Iris

Iris, was it?

Iris who?

Oh (sigh), YOU know, THE Iris, the WRIter one …

Oh, the one related to Rupert…?

You got it. Oh, this memory … You find yourself having to scratch around, time to time, sometimes for MINUTES at a time, to recover a word, often a NAME?

Sure. But I cover. I have strategies.

Like?

Like I change the subject, I go down a side road, I say things like by the way, oh before I forget, just look at that woman over there … Try doing that more often… S’alright for you, being a woman, people EXPECT that, but men are not expected to change subject so fast … unless they’re gay, anyway, what about Iris?

Oh yes, does you good to take a diversion, doesn’t it. Iris, yes, as I recall, she said conversation was just the spray breaking in a story.

Like froth? Not much substance, you mean?

I think she meant narration carried the story along. Narration was the waves. Conversation the froth.

And you don’t agree?

I can’t disagree with such an authority, a major talent, a big voice. Just, I wonder if it’s possible to tell a story only through conversazzione, through people talking, telling stories to each other…

Hmm, you may have something there. I was in a Stabas, KL, I think it was, some British best seller writer was doing a book signing and giving a talk about how he wrote, quite candid, said he used to write 90% narration and 10% dialogue, but since he started targeting the TV market the proportion has reversed. He now writes 10% narration and lets the 90% of dialogue tell the story.

Perhaps people like hearing voices, and to read voices, are we moving from literacy to back to oracy?