Post by Dalmax on Mar 19, 2002 15:41:17 GMT -5
I stumbled across RB when I was 12. Although some of the thoughts and ideas expressed in that first exposure (Jonathan Livingstone Seagull) were beyond me then, I was left with the echo of a tune, never heard but so well known within, that took me many more years to understand.
Given the path that my life has taken since then, I am often surprised to find myself looking for one of his books, just to read a page at random, to bring back that same echo or chord. To me RB is a writer who views the world in a way that I can understand. His writing is clear enough for me to ‘see’ the blue feather, to smell the oil of an engine or to hear the wind rushing by – and for that, I shall always be grateful. Although now in my 30’s, I find that the moral of each tale has become simpler than what I imagined it to be when I read each story first. How true a work of fiction!
The recent articles, postings and commentary that I have found while looking for information on the Man, are scary not only because of their assumption to accuse another for their own state of mind but also because these people have obviously read so much into each story, page and line. At first it angered me to think that people were so idiotic to think that a writer, especially one of RB's fame would have made a mockery of everything that his work has been about - awareness, self knowledge and freedom - by then expecting his readers to exclude their own judgement from the telling of a story.
RB is to be thanked for his honesty, to be lauded for his insights and for my money – to be left as alone as any of us would like to be while we each try to get on with our lives.
Cheers!!
Given the path that my life has taken since then, I am often surprised to find myself looking for one of his books, just to read a page at random, to bring back that same echo or chord. To me RB is a writer who views the world in a way that I can understand. His writing is clear enough for me to ‘see’ the blue feather, to smell the oil of an engine or to hear the wind rushing by – and for that, I shall always be grateful. Although now in my 30’s, I find that the moral of each tale has become simpler than what I imagined it to be when I read each story first. How true a work of fiction!
The recent articles, postings and commentary that I have found while looking for information on the Man, are scary not only because of their assumption to accuse another for their own state of mind but also because these people have obviously read so much into each story, page and line. At first it angered me to think that people were so idiotic to think that a writer, especially one of RB's fame would have made a mockery of everything that his work has been about - awareness, self knowledge and freedom - by then expecting his readers to exclude their own judgement from the telling of a story.
RB is to be thanked for his honesty, to be lauded for his insights and for my money – to be left as alone as any of us would like to be while we each try to get on with our lives.
Cheers!!
