8/12/24
Oh, to be a fly on the wall! You have heard that expression, but occasionally, it actually happens. Not like the old horror films--just to unexpectedly get the inside scoop on people's reactions.

Well, it happened a few minutes ago. In yesterday's entry, I described suggesting a 2,000-word "provocative" essay on why Edgar Allan Poe is extremely unlikely to have been the author of "The Raven." I was treated, not too surprisingly, with incredulity, and inasmuch as I obviously wasn't convincing the editor, I opted not to go through the useless formality of submitting something.

But now I get a notice from Researchgate, that this same person has accessed my 110-page paper on "A Christmas Carol"! Now, that's interesting. I think it's the "This can't possibly be real--can it?" syndrome. Of course, she'll never know that I know that she looked further into my research (unless she reads this blog entry). And while it's amusing to me, I do understand. As I said day before yesterday, it's like the magic trick which you know can't be real, and yet, you can't quite figure out how they did it.

I will tell you that this is dangerous stuff. Because it can get caught like a molten ball of fire in your throat--you can't swallow it, and you can't spit it out. You've seen the evidence, it's obviously good evidence, and you can't undo your exposure to it.

And yet, what would it mean? It would mean that 180 years of academic scholarship must be thrown out, and they will have to start afresh with the right information. It would mean that the entire history of 19th-century literature has to be substantially re-written. It would mean that five famous imposters fooled them all, starting with Charles Dickens.

And it would mean they missed two literary geniuses, whose work is found all through the 19th century, being entirely unrecognized and mis-attributed.

I'd think it would create quite a buzz...

Sincerely,

Stephen Sakellarios, M.S.

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