Welcome once again. It's never too late to join the conversation.

I would indeed welcome any contribution you may wish to make to the definitive historicizing of the Quartet. Having thought about my precipitous acceptance of the task, I realise that it won't be a quick and easy process.

Gathering the information will take up a great amount of time. Despite that, I am very much looking forward to the exercise.

Also it will involve re-reading the books and making notes. As I haven't read the books for a couple of years, it will be with great pleasure that I do so. I find re-reading Whittemore quite addictive - I've just been holding off to forget them a little.

Regards,

Anne

--Previous Message--
: Hello Anne. I am very pleased to again visit
: the site and see such engaging and recent
: conversation regarding Whittemore. I am only
: disappointed that I am joining, really
: reacting to, the discussion so late.
:
: Anyway, the notion of historicizing
: Whittemore's world seems to me the first
: major step in situating his novels into some
: kind of ideological framework. It seems,
: too, a huge undertaking. His apparent
: knowledge and intentional weaving of the
: most obscure historical facts is still
: relatively unresearched. I suspect that
: each of Whittemore's characters, whether
: some historical archetype or synthesis of
: several historical figures, or an image of
: someone close to him, or formerly close to
: him, or Whittemore himself, conceals some
: relevance to a factual, documented
: individual. Each setting too, a situation
: crafted with an actual, but often
: manipulated historical event close in mind.
: That the characters and events often do not
: interact chronologically is only further
: testament to his craft. This, along with
: his rhetorical references to other works and
: his denunciation of, yet direct application
: of modern and contemporary theorists,
: Whittemore's world seems to reflect the
: random and chaotic (yet historically
: influenced) ideals as evidenced in
: Strongbowism. To consider the task of
: historicizing all four (or five) novels is
: enough discussion, or material for a
: website, for the present.
:
: Again, I really enjoyed your and
: Jean-Daniel's discussion surrounding the
: creation of a website dedicated to
: historicizing Whittemore's world. I would be
: delighted to contribute.
:
: Take care,
: Joseph
: