Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
If I ever kill someone, will you please be on my jury?
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As long as we only get to see your testimony.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
Per Occam's razor: a simple explanation is generally preferable to a more complex one.
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I don't think this rule can be relied on in fiction.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
Explain one more thing to me, and then I'll give up. Why did Irene run at Clare? Here's the passage: [...]
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Irene was ostensibly Clare's friend. It would have been odd not to go to her side. And that quoted paragraph is quite peculiar. We have "terror tinged with ferocity" and declarations like "couldn’t have her free", but we also have "laid a hand on Clare’s bare arm". Say what? I'm so angry with you I'm going to lay my hand on your arm? Scary.
Those sorts of think-one-thing-but-do-or-say-another contradictions exist in a lot of what Irene does throughout the book. I don't like her, I don't trust her, and I don't want to be her friend. But I'm not convinced she tossed Clare out the window. I think Irene would like to think she was capable; she may even believe she was responsible (perhaps Clare did step back, not to commit suicide, but in surprise or to regain personal space, forgetting how close she was to the window), and this would be enough to explain all those careful phrases/thoughts from Irene at the end.
For all that, I am not trying to convince you that Irene didn't do it; I'm just trying to justify why I didn't read it the same way despite the leading hints. I did see them, but I didn't believe them.