In the first half of the book, Figueras spends a great deal
of time painting
his own mental picture of Debieru. I particularly enjoyed the
scene where
he finally comes face-to-face with Debieru and discovers his
mental picture
is nothing like the man. Willeford has a superior command of
character
nuance and detail. So, he's playing to one of his most
important strengths
in describing the reality of Debieru. Just try to put the
book down while
reading this chapter.
>From imaginary painters, we move to imaginary
paintings. Willeford appears
to be promoting the idea that critics write largely about
themselves.
(Perhaps based on his own experiences?) That's probably why
Figueras
eventually has to paint his own painting and can't simply go
with the blank
canvas, promoting it as the ultimate in unrealized art.
Instead, Figueras
is driven to paint himself. Remember, Figueras tells us the
painting stands
for Debieru's self. And, since Debieru is a construct created
by Figueras,
the painting is really Figueras' self portrait. When his
girlfriend sees
the painting and calls it a horrible, ugly thing, she's
really talking about
Figueras. Figueras kills her for what she knows about him,
not for what she
knows about the painting. IMHO. This isn't your average noir
novel of
self-destruction.
Best,
Greg Swan
greg@swans.org
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