Art, God, and hiding

The best books are the books that hide the author. If the story of mankind was a book, how great would its author be on this ground? Yet we decry a hidden God. We want a more obvious God. Aesthetically, I revolt at finding too much of an author in a work. Yet, if he does put himself in the work, he does it in a way unexpected. Wilde always made his spokesmen well to do, upper class people. God came into the world in the dross of poverty and meekness. What brilliance. This is why M. Night Shyamalan's cameos are dull. We know it's the director. We don't want to see him. Hitchcock knows this. He comes into view and goes out, and that's just what we want. Clint Eastwood goes for the other safe route: making himself a main character. Shyamalan tries to be a supporting character, and only almost wants to be the plot's Deus ex Machina. The character - in order to convince - must be more cloaked. Hiding is the key to showing. Silence is the key to explaining.