May 30, 2008  Some People Read Scott, Anyway!  The word that
Scott can't escape is "slack". Rarely is he in a hurry to get
anywhere, so he requires patience, perhaps too much at times.
The story of The Heart of Midlothian is not told with anything
resembling efficiency. But AR acknowledges the charms of Scott's
inefficiencies, giving due attention, for instance, to Madge
Wildfire in Heart of Midlothian and Wandering Willie's Tale in
Redgauntlet. I think we agree that there's more to life than
"push[ing] the story forward." (In a comment at AR's place, I
tried to imagine Dickens being efficient. Sometimes perhaps
writers should do things just because they can--Joe's hat
falling off the mantel in Great Expectations, or the head of
Charles I in David Copperfield. Constrain that imagination and
maybe you don't get Krook's spontaneous combustion, or Miss
Havisham and her wedding cake....)  Another interesting comment:
"Honor and loyalty - Scott returns to this theme repeatedly.
Perhaps one reason we do not read Sc