Posted by John Lambert on December 01, 2006 at 08:34:59 from 24.80.117.76 user John.
In Reply to: Re: Captain Flint's travels - overcooked? posted by Elizabeth on December 01, 2006 at 05:30:20:
The idea that a group of people can get together arrive at the truth by debate is the Hegelian dialectic. It's a pretty shaky way to discover anything, particularly in works of fiction when no one knows exactly what was in the authour's mind. All we can do is amuse ourselves by speculating as to what AR might have been thinking at the time. It is so tempting to regard his works as an alternate reality. In this reality CF MUST have travelled to this place or that, Mr. Dixon MUST have worn socks of some colour, Nancy MUST have had some sort of accent, etc. etc. This whole group operates according to the unspoken principle that somehow AR's novels are the truth and reflect the real world. Nothing wrong in that. It's the basis of all art, including story-telling. So why not pretend the world AR created is REAL, and let's move around in that world trying to find answers to questions that never will be answered, such as the colour of Mr. Dixon's socks. Here endeth the lesson.