I've been contemplating something OSC said on another thread, about how people go to his signings expecting him to "be" the characters he writes about. The reason why I've been musing is because the thought never crossed my mind, to expect him to be the characters he writes. I can see how that would be kind of wierd and stressful at booksignings.
Then I started wondering about how I did see him. If the way I saw him was really any different. OSC has talked about how a book is in the eye of the beholder. That how you read a book and what it means to you could be entirely different than what it means to someone else, because you bring a different set of life experiences to the book than anyone else.
If anything, I wonder how OSC grasped truth and Truth so well as to write about me. You see, when I read his books I *am* Ender, or Bean, or Alvin. I most identify with Ender though. So when I meet OSC, the person I guess I most want him to be, is the kind of character of the Professor, in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. The kind who sees what is going on around him and makes semi-cryptic statements that lead one closer to truth/Truth. I don't expect him to be Ender or Alvin because they have become part of me.
I realize that OSC is still human and imperfect. I guess that is probably the root of what we all want. When someone has such deep insight into Human Nature you want them to be perfect and never let you down. But he's human like the rest of us. Plato was too, we just forget he was, because history has separated and given us a nice foggy gaze. And part of what makes OSC's writing so powerful is that he does give his characters flaws and keeps them human. I think we all need to make the same allowance when it comes to him.
Yes, I disagree strongly with some of his opinion columns. Some people take them even more personally than I do, because sometimes they apply more directly. But, as Icarus has said before, they always make me think. And when I disagree I'm forced to be more cogent of my logic than I was before. I think that part of the reason some of us *don't* like the opinion columns (aside from the content at times) is because they remind us that OSC is human.
And he's allowed to be. But here on Hatrack I think we often forget.
AJ
[ March 28, 2005, 10:36 AM: Message edited by: BannaOj ]
Posted by Lady Jane (Member # 7249) on :
I like that, AJ.
I have to admit that I am one of the people who was convinced the OSC was the adult Ender we know from Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide. I still adore that adult Ender, but I have come to realize that he isn't. That's okay.
Posted by MidnightBlue (Member # 6146) on :
*applauds*
Posted by trance (Member # 6623) on :
Just wanted to put the last topic first....
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
Wasn't the last topic, trance... only looked like it was because you have the thing set to look at the last 45 days.
Posted by trance (Member # 6623) on :
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
I like that, AJ.