"The Greeks had got it right, he said. Their drama was a communal act, a sacred event, in which the ancient stories of the tribe were played out, enab"The Greeks had got it right, he said. Their drama was a communal act, a sacred event, in which the ancient stories of the tribe were played out, enabling the audience to confront the deepest, most sublime and most terrible truths of human life, producing a profound, an overwhelming, release - a catharsis - which was the whole point of the drama"
Simon Callow has managed to write an entertaining and often surreal portrait of Wagner as a man. It doesn't go as deep as the work by Magee or Scruton but if you are looking for a brief book which provides an overview of his life, you've come to the right place. Callow has a tendency to believe Wagner too much though since this biography heavily relies on Wagners own biography, My life. Having said that it is incredible what a dramatic life he lead and what he managed to accomplish. He was an inveterate gambler who took enormous risks and somehow managed to come out winning in the end. I wouldn't say he was a particularly likeable person. He seems more to attract people to him by his sheer force of personality and use them ruthlessly to accomplish his own goals.
Callow focuses on Wagner the dramatist and therefore gives a shallower account of what he actually read. I suppose that you can read Bryan Magee if you want to know more about that. Seeing as how I was interested in how Wagner managed to dramatise his ideas, this was a rewarding read. I do think it is hard to understand Wagner without understanding the music as the two often go hand in hand. All in all, an entertaining read. ...more
It is odd to read the Odyssey after one has read some of the Nobel Prize winning scientist Richard Feynmans work. Feynman was very much for critical tIt is odd to read the Odyssey after one has read some of the Nobel Prize winning scientist Richard Feynmans work. Feynman was very much for critical thinking and against religious dogma. One should be able to question everything and therefore it is quite weird to be thrown into a world where Gods are in fact omnipresent. It seemed to me like a pre-socratic world was laid open to my eyes and through the sheer power of its language I was thrown in. I had set my mind on reading this work, not expecting greatness... oh how I underestimated this classic!
Spoilers ahead!
Roughly half of the epic follows Odysseus attempt to return to his home (Ithaka) after Troy has been destroyed and the second half follows his revenge of the suitors who wish to marry his wife Penelope. What is the Odyssey about? What is the meaning of the work? I interpret it as a work as great storytelling created to explain the virtues of its time - loyalty, fidelity, courage, strength and cunning. These virtues are evidently shared by most of the characters Odysseys meet and those who fail to live up to them often end up meeting a gruesome death.
Neither the work nor its values have in a sense aged seeing how much the Odyssey common with many films made today (John Wick for example). The difference I would say is the extent to which a protagonist will go to achieve his goal. Odysseus can be quite ruthless at times and when he does go on a rampage I found his practical wisdom (i.e. the aristotelean word "phronesis") lacking, seeing as how the Gods had to intervene in order to stop further bloodshed.
I did find myself thinking about the epic many days after I finished reading it and when wandering out in nature thought: how would the pre-socratic Greeks experience this park? Would they consciously think about how present the Olympic Gods are every moment? Perhaps not every moment but once something out of the ordinary would happen they would interpret it within the current religious framework.
All in all a great read. I might read the Illiad next, we'll see!...more
Loading...
