And yet Arnold could see the way forward, a sort of ascetic struggle, but perhaps couldn’t quite bring himself to follow. It brings to mind the Holy Spirit’s direction to St. Silouan the Athonite when he was tempted to despair, “Keep thy mind in hell and despair not”.
Thinking of the Victorian Era poets as the ones watching Mordor creep into the world and set up strongholds is an evocative image. I wonder if, in vaguely similar ways, Bram Stoker wasn’t doing something like this with Dracula. I only read the actual novel for the first time in the past year, and I was struck first by how much better it was than any of the various movie versions that have been made and second by the sincerity of his appeal to the supernatural power of the Christian sacraments (including the Eucharist). It made me curious to know more about who Bram Stoker actually was. I also wonder if the success of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories doesn’t also tie into the creeping darkness of the Victorian Era. Apart from how attractive Holmes is as a character, it’s story after story of murder and betrayal and blackmail showing up in the middle to upper classes. Perhaps Holmes was Doyle’s attempt to paint a rationalist hero capable of pushing back against the boundaries of the growing darkness?
At any rate, an enjoyable discussion. The kid and I are really looking forward to the Summer Symposium.
Conan Doyle was a strange character but he had depths that are not always easy to perceive. Like his schoolmate RL Stevenson (who from Polynesia guessed the identity of the model for Holmes), he was aware of the human depravity lurking beneath respectable surfaces. In “The Creeping Man,” Holmes makes the Aristotelian observation: “When one tries to rise above Nature one is liable to fall below it. The highest type of man may revert to the animal if he leaves the straight road of destiny.” If I recall teh story correctly, Holmes is reflecting on the desire for earthly immortality.
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And yet Arnold could see the way forward, a sort of ascetic struggle, but perhaps couldn’t quite bring himself to follow. It brings to mind the Holy Spirit’s direction to St. Silouan the Athonite when he was tempted to despair, “Keep thy mind in hell and despair not”.
https://allpoetry.com/East-London
Thinking of the Victorian Era poets as the ones watching Mordor creep into the world and set up strongholds is an evocative image. I wonder if, in vaguely similar ways, Bram Stoker wasn’t doing something like this with Dracula. I only read the actual novel for the first time in the past year, and I was struck first by how much better it was than any of the various movie versions that have been made and second by the sincerity of his appeal to the supernatural power of the Christian sacraments (including the Eucharist). It made me curious to know more about who Bram Stoker actually was. I also wonder if the success of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories doesn’t also tie into the creeping darkness of the Victorian Era. Apart from how attractive Holmes is as a character, it’s story after story of murder and betrayal and blackmail showing up in the middle to upper classes. Perhaps Holmes was Doyle’s attempt to paint a rationalist hero capable of pushing back against the boundaries of the growing darkness?
At any rate, an enjoyable discussion. The kid and I are really looking forward to the Summer Symposium.
Conan Doyle was a strange character but he had depths that are not always easy to perceive. Like his schoolmate RL Stevenson (who from Polynesia guessed the identity of the model for Holmes), he was aware of the human depravity lurking beneath respectable surfaces. In “The Creeping Man,” Holmes makes the Aristotelian observation: “When one tries to rise above Nature one is liable to fall below it. The highest type of man may revert to the animal if he leaves the straight road of destiny.” If I recall teh story correctly, Holmes is reflecting on the desire for earthly immortality.