Wed May 27, 2015 9:41 pm
Badjam, let me repost something I wrote elsewhere THAT WAS REMOVED! Note I don't say a single negative thing about the person posting, but only about the fictional persona he has created. I even say the actual poster might be a wonderful guy, which is entirely possible.
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first removed post:
L.Strether is the name of the male protagonist of one of Henry James's "late" novels. Earlier in his career, James wrote in a more accessible style, but eventually his style became extremely complex and difficult. L. Strether's posts are essentially a weak parody of James's style. L. Strether is not a person -- it (not "he") is a persona. Yes, there is an actual human being who types his posts, but his whole point is that he is creating an online "character." It has nothing to do with him. Everyone here should understand that ... and stop bothering with it. He invented a character -- a snooty, obnoxious, contentious, unpleasant character who writes in a pseudo-ornate "fancy" style -- who has nothing to do with him, necessarily, as a person. Was he a teacher, as he says? Maybe -- but that would be the person typing the posts, not the fictional "L. Strether" who signs them.
Seriously, everybody -- I'm right about this. Please take it to heart when you read these posts by a fictional character invented by the person(s) who type(s) the posts. I have no more fear of offending "him" than I do of offending Huckleberry Finn (or, more appropriately, Tom Sawyer). And I block "him," because it's just too tedious and annoying otherwise. This says nothing about the person typing, who might be a wonderful guy; but the persona he has created is a well-known drag (to quote George Harrison in A Hard Day's Night: "She's a drag -- a well-known drag. We turn off the sound when she's on the telly and say rude things").
second removed post (edited for clarity):
generally I'm not interested in what a fictional character has to say unless I've chosen the novel or TV show or movie or play -- Hamlet, yes, very interested in what he has to say ... and even Don Draper
but in the meantime I've thought of a couple more adjectives that must have been on the list when The Typist (as I'll refer to the non-fictional person posting) was creating the fictional character L. Strether: patronizing and pedantic. If you ever want a handy thing to post in response to this fictional character's nit-picking provocations, I suggest the following:
"This is the sort of thing that gives mindless pedantry a bad name." -- Gore Vidal
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I'd appreciate it if everyone would copy this into their own word doc, so it's still there after The Typist has it removed again (one must never call his bluff)