Wednesday, June 14, 2017
A Minute Meditation
"If real people could cohabit with the creatures of their imagination--say, in a novel--then what sort of children would be the fruit of their union: changelings?"
-- Lawrence Durrell --
Constance or Solitary Practices
One of the joys of rereading--discovering little gems anew. This is the germ of the idea that describes part of the charm of "The Avignon Quintet," for several of the characters in Blanford's novel interact with Blanford and his friends. Constance, for example, remarks upon meeting Sutcliffe that she was surprised because she thought Sutcliffe was a fictional character.
I wonder how I would react if I met characters from a novel I had read.
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You got me thinking on this one. I think the beauty of fantasy is that we are always in control. If we were to meet a creation of our fantasy in our real world, they would no longer be in our control and probably not as desirable because they would not be saying the things we want them to say or acting how we would like them to.
ReplyDeleteIn short, I think they would turn into Frankenstein's monster rather quickly.
i never thought about it that way, Sharon... it's great when a new idea swims into one's ken(apologies to Keats)...
DeleteSharon,
DeleteInteresting idea. See my answer to Tim. I can't come up with any fictional characters I would want to meet. Perhaps your suggestion is the reason why I can't: I'm afraid to meet any.
Mudpuddle,
DeleteSharon's idea might be the reason why I can't come up with the names of any characters I would like to meet. I can't come up with any other reason.
being products of our imaginations, they might have a dark side... i detect a major disturbance in the Force, etc.....
DeleteMudpuddle: I ken ye. (With apologies...to all the Scottish Ballads I've read).
DeleteMudpuddle,
DeleteI guess we all have our dark side, but some fight harder than others to control it. I wonder if it is possible to completely eliminate it.
Tim,
ReplyDeleteI've thought about it, and for some unknown reason I can't come up with any characters I would actually want to physically meet. I like many on the page, but in the real world . . .? I don't know why, either.
How about you? What fictional characters would you like to encounter?
Tim,
ReplyDeleteNow that's an interesting choice. I can see why, though, since I consider the Book of Job to be one of the most interesting and intriguing parts of the Bible.
That relationship involving God, Job, and Satan has always fascinated me, and Robert Frost also, as I'm sure you know.
No, the question about characters is not foolish, for it got me to consider something I had never thought of before, and as you can tell from my comment to your question, I was surprised when I couldn't answer your question.
Slightly related: Have you seen Deconstructing Harry?
ReplyDeleteDi: no, is that a movie?
DeleteYeah, a Woody Allen film.
DeleteDi,
DeleteNo. What's it about?
A writer (Woody Allen) is about to receive an honour from his old school and starts to think about his whole life- basic idea came from Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries.
DeleteReason I mention it is that several times in the film, Harry the writer "meets" characters from his own novels.
Di,
DeleteOh yes, I see the connection here. Interesting. I shall have to take a look at it.
Of course, "deconstructing" is supposed to be a lit/crit term, but I don't think deconstruction theory has much to do with literature.
Do you like Woody Allen though? His character in this film is nasty and hard to sympathise with.
DeleteDi,
DeleteNo, I don't like Woody Allen. However, a nasty Woody Allen might be easier for me to take than the usual whiny, wimpy character he plays.
Nah he's still whiny, and in some ways, still wimpy, but worse, he's also nasty, so you probably should skip it.
DeleteI only asked in case you had seen it, otherwise it's not a Woody Allen I recommend. And I do like Woody Allen.
Di,
DeleteOK, thanks for the warning.