My latest addiction, not counting food or writing these musing, is Rex Stout's novels about his protagonist, Nero Wolfe.  I have written other musings about Nero Wolfe.  In some of them I have talked about slowing reading through Mr. Stout's corpus about Nero.  Like anyone who reads novels, I have conjured up a description of Nero and his sidekick, Archie Goodwin, as well as what the other recurring characters look like.  We all do it when we read fiction.  I guess there is a psychological explanation for that.

 

What is interesting is that for a few years A&E carried a series about Nero Wolfe.  It starred Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as Archie.  I have bought the entire series on DVD and started to view them.  In doing so, I came to that junction in my mind where my imagination and the film's characters met.  No doubt that has happened to you.  You read a novel then go to see the movie and find there is a conflict in your mind - the conflict between what your eyes are seeing and what your mind had created.

 

In some cases Hollywood stays true to the characters and venues; other times producers and directors think they know better than a bestselling author does regarding how people and places should look and stories should flow.  In the case of Nero Wolfe, Maury Chaykin looks pretty much as Rex Stout describes him in his novels.  The old brownstone that Nero calls home and the rooms therein are faithfully captured.  Timothy Hutton isn't quite how my mind pictured Archie but I can cope.  All in all, there isn't too much conflict between the books and the TV series.  Maybe that's why the series didn't last too long.

 

That psychological phenomenon about mind versus reality also raises its head in other situations.  Ever been on a blind date or met the relative of a friend?  Been shocked to see the actual person as opposed to what, based on a friend's description, your mind thought they would look like? What about visiting a place for the first time after reading or hearing about it.  Ever been taken up short?  Startling, isn't it?

 

There is no conclusion to this musing; no profound thoughts to offer.  It is merely a reflection on life as we dream it and as we know it.