Quote:
Originally Posted by Victoria
Me too, and now I wonder if I’ve taken Tey all wrong? Making up your sources is a hanging offence in most contexts. But it’s perfectly legit in fiction. Maybe she just thought it would be fun topic for an novel, and was pretty casual about the research. She could be looking down highly amused to see people treat the novel like an academic paper.  |
Tey was writing entertaining fiction, and the novel she invented is part of the entertainment. Another was a reference to Grant knowing a lot about Richard II because he had seen Gordon Daviot’s play,
Richard of Bordeaux four times. This is both a comment on Grant thinking he knows a lot about a character because he has seen a play, and also an “in” joke for those who happen to know that Daviot was another of her pen names (as was Tey).
The play however was real and a huge success. It made John Gielgud’s name as an actor.
And if Grant is to be criticised for reading a novel and thinking it informative, what does that say about us, reading Tey, Gregory et al?