Mostly Crowley

Jim Jordan · 30 Jun 2000, 14:08 · from urth-v0029.mbox · original

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From: Jim Jordan <jbjordan at gnt.net>
Subject: Re: (urth) Mostly Crowley
Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 14:08:04
Message-ID: <urth-v0029-0098 at digest.urth.net>
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>
>Honestly, Ratty, I am perplexed by your reactions both to this book and
>to LB. The sort of mellow and amused side to the drug culture (by which
>I do not mean sinister drugs) of the era can't be possibly be so foreign
>to you unless you are from another planet (which of course is possible).
>I think of you as a savvy reader. It's a comment on the times Why does
>it upset you so much? (Not snide, honestly interested.)
>
>-alga

	Well, it does not upset me. I'm not real cognizant of the "mellow and
amused side of the drug culture" bit, so I have to rely on people who are
to fill in the gaps in my perception.=20
	As for me, since you are interested: I've been an evangelical Christian
all my life, and, like a great many people, I've never done any kind of
drugs (unless you count alcohol as such). At the same time, as a Calvinist,
I have no objection in principle to the (moderate) use of recreational
drugs; and as a conservative-libertarian of sorts, I'm not in favor of
present-day US drug policies, for a variety of reasons. But, since their
use is presently outlawed in our society, and since I feel no compelling
need to use them, I never have. So, I'm not terribly alert to oblique
allusions to them; I've not been in that "world."
	I raised the question with reference to LB because it seemed to me that
the characters are generally all descending into a bad place from a good
beginning. Based on your interview with JC, I have to set aside such a
reading, of course. But what I was wondering at the time was whether JC
himself was entering a caution about drugs. I suppose he was not. I'm not a
deconstructionist, and I have no interest in imposing my own opinions on
the writings of anyone. I was only interested in what JC himself was
getting at, interested in understanding the text as the author intended it.
	What I personally do not like about the character of George Mouse, though
he has some admirable qualities, is his pretty self-conscious engagement in
incest, which as an evangelical Calvinist I DO object to!
	FWIW, the two JCs that I really like are ES and GWOT. And I did not see
the ending as some kind of rape. In fact, I found the ending rather moving,
a sort of neoplatonic ascent to heaven as it were. But I no longer trust my
readings of JC, and will leave it to others, and stick with interpreting
writers I'm more in tune with, like Linebarger and Wolfe!
	I trust that this reply better fixes my opinions for you.

Nutria


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