Posted by Beau L'Amour on October 30, 2000 at 12:10:22:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Did ya'll ever notice...? posted by Elyse on October 16, 2000 at 21:16:43:
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LL was kind of ah . . . supreamly self confident. He actually wasn't so universally tallented but he was always sure he could fake it. He expressed everything with an air of utmost confidence. As I grew up I discovered that occasionally, like Tatton, he was taken aback by his own bravado. As you-all are discovering it is a trait that is both irritating and amusing at the same time. However . . . Louis grew up in the "small world" (this is what I call a period or a place that is cut off from the instant communication of our modern world -- post WWII) research is difficult in a small world environment so it's hard to know when someone is giving you the straight goods. It's also hard to tell if you are what you think you are or if you are just a big frog in a small pond. LL writes about this often, usually having people tell one of his characters that so and so is the toughest guy in town . . . then the hero shows everybody that they just ought to get out of town more often. In Oklahoma in the 1930s LL was kind of a medium sized frog in a not very big pond. He became adept at just looking people in the eye and speaking with confidence, figuring that he was the most serious authority on a particular subject they would ever run across. Thirty years later this habit (in Los Angeles, a place where people had travelled the world, and were often well educated) would occasionally go just a bit too far (I don't believe he was often caught at it). You're experiences with Tatton are a bit of Louis laughing at himself or using parts of his own personality to get his character in hot water. May I add my vote? -- France is terriffic, though expensive. I liked it best in the fall . . . but I like shooting pictures and the colors and the light are better then.
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