Yes, usually the author creates the world in which the story
happens but that's not always the case. On this list alone
you'll find more than one author who has written novels that
take place in inherited worlds.
You ask if the reader can get a glimpse into the author's
worldview by looking at how the story plays out. Well, how
can you tell? Here's an invoice from Sinclair Lewis to Jack
London for plot ideas. I don't know how detailed they were,
but you'd have to credit Sinclair Lewis at least in part for
the way the story plays out.
http://www.huntington.org/LibraryDiv/LibraryPix/JackLondoninvoice.jpg
Apart from which, I don't think it's so simple. My editor
invited me to change the ending of my next book. I did. It's
better. So is it now my worldview or my editor's? How can you
tell? I can't.
I could form suppositions about Cain, Goodis, et al, from
reading their books. Doesn't mean I'd be right. A supposition
is what it is.
Since you mentioned Kiss Her Goodbye, let me give you an
example. You could infer from the plotline (teenage girl
commits suicide; father spends the rest of the book trying to
come to terms with the reality of it) that I find
father-daughter relationships interesting. Nope, can't say
that I do. I'm neither a father nor a daughter. I found this
particular relationship interesting, though (and, yes, of
course I hope the reader does too).
Al
----- Original Message -----
From:
DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net
To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 11:42 PM
Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: Lassie's social
assumptions and other stuff
Al wrote:
"When a character tells a story is not the same
as the author telling a
story."
True.
"Any apparent 'social assumptions' are those of
the character. That much
you can say."
Again, true.
"To make the claim that they are also those of
the author may or may not
be true but I don't see how a reader can tell
simply from the text."
Although an invisible author may be a goal for
many, I'm doubtful about
how often it is actually achieved. Doesn't the
author create the world
in which the character's story happens? And can't
a reader at least get
some hints of the author's worldview by looking
at the world in which
the character's story is told and how it plays
out, who is rewarded and
who pays, and whether or not those ends are just?
Now it may be too
much to extrapolate the author from a single
work, but what about
several? It's pretty easy to see a consistency of
vision in Cain,
Thompson, Goodis, etc, regardless of the lead
character in a given book.
But those various characters seem to exist in the
same world. Can't you
then form some suppositions about the way the
author sees the world?
For instance, Two Way Split and Kiss Her Goodbye
seem to exist in the
same world. I'm not saying you endorse the
thoughts or actions of those
characters, but can't we at least draw the
conclusion from them that you
find certain types of situations and/or
characters interesting and worth
writing about? And that you hope others will find
them interesting to
read about?
Mark
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