On writing “The Magic Mountain” by Thomas Mann (post 3): “one is by no means always in possession of one’s whole self” (multiple personality trait)

“…I consider it a mistake to think that the author himself is the best judge of his work. He may be that while he is still at work on it and living it. But once done, it tends to be something he has got rid of, something foreign to him; others, as time goes on, will know more and better about it than he. They can often remind him of things in it he has forgotten or indeed never quite knew. One always needs to be reminded; one is by no means always in possession of one’s whole self…” (1).

Comment: Mann says that he and other novelists often have memory gaps for novels they have written; indeed, there may be things in the novel that the novelist “never quite knew,” because he is “by no means always in possession of” [aware of and in control of] his whole self (all his parts or personality states that may have participated in the writing).

1. Thomas Mann. The Making of “The Magic Mountain.” The Atlantic, January 1953 Issue.