I agree with most of your ideas about the book, but I didn't notice the flaws at the time because I was too caught up with the imagination. I think I'd call his books "high concept" rather than "high brow" because when I think of "high brow" I think of books professors want you to read.
I've never really understood what was wrong with the idea of a character doing something just because it was the right thing to do. A few years back I saw four guys beating up one guy, and didn't think about it, I just ran over to stop it. I didn't know any of the parties involved, I'm just walking home and saw the situation.
Now I grant that the hero of the book is undergoing sustained effort which would require stronger motivation, but hundreds of students often become social activists despite their backgrounds, not because of them.
I think it comes down to basic aspects of character. some people do the right thing to do, because it's the right thing to do. others... don't. many people would have looked the other way at what you walked across. Some might have yelled "hey stop that"... but few would have run over to help.
Take, if you will, the idea of the high school fight. Two people go at it. EVERYONE circles around. Who stops it? Not the friends, not the other students... the teachers.
Which is all to say... you're a good person. Maybe you can't point fingers at why you're a good person, but you are. That guy who looked the other way and hurried home? He can't explain why he did that. he just didn't want any trouble. And he's most of us.
Our character is built through our lives. The product of our encounters with life. ... dramatic characters tend to have a turning point, a pivotal hinge. ... it's not so easy to see our own hinges when we're hung by them. :)
I don't mind the main character being a good guy who naturally "does the right thing," but Quillon did not consistently seem to be that sort of person, and there was little depth to his personality to indicate what turned him into such a do-gooder.
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I've never really understood what was wrong with the idea of a character doing something just because it was the right thing to do. A few years back I saw four guys beating up one guy, and didn't think about it, I just ran over to stop it. I didn't know any of the parties involved, I'm just walking home and saw the situation.
Now I grant that the hero of the book is undergoing sustained effort which would require stronger motivation, but hundreds of students often become social activists despite their backgrounds, not because of them.
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Take, if you will, the idea of the high school fight. Two people go at it. EVERYONE circles around. Who stops it? Not the friends, not the other students... the teachers.
Which is all to say... you're a good person. Maybe you can't point fingers at why you're a good person, but you are. That guy who looked the other way and hurried home? He can't explain why he did that. he just didn't want any trouble. And he's most of us.
Our character is built through our lives. The product of our encounters with life. ... dramatic characters tend to have a turning point, a pivotal hinge. ... it's not so easy to see our own hinges when we're hung by them. :)
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