
If you're asking about the punctuation of Smoky's legal name, he does put a period after the S.
Truman's name, on the other hand, appears as "Harry Truman," no S at all ("A Suit of Truman's," I, 4, p. 59 of Bantam TPB), although the S appears in the suit's monogram. Come to think of it, it strikes me as very unusual to refer to Truman as "Harry Truman"; either "Truman" or "Harry S Truman" are far more common. It's as if Crowley is emphasizing the "S" by omission.
Okay, so who's going to do the article on "The Letter 'S' in John Crowley's Little, Big"?
--Adam