that are pleasure.
(24) And here
is a parody of the proprioceptive narrator:
And from the outlook of reality--the
air-conditioned room where I sit writing this, and
wherever you are now, reading this--it isn't
taking
place at all. Though, again from the outlook of reality, it
did take place, if you are the one reader. Here
is our story, and
I
hope it pleases you to see how deeply your existence has
penetrated
my
psyche. (33)
The book Ha multiple endings--all
clichéd. Karl Jirgens in Canadian Literature describes the book as "a clear echo of
Barthesian theory" (193), but it is more an exposé of
Barthes than an homage.
slands (1986)
is Norris' second book about his travels in the Pacific. As
in The Better Part of
Heaven, he
attempts to combine opposites within a narrator's
personality, with more success. He travels in search of that
island in the far Pacific where he can connect with nature
and an enobling primitivism untouched by the shallowness of
urban North America. Like Gaugin "he left for a better and
more primitive life" ("Marquesan Dreams" 39).
he duplicity of the
narrative character adds richness to this chapter of the
Report. The narrator is not just reporting on the
world: he is an example of its messed up state. His
unreliability is his proof of authenticity, the final,
troubling realistic detail. Marc Coté, in his
Books in
Canada review,
says that "the book is about dissatisfaction, so its seems
to be
 
|