Mr. and Mrs. Liesel Are Totally Random

In Consuela, there are a few characters that are still a bit Dickensian and the funny thing is that Mr. and Mrs. Liesel are even though they didn’t come out of the book. Liesel is (incredibly loosely) based off of a character called Mrs. Leo Hunter. She was a woman who was obsessed with writing as having a celebrity status, did hobby writing herself, and constantly sought out famous people. This woman, like Liesel, was married to a husband Dickens viewed as very silly. (Although I think Mr. Liesel is actually even sillier and basically strains credibility.) And like Mrs. Leo Hunter, Mr. and Mrs Liesel are totally random characters.

There are always some totally random people poking up at the edge of books, like dust in corners that escaped the vacuum cleaner. Readers shouldn’t even bother to feel they’re honestly annoying, because that’s the POINT of random characters. Random characters like Liesel and Mr. Liesel (he’s never even given a name of his own, how absurd!) are there to be ignored. For instance, during the times they are prominent in Consuela, readers—and Miss Plummer—should be thinking about the other social situations in the story. Why do Miss Plummer’s supposed old friends seem not to like her anymore? What’s really going on in the politics of this country? Why does that Nesya guy HOUND a harmless old woman and keep telling her he hates the EC?

During times when readers can be thinking about situations that have just happened, Mr. and Mrs. Liesel fill up space so there’s no content occurring in the plot right now. If you want to look at something else, they’re doing their job! Oh, and it’s true Mr. Liesel doesn’t have a name. Maybe I should invent one. Hugh. He looks like a Hugh to me.

And there will be more updates.