Yesterday I began reading David Lodge's 'Souls and Bodies' - an account of the lives and the impact of Catholicism on a group of people who were undergraduates in the mid 1950s. This was recommended by Michael Brown in response to my request for help on 6S and is proving a fascinating - and extremely useful - read, reminding me of so much about life in Britain at that time, as well as enabling me to get a better idea of how Sean & Bridie might tackle the question of a Catholic marriage.
Re-reading Toby Hecht's blog 'Collaboration' on editorial interventions, and from thence considering acknowledgements, it crossed my mind that among those I list in my eventual novel (ha ha!) perhaps MDJB should be one - but really that seems not to be the point at all. Are people whose list of those they feel obliged to thank for help runs to half a page or more (sometimes a LOT more) confusing perhaps the (maybe sycophantic for a purpose) acknowledgements necessary for a dissertation, where exam success rests upon a good mark, with the more grown up and individual production of a novel, or are they wishing to share the blame should it be a failure?
I presume, perhaps wrongly, that the acknowledgements section is for genuine thanks rather than obligation... it's my flipping novel & I'll acknowledge who I like... attitude (I know that's a surprise from me!)
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