This is what makes the Nero Wolfe mysteries different than other mysteries, imo. There's a whole paragraph here about these complex familiar interactions-- Fritz knows Archie doesn't know the difference between great and excellent food, and Archie knows that Fritz knows (and also that Fritz pretends not to) but Archie doesn't know if *Wolfe* notices that Fritz pretends that Archie's compliments are just as good as Wolfe's. It has *zip* to do with the plot, it's not even part of any Wolfe-Archie relationship B-plot, it's just-- I think Rex Stout enjoyed writing about the brownstone residents as a family. (And I think that even if you didn't know that Rex Stout had a lot of siblings you could probably deduce it from paragraphs like these.)
You can even see this in the titles of the books In the Best of Families, A Family Affair... Rex Stout was all about family dynamics.
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Date: 2010-04-21 09:43 am (UTC)You can even see this in the titles of the books In the Best of Families, A Family Affair... Rex Stout was all about family dynamics.