tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888438300076664400.post3602546976327384801..comments2014-12-09T17:25:07.561-08:00Comments on Words and Images: QuinnAdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16302919444091859459noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888438300076664400.post-41827858127768194572011-11-13T16:48:26.952-08:002011-11-13T16:48:26.952-08:00There's a moment when this essay suddenly move...There's a moment when this essay suddenly moves from obvious to interesting. You spend a lot of unnecessary time and effort at the beginning saying things which are obvious to anyone who has ready the book, certainly anyone from our class - for instance, summarizing Quinn's relationship with Work and his assumption of Auster's identity. Much of this was unnecessary, or at least not clearly directed.<br /><br />Where it gets interesting is with the sudden observation that the turning point in the novel is when he claims to be Peter Stillman.<br /><br />Maybe everything after that is a little obvious in some ways too - that is, you stepping through ways in which he becomes more and more like the younger Peter. I found it all worthwhile, though, because your focus was clear, and you were interested in the moment when all of this began to happen.<br /><br />What I wanted, though, wasn't just a statement of the fact (well discussed) that he becomes like Stillman, nor the important and far from obvious observation that this process begins when he claims to be Stillman. What I want is to know what it all means.<br /><br />For instance, you *might* claim that the fact that he says something, and then, slowly and fitful, it *happens*, means that his language is suddenly working like God's language, or the pre-fall language - and that thus he is more like Peter Stillman than Peter Stillman ever is.<br /><br />Maybe that's not where you're going. My point is that your understanding that he says he's Peter and then he becomes Peter (in a sense) is *important*, and should take you to some clear destination.Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16302919444091859459noreply@blogger.com