The Narrative 'Mistake'

[asher553]

I'm working on a third reading of Toni Morrison's 'Jazz', and I realized there was something nagging at me about the book. The story seemingly has a "mistake" in the narration, and I realized I was reminded of Agnon's story 'In the Heart of the Seas', which also seems to include an error by the narrator. In both cases (the second shot that's never fired, the tenth man who's named but not counted), the author is pointing us toward a more sublime truth.

Comments

[nodrog]

http://xirdalium.net/wp-content/uploads/freas_who.png


Algis Budrys' 1958 SF novel Who? was exactly the same.  The mystery was whether the man they were dealing with truly was Lucas Martino.  The main character asked him. “No,” he said.

But, yes he was!  Mistake?  … No.  Martino had been so changed by his experiences that he felt he was no longer the man that name referenced.

[asher553]

It's been years since I read Algis Budrys and I will have to catch up. I'm putting 'Who?' on my list for Powell's today.

[nodrog]

In the first chapter you'll encounter an off-hand reference to a song called, “Give the Comrade with the Machine Gun the Right to Speak!”  I regret to report that this marvelously-titled song appears to be fictional.

[asher553]

A pity. It seems like wise advice.