Locus Amoenus: All By My Shelf

Today's lesson: Never meet your idols. Enjoy their work, but leave them me.

Although, as appalling as Peter Van Houten turns out to be, I agree with him on one thing: once a work of art has been released into the world, it no longer belongs to the creator. A novelist has no obligation to have a prepared answer for what happens to characters once the last page has been read, or to even think about it. That is entirely in the purview of the readers, to fill in the gaps, the pasts and futures, as they see fit. It's actually one of the best things about reading, having that freedom to keep imagining beyond the boundaries of print.