Having been prompted to actually think about it, I realize that normally, the Well Meaning Person (hiding evidence because they wrongly think someone they love is suspected) can kind of bug me, but here it didn't.
Yeah, usually it bugs me because: dude, if you care about somebody enough to cover up for them when you think they've committed a murder, couldn't you take a second to *ask them* "Hey, did you kill this guy?" And then if they say no, you believe them. Problem solved! ... Although I will admit this was probably not a really practical solution before cellphones. *g*
Also, can I just add, Sarah Barstow suspecting her mother doesn't make a ton of sense ANYWAY. Randomly shooting a gun at someone-- presumably while delusional or something-- is an *incredibly* different M.O. than secretly commissioning a Killer Golf Club like a James Bond villain and cold-bloodedly waiting for months to put your plan into effect.
Anyway, you're right, he really is pretty nice to Sarah Barstow... Huh, now that I think about it, this kind of leads into the next thing:
Now that you mention it, Wolfe really doesn't seem to take the snake personally. This feels different from later times when he and Archie are menaced, or even when the plant rooms are attacked in what might be seen as a similar stab to the heart of his home. Here, the attack doesn't provide ammunition for him to righteously rise up and smite the offender or anything.
Now that you put those two things together it really does stand out-- Wolfe really doesn't get very angry with *anybody* in this first book, does he? No matter how provoking they are. IIRC I don't remember him yelling at anyone. He's calmly condescending or rude to various people and he's calmly provoking to Archie when Archie is being irritating, and you can tell he's angry inside at various points (the cop, what's his name, who comes in and demands the papers Archie took from Carlo Maffei's room, for example) but I don't think he lets himself *get* angry...
Going back to what Parhelion said in the first FDL post about WWI PSTD!Wolfe, I wonder if he's afraid to let himself get angry, and that's something he's slowly evolving out of. Stout obviously enjoys writing Wolfe getting to flatten people out with logic and/or yelling, but he also consistently portrays Wolfe as being *ridiculously* guarded against emotion... (well, both he and Archie are, but Wolfe especially, I think.) So maybe that's what this is, a sort of version of Wolfe who doesn't even let himself show anger.
Kimball is so matter-of-fact about it that it's horrifying, the way he just mentions in passing that the boy was on the floor with his toys
*nod nod* And how it doesn't even *come to mind* for him the first time Wolfe asks him if he's injured anyone-- he brings it up as an injury to *himself*. And, yeah, I'm struck by the same line you are, that Wolfe doesn't just see Manuel Kimball as some murderer, but speaks of him as if he can clearly see that little boy.
Argh, there's still so much I want to talk about! I will have to come back later.
Yay, please do! *G*
If I have more to say on a topic that seems to belong to the previous thread (e.g. the ersatz marriage), should I add it there? Or here?
There is good, I guess-- there's still one or two comments there I want to reply to. Unless it's long enough to be it's own post; then you might as well post it separately, with a link back to the original thread? The more discussion the better, I'm really enjoying it so far. *g*
no subject
Having been prompted to actually think about it, I realize that normally, the Well Meaning Person (hiding evidence because they wrongly think someone they love is suspected) can kind of bug me, but here it didn't.
Yeah, usually it bugs me because: dude, if you care about somebody enough to cover up for them when you think they've committed a murder, couldn't you take a second to *ask them* "Hey, did you kill this guy?" And then if they say no, you believe them. Problem solved! ... Although I will admit this was probably not a really practical solution before cellphones. *g*
Also, can I just add, Sarah Barstow suspecting her mother doesn't make a ton of sense ANYWAY. Randomly shooting a gun at someone-- presumably while delusional or something-- is an *incredibly* different M.O. than secretly commissioning a Killer Golf Club like a James Bond villain and cold-bloodedly waiting for months to put your plan into effect.
Anyway, you're right, he really is pretty nice to Sarah Barstow... Huh, now that I think about it, this kind of leads into the next thing:
Now that you mention it, Wolfe really doesn't seem to take the snake personally. This feels different from later times when he and Archie are menaced, or even when the plant rooms are attacked in what might be seen as a similar stab to the heart of his home. Here, the attack doesn't provide ammunition for him to righteously rise up and smite the offender or anything.
Now that you put those two things together it really does stand out-- Wolfe really doesn't get very angry with *anybody* in this first book, does he? No matter how provoking they are. IIRC I don't remember him yelling at anyone. He's calmly condescending or rude to various people and he's calmly provoking to Archie when Archie is being irritating, and you can tell he's angry inside at various points (the cop, what's his name, who comes in and demands the papers Archie took from Carlo Maffei's room, for example) but I don't think he lets himself *get* angry...
Going back to what Parhelion said in the first FDL post about WWI PSTD!Wolfe, I wonder if he's afraid to let himself get angry, and that's something he's slowly evolving out of. Stout obviously enjoys writing Wolfe getting to flatten people out with logic and/or yelling, but he also consistently portrays Wolfe as being *ridiculously* guarded against emotion... (well, both he and Archie are, but Wolfe especially, I think.) So maybe that's what this is, a sort of version of Wolfe who doesn't even let himself show anger.
Kimball is so matter-of-fact about it that it's horrifying, the way he just mentions in passing that the boy was on the floor with his toys
*nod nod* And how it doesn't even *come to mind* for him the first time Wolfe asks him if he's injured anyone-- he brings it up as an injury to *himself*. And, yeah, I'm struck by the same line you are, that Wolfe doesn't just see Manuel Kimball as some murderer, but speaks of him as if he can clearly see that little boy.
Argh, there's still so much I want to talk about! I will have to come back later.
Yay, please do! *G*
If I have more to say on a topic that seems to belong to the previous thread (e.g. the ersatz marriage), should I add it there? Or here?
There is good, I guess-- there's still one or two comments there I want to reply to. Unless it's long enough to be it's own post; then you might as well post it separately, with a link back to the original thread? The more discussion the better, I'm really enjoying it so far. *g*