We don’t much identify with the characters in videogames either, except to the extent that they are avatars of ourselves. They don’t exist apart from our own decision-making. In books and movies the characters have their own motivations and personalities, we may love or hate them, but they are not us.

Some counter-examples to this passage occurred to me - Tyrone Slothrop in Gravity's Rainbow and Anna Liffey Pluralbella in Finnegans Wake. [Interestingly, both characters dissolve back into the cosmos of thier respective novels.] Both novels read like treasure hunts - 'what the hell is going on here?' - rather than narratives. And I'm sure there are plenty of other examples. I'm not disagreeing with Byrne, just thinking of the exceptions to the rule.

BTW - if you all aren't listening to DB's internet radio, you should be. It's HOT.