Yes, please don't go away, Angevin Arbalest. I agree with Jean-Daniel on all of his points, which is not unusual, including his admiration of your name. It has a nice taste to it, I must say. But you said something I thought rather puzzling. You said that your favorite author is Eco but that you do not love any of his works. I find this a tad wierd... and it may be because I am one who is too readily willing to profess a love of things (or it may be that I am willing to extend love to the wrong things) but I just think, and please don't take offense, that it's rather odd to have a favorite author whose works you don't love. Are there any authors whose works you do love? Oh, and I do reccomend reading at least one more Whittemore book: Nile Shadows. I would argue that if you read this book you might see just how subtle Whittemore can be with characters. Hey, it may actaully strengthen your arguments even more. But, I do stand with my favorite author, Jorge Luis Borges, in that you should stick to that which interests you. I must say you have remarkable foritude to stick with Whittemore through two books! When I come across someone I can't stand (past offenders including David Foster Wallace, Paul Auster and John Barths) I chuck them after just a hundred pages. Bravo indeed!
-Pat
PS- I think I should take up the defense of O'Sullivan Beare. I am glad of all the characters you thought him the most intriguing (he certainly is for me) but, and do correct me if I'm wrong, if you took exception to his depiction of something like a stage-irish character I must say that I've known many Irishmen like him (although I will not say that he's a typical Irishman for I don't think he'd be a typical person in any country) including my great-grandfather who also had Joe's capacity and manner of speech. He was from Ballymoney, Antrim. I don't know how they talk from Aran, though

--Previous Message--
: : [...]
: Funny you should mention Eco: I loathed The
: Name of the Rose when I read it first, as I
: thought the author went too far with his
: heavy-handed archetypes (Sherlock Holmes vs
: Jorge Luis Borges, indeed!). As for
: Foucault's Pendulum, it left a bitter taste
: in my mind: a thourough debunking of dreams
: and fantasies...
:
: Maybe I should give him a second chance,
: though.
:
: Eco's Baudolino might be more to your
: liking.
: Cheers,
: Schewek
: