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[Paul Mackin]

On 5/4/2011 5:46 PM, Erik T. Burns wrote:
> Thought provoker:
>
> is Esmé Gaddis?
>
> after all, és mi
>
> or mine: he was in love with Sheri Martinelli
>
> or just another pale reflection in an uncovered mirror?

I wish my familiarity with the novel was more recent.

Did Esme in any way end up helping Wyatt in his search for authenticity?

Did Martinelli so assist Gaddis at some point in their acquaintance?  
It's my experience that females can sometimes be quite adept at pointing 
out the delusions of males.  (not that this will necessary always be the 
case)

Could she be a stand in for Gaddis?  Esme lives on the wild side and is 
a poet.  The fact that she may not be a very good poet could be Gaddis' 
modesty, or reflect the difficulty of writing about authenticity.

I need to bite the bullet and read the book again.

P
> or is she Aunt May? (és mé?)
>
> the esteemed, beloved ... with love&  squalor...
>
> etb
>
> On Wed, May 4, 2011 at 7:21 PM, Paul Mackin<mackin.paul at verizon.net>  wrote:
>> On 5/4/2011 11:39 AM, Mark Kohut wrote:
>>> This barely-a-spoiler from later I am posting, forgive me,  'cause of our
>>> recent talking about sincerity and authenticity.   (for Paul M.)
>>>
>>> p. 452 ---Otto, she said.---"Sincerity becomes the honesty of people
>>> who cannot be honest with themselves."
>>>
>>> Wow.....eh?
>>>
>> Guess Esme is saying that Otto is deluding himself.  She lives in the real
>> world (at least some of the time).
>>
>> The Self to which Otto is being true is a construction--not real. (Esme
>> sees)
>>
>> Does this relate to nonviolence?  Can nonviolence be inauthentic?
>>
>> I'm not talking about nonviolence as a strategy--as King and Gandhi used
>> it--in order to shame society into providing better treatment for an
>> oppressed group.  (a gentler form of coercion)
>>
>> I mean nonviolence as a good in itself.
>>
>> Of course we cannot help wanting with all our hearts nonviolence in our own
>> private world and in that of our children.  Violence devastates.
>>
>> But the real world is very very violent.
>>
>> P
>>
>>
>>
>>