Quote:
Originally Posted by Bookpossum
I can't see too much agreement happening on this book! We seem to be divided between those who dislike the story, and those who admire the style and skill of the author.
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I hadn't seen this when I posted my previous. I think there are still interesting things to discuss, even if we disagree on the skill of the presentation. Whatever I think of it, this book was written far enough into the career of a man who considered himself a literary writer, so I think we can assume that everything in this book was deliberate. So that raises questions...
As per my previous post: How autobiographical is this? And as per my previous paragraph, if everything was deliberate then I'd say there is little reason to think that the events of Greene's life did anything except provide convenient pieces to slot in.
Why Parkis and his boy? It seems so strange that this investigator should have a child he is training up for the profession, or that Greene should think to include it. I still have no idea what purpose the boy serves.
Parkis himself is a separate question to the boy. I'm inclined to think this Hydra (as
Victoria so aptly put it) sticks his head up everywhere to help tie parts together - since it may otherwise have been harder to follow. But did he serve any larger purpose in his role as observer of Sarah?