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Fortress of Solitude

Edgy DC Jan 24 2006 11:30 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jan 24 2006 11:55 AM

by Jonathan Lethem (DON'T READ IF YOU FEAR MINOR SPOILERS) A few questions: Why does Lethem change to the first person voice in the last third of the novel? Why did a magic ring have to appear in what was otherwise a non-magical story? Was the magic real? I guess so since Mingus and Robert witness it and acknowledge it as adults. It just (1) initially seems to be a drunk's delusion bought into by an imaginitive boy, and (2) seems out of place.

sharpie Jan 24 2006 11:46 AM

I was initially put off by the magic ring, too. I think his making the ring seem imaginary and then be real was very deliberate, however. The last third of the book isn't as good as the first two-thirds but the first two-thirds is better than anything else he has written, in my opinion. I think he changes from first person to third person as a device to signal that we think of ourselves differently when we're adults than we do as children.

Johnny Dickshot Jan 25 2006 04:45 PM

Not reading this thread. Put down FoS for some reason shortly after beginning it, will resume later.