Great Love and Great Suffering

In March, I read several difficult books; at least they were for me. I seldom go back and reread a book because I think there are many books I have not read. Now seemed the time to change my stance. After such difficult books, it seemed like the perfect time to pick up my favorite novel: 'East of Eden' by John Steinbeck. I have found the book to be better than it was the first time! 

Through brilliant writing, Steinbeck explores the extremes we find in humanity: good and evil. The characters in the novel who are the most compelling to me are the ones who struggle with being good—those who have an ethical system and they grapple daily trying to do right. The wise Chinese man, Lee, states while discussing the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, 'If the story is not about the hearer he will not listen. And I here make a rule—a great and lasting story is about everyone or it will not last.' The brilliance of Lee's statement is that it reflects on the book 'East of Eden.' The book is about us. It is about me grappling with my ethical system to do right. 

April is the start of year three for the Great Books reading project, and we head back to read the ancient Greeks. The first reading is the Greek tragedy 'Prometheus Bound' by Aeschylus. I have not read this before and loved reading it. Reading this alongside 'East of Eden,' I found a similar theme. 

In the drama, Zeus is angry with Prometheus for giving away some of his powers to Man. Prometheus says, 'I place in them blind hopes.' and 'Besides this, I gave them fire.' Man becomes more powerful with fire. This ignites Zeus's anger. Prometheus does not regret what he has done. He will not bend and has a horrific punishment. The pull between Zeus and Prometheus to determine what is right and good is similar to the tension in 'East of Eden' between good and evil. 

Richard Rohr says that two things cause significant growth: great suffering and great love. Both of these have traveled with me on my life's journey. As I reflect on my life, I see an evolution in my ethical system. In his book 'The Universal Christ,' Richard Rohr writes: 'humans are fashioned to love people more than principles.' I am hoping that my ethical system is evolving to love. It is much simpler. In this challenge of loving people, Steinbeck's theme shines through: the tension between good and evil is what makes us human. Prometheus, in his wisdom states, 'Time in its ageing course teaches all things.' Now, for me to be a good student.

Photo by Andreas Stiebe in Rome

Currently reading:

• Psalm (5th Century BCE by King David and Solomon
• The First Four Books of Poems (1995) by Louise Glück
• The History (425 BC) by Herodotus
• Kajsa Kavat (1950) by Astrid Lindgren
• Every Thing is Sacred (2021) by Richard Rohr and Patrick Boland
• The Universal Christ (2019) by Richard Rohr
• East of Eden  (1951) by John Steinbeck
• The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz (2020) by Erik Larson

Completed:

• Prometheus Bound (450 BC) by Aeschylus
• The Correspondence (2017) by J.D. Daniels
• Averno (2006) by Louise Glück
• What Unites Us (2017) by Dan Rather
• Proverbs (8th Century BC) by King Solomon
• The Waves (1931) by Virginia Woolf
• High Achiever: The Incredible Story of One Addict's Double Life (2017) by Tiffany Jenkins

Searching the Depths

The Great Book of the Western World group just finished year two of the ten-year reading plan. This quarter we read: 

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726) 

A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality by Jean Jacques Rousseau (1755) 

Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals by Immanuel Kant (1785) 

On Liberty by John Stuart Mill (1859) 

Exodus by Moses (6th century BCE) 

At the end of the quarter, each member does a write-up of what we have read. At the beginning of the project, we chose a format that we all followed. As the project has progressed, each of us has adapted our own format. I am asking three questions of the texts: What is the author’s view of humankind, society, and God? These questions have helped me in identifying similarities and differences between the texts. 

The question must be asked, why? Why am I doing this? This reading and writing is not coursework towards a degree, of which I have done my fair share. I am not writing a curriculum for a school. This is not part of a job description. So then, why? A friend recently said that her anxiety rises with the idea of ‘required’ reading each month. That is a fair assessment; why go back to university days of being held accountable for reading? 

Tuesday evening, we had our first of two discussions of the texts we read this quarter. Something occurred during the discussion that could not have happened if I was reading alone. None of us are experts, yet we are curious. In this process, we are not searching the internet to see what the experts are writing; that is for later. This reading is our first run-through. At one point or another, each of us during the discussion said, ’hum...I did not think about that before.’ New ideas were forming while we talked, even though we all had worked extensively with the texts. It is the delight that comes from exploring ideas, wondering, and grappling that is satisfying. 

John Stuart Mill in ’On Liberty’ despises the ‘despotism of custom.’ How can there be individual liberty when a person is addicted to his customs and culture? My friend, who I have known since my teenage years, and I have discussions about our lives. We have grown up in a similar place with similar backgrounds. We both have the desire to become more than what we were a year ago. This desire leads to a variety of books which we discuss, always probing our own lives; looking beyond what we have always known. And, at this point in life, there is no need to be anything but honest. This stretching of myself could not happen on my own. 

John Stuart Mill also rails against the ’tyranny of opinion’. These tyrannies are worse than the long arm of the government. The Reading i Sverige group doesn’t allow me to stay stuck in what is comfortable from my own culture. When I am reading with friends from the world, I find myself looking at things from another perspective; how refreshing. This new perspective allows me to experience the world more richly. 

There are many classics that I have not read. Several years ago, I asked my mom if she wanted to join me in reading the classics. Along the way, my brother joined us. We have read 23 books together. This experience has made these relationships fuller because of a shared history beyond our physical being. We can discuss the four girls in Little Women; the old man, did he win or lose by catching the fish; and Anna, who seemed to have everything and lost it all, including her own life. What memories we share. 

Reading with others gives a shared history which includes the adventures, trials, triumphs of the books we have shared. I am always grateful to those who read with me. My life has a rich texture because of you.

Image from Hornborgarsjön 2020 by Andreas Stiebe

Currently Reading:

• Psalm (5th Century Bc) by King David and Solomon
• Averno (2006) by Louise Glück
• Kajsa Kavat (1950) by Astrid Lindgren
• East of Eden  (1951) by John Steinbeck
• The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz (2020) by Erik Larson

Completed:

• The Correspondence (2017) by J.D. Daniels
• What Unites Us (2017) by Dan Rather
• Proverbs (8th Century BC) by King Solomon
• The Waves (1931) by Virginia Woolf
• High Achiever: The Incredible Story of One Addict's Double Life (2017) by Tiffany Jenkins

The Waves

 

Virginia Woolf's book 'The Waves' is not the first stream of consciousness book that I have read. Hjalmar Söderberg’s book, ‘Dr. Glas' and 'The Sound and the Fury' by William Faulkner are great examples of this genre. Having read 'The Lighthouse' by Virginia Woolf, I thought I knew what my experience would be in reading 'The Waves.'

During this reading experience it was as if I had a veil over my eyes. Nothing seemed to be clear. I found myself suddenly pondering past events in my life. It was as if by reading 'The Waves' I had entered my unconscious, and things became unveiled. It isn’t easy to describe because it has been unlike any reading experience I have had before. 

After a death in the book, the language Woolf used to describe grief is poetic and mystical:

"I went from one to the other holding my sorrow - no, not my sorrow but the

 incomprehensible nature of this our life - for their inspection. Some people go

 to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends, I to my own heart, I to seek among

 phrases and fragments something unbroken - I to whom there is no beauty

 enough in moon or tree; to whom the touch of one person with another is all,

 yet who cannot grasp even that, who am so imperfect, so weak, so

 unspeakably lonely."

Louise Glück, in her poem, 'Averno' wrote about the veil. 

'.. and now the mortal spirit 

seeking so openly, so fearlessly---

To raise the veil,

To see what you're saying goodbye to.

The poem is not grieving the loss of a loved one. Instead, the desire is to raise the veil to understand what life was. What had been kept hidden? She desires to know what was behind the veil before she dies.

 

Julian of Norwich also uses the metaphor of the veil. She acknowledges this same veil

that Glück desires to remove before death: 'We may have fleeting glimpses of the cosmic design and see that it is good. But then the veil drops again and we forget.' Does the veil protect us from what we cannot yet see or do we get busy with life and fail to see what is before us? 

 

After Moses spent time with God in Exodus, God put a veil over his 'shining' face to protect the people. Only when he was in the presence of God was the veil removed. This veil leads the reader to wonder if the people were not ready to see the truth. God protected them.

 

In my life, I often do not see clearly. Reading has caused me to question, wonder, probe, and see, but not yet fully. At times the veil has dropped as Julian of Norwich suggests. My different reading groups have helped me on this journey of 'raising the veil.' For them I am grateful!

Image of Lake Superior

Currently Reading:

• Don Quixote (1605) by Cervantes
• Psalm (5th Century Bc) by King David and Solomon
• Averno (2006) by Louise Glück
• Kajsa Kavat (1950) by Astrid Lindgren
• The Waves (1931) by Virginia Woolf

Completed:

• The Correspondence (2017) by J.D. Daniels
• What Unites Us (2017) by Dan Rather
• Proverbs (8th Century BC) by King Solomon