This week I read Cormac McCarthy's Child of God, and Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. The first is about a necrophiliac serial killer, the second about revenge carried out with unbelievable violence upon the families of a foppish emperor and his iron-willed general. Earlier I read Garcia Marquez' Autumn of the Patriarch, in which a general cooks and serves his enemies at a banquet.
I just saw the Juliet Taymor film of Titus. It reminded me of our president as he appeared today:
And I also thought of this story from the Washington Post.
If Cormac McCarthy or Gabriel Garcia Marquez put this President and that Iraqi corpse together in a novel, nobody would believe it. Caligula lives again and his name is Bush.
I realize this post is out of character for this blog. The persona of Dove is indeed a complete fiction, a performance I am no longer willing to act non-stop. So sue me.
By the way, this is what Cormac McCarthy thinks of signs of hope:
"There's no such thing as life without bloodshed," McCarthy says philosophically. "I think the notion that the species can be improved in some way, that everyone could live in harmony, is a really dangerous idea. Those who are afflicted with this notion are the first ones to give up their souls, their freedom. Your desire that it be that way will enslave you and make your life vacuous." (The NY Times, April 19, 1992)
Guess I ought to close up shop, according to Mr. McCarthy.
Retort:
http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge206.html#pinker
I just about always agree with Steven Pinker.
Posted by: Alison Chaiken | April 27, 2007 at 11:05 PM
The money statement in Pinker: that civilization has made us nobler.
Truth is, my experience is that human beings are decent and getting more so. I'm having some philosophical angst about literature, humanity, and "what makes great art" at the moment.
Maybe I need to read more Steven Pinker. Thank you, Alison.
Posted by: Leila A. | April 27, 2007 at 11:17 PM