November 27, 2005
Don't Tread on My Talking Snake
A recent New York Times Magazine has an article on the presence of Christian symbolism and myth in the Narnia books. This week's magazine has a worthy letter in response: (PVY)
It's true, as Charles McGrath? avers, that the Narnia books affirm "old-fashioned, Church of England religion and Tory politics" (Nov. 13). But the books would not have such a hold on generations if there were not a more liberating side. Lewis had two ruling passions. The first was to capture moments of what he called "joy," which he defined as an all-encompassing sensation of desire for something unnameable and, he came to believe, supernatural. The second - bred by a succession of sadistic boarding schools - was to be left alone. The first passion fed an unmatched capacity to make heaven seem viable and dynamic. The second was his hatred of arbitrary and self-serving authority. His child heroes grapple with tyrants who are essentially school bullies writ large; they are rewarded with experiences you have to be dead not to desire. It's a bewitching combination. --Andrew Sprung (PVZ)
This captures very well what I love about the Narnia books and encapsulates some aspect of my ethics or morals: to transcend, unfettered, in the pursuit of ... whatever. It doesn't matter to me if the thing desired or searched for is supernatural, only that it reach beyond and around those things, forces, and people which constrain, impinge and sully. (PW0)
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November 19, 2005
Nothing To See Here
As I begin this entry it occurs to me that the more I work on a particular technology (blogs and wikis) the less inclined I am to write in blogs and wikis. But then as I begin this sentence I realize that this blog had its stride when it was the very crucible of my work on blogs and wikis, when PurpleWiki, PurpleNumbers and TransClusion were my daily bread. (PVT)
What does it all mean. Dunno. I'm positively distracted and insufficiently extroverted to keep it up here. (PVU)
In the meantime, if you see nothing happening here, fear not, I'm likely still alive. I was alive before January 9th, 2003. (PVV)
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