why "the more" and not "the most" ?

[carolineR]

Could someone please explain this :
... "passionately imbued with the New World ideal of which their son, third among eight children, was to prove one of the more prominent success stories." Thanks in advance

 

[fenixpollo]

There is one story that is the most prominent. There are many, many stories that are not prominent. There are several stories that are also very prominent; they are more prominent than the rest. The sentence refers to one of the stories that is more prominent.

Hope this helps.

 

[timpeac]

In the same way Fenixpollo sees it there are 3 (or more) ranges of several stories

- not prominent
- somewhat (eg "more") prominent
- very (eg "most") prominent

This story is in the second group. There are many stories less prominent than it, many which are more or less of the same prominence and many which are more prominent still.

 

[carolineR]

Thank you. Glad to see my own interpretation was the same as yours. (though expressed less elegantly)