Yes, what I really didn't like about her read, at least as it came across to me (I barely remember the actual words at this point!) is it seemed to completely avoid Philip's identity fragmentation/crisis or whatever entirely and say look, he's perfectly integrated and whole, he's just at odds with his job. Which makes the problem external: he's not an American guy, or at least he believes in the American position, but he has to stick with the KGB because of his wife. And so his problem in large part is being forced to do things that are against who he is.
Which seems like one of the traps of a character like Philip. He so easily slips into whatever pov he's adopting that it seems like it's the real one, or it's easy to understand him through the lens of what you think is most logical. But that's the danger of defining this guy through what he appears to be at any given moment, because he himself actually can have trouble in that area. He will always adapt to the circumstances and internalize them.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Philip and his memories
Date: 2014-03-29 07:36 pm (UTC)Which seems like one of the traps of a character like Philip. He so easily slips into whatever pov he's adopting that it seems like it's the real one, or it's easy to understand him through the lens of what you think is most logical. But that's the danger of defining this guy through what he appears to be at any given moment, because he himself actually can have trouble in that area. He will always adapt to the circumstances and internalize them.