tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post1355438600226629422..comments2024-03-18T16:55:31.971+00:00Comments on This Space: The kingdom of recurrenceStephen Mitchelmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01658772259307446873noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-33539228494273440092007-08-18T20:08:00.000+01:002007-08-18T20:08:00.000+01:00Thanks Meg. I'm struggling to write a follow-up, b...Thanks Meg. I'm struggling to write a follow-up, because how does one measure the displacement caused by that weight?Stephen Mitchelmorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01658772259307446873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8470094.post-88277049803243794362007-08-16T18:57:00.000+01:002007-08-16T18:57:00.000+01:00Nietzche's theory of eternal recurrence ("If every...Nietzche's theory of eternal recurrence ("If every second of our lives recurs an infinite number of times, we are nailed to eternity as Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross.") reminded me of something in Elliot: "If all time is eternally present, all time is unredeemable." And yet, we are made of flesh and blood and live in time. Narrative illustrates both recurrence and change (the operation of time, in that linear sense, on objects and people). EM Forster in Aspects of the Novel speaks of rhythm in narrative, illustrating with Proust and the recurrence of "the little phrase" in the music of Vinteuil. Weight, if you will, builds through repetition. And yet new elements are introduced with many recurrences so that the theme recurs in a slightly different mode, like a theme recurring in a symphony so that by the last recurrence, the phrase has taken on significance and greatest beauty.<BR/><BR/>Have no idea if this is what you're thinking of, Steve, but thanks for letting me pontificate.<BR/><BR/>I must say that if the writing is the burden, it is beautiful indeed and the "lightness" of life is without skin in comparison, a land where we faintly know each other and are hardly honest.<BR/><BR/>MegAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com