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Post by jarelyrebollar on Jun 6, 2024 20:28:48 GMT
"No history belonged to me, so all history belonged to me."
- Norman Miller, Barbary Shore (Chapter 1)
I wanted to share this quote from chapter one of the novel. It caught my attention because of how much it made me think about the protagonist, Mike Lovett. He has no memory of his past, so it's a secret for him and the reader and seemed to accept his missing past. Everything and everyone around him has a history, yet he doesn't, and does this forgotten past free him? He can be whatever and whoever, yet I feel he doesn't seem free from the four chapters I've read.
I wonder how others might read this quote!
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Post by Dr. Nemmers on Jun 7, 2024 4:16:16 GMT
Great find, Jarely! And yes, we encounter quite the conundrum with Mike Lovett (if that is his real name...). Usually, when we read a novel/ meet a character, the gap or distance between what we know about a character and what they know about themselves is massive! As in, we know nothing about them when we first open the book, and they know everything. Slowly this reaches a sort of equilibrium throughout our reading, and to some extent, in some novels, by the end we feel like we perhaps know the character better than they know themselves.
Suffice it to say that in this book, the above is not the case. In fact, we know pretty much exactly the same that Mike knows--- whatever secrets he has, he doesn't know either. That's part of what stands out about your quote to me!
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Post by reluedders on Jun 8, 2024 23:53:15 GMT
I made notes on the first chapter as well, including noting this quote. But, just before this quote was this one, that interested me even more. The narrator says, "I could never justdge whether something had happened to me or I imagined it so. It made little difference whether I had met a man or he existed only in a book; there was never a way to determine if I knew a county or merry remember another's description." I think that could be very freeing, but extremely maddening at the same time. Even last night, at a book club meeting, I was talking to another member about a wine that I wanted her to try. I couldn't remember the name of it to save my life! It drove me so crazy that I have to stop our conversation quickly, grab my phone, & look it up. Lovett didn't have the luxury of that, obviously, so could you imagine just that continuous frustration! I guess it would be better to let things go in order to stay sane!
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Post by jarelyrebollar on Jun 10, 2024 14:51:37 GMT
I made notes on the first chapter as well, including noting this quote. But, just before this quote was this one, that interested me even more. The narrator says, "I could never justdge whether something had happened to me or I imagined it so. It made little difference whether I had met a man or he existed only in a book; there was never a way to determine if I knew a county or merry remember another's description." I think that could be very freeing, but extremely maddening at the same time. Even last night, at a book club meeting, I was talking to another member about a wine that I wanted her to try. I couldn't remember the name of it to save my life! It drove me so crazy that I have to stop our conversation quickly, grab my phone, & look it up. Lovett didn't have the luxury of that, obviously, so could you imagine just that continuous frustration! I guess it would be better to let things go in order to stay sane! That is also an interesting quote you brought up (Chapter One is almost like a goldmine with quotes)! Mike Lovett is introduced to the readers (and himself) with no memory or recollection of himself. The quote that you brought to my attention shows that he's shackled to his lack of memory and self. Mike has chosen to live, as a famous saying goes, "living in ignorance is bliss." Mike Lovett doesn't have the luxury we do by going onto the internet, so to appease himself he has decided to live as a new man and that's all he can do. Thank you for bringing up that quote! |
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