No, I have never seen the films. Interesting the link you make to the American consciousness. Gurdjieff said that it is only the awakening of conscience can save us! ‘Con Science’, as Satish Kumar once said to me. I enjoyed your observations and thank your for reading. I hope back is healing.
Where do I start? First your writing is so good. I am going to assume you are British? I saw
centre' I'm Canadian so I use British language on my Google Docs. Americans seem to love their 'z's and hate their u's. It's a beautiful piece of writing and a great tribute to Eugene O'Neill. I have to confess that my degrees are in history and haven't been to a lot of plays, although when you come out of the play, you think,: That is so much more than a movie. I would have sworn 'that long day journey into night' was Shakespeare! So, obviously it is stored in one of the few remaining brain cells left. Your writing is beautiful. I have read a lot of Shakespeare's plays, but they are meant for the stage. I remember seeing 'the Scottish" play performed at the theatre and I was enthralled. What you wrote about D H Lawrence was beautiful- his appreciation of the gift of life and it reminded me of a poem.
Thank you. Yes, English for my sins. I hope to visit Canada one day. I have read too much and not travelled enough. Love Mary Oliver. The Theatre is sacred when done properly. I am glad you enjoyed my writing. Keep in touch and thank you for reading.
Thanks for this write-up of O’Neill. On leaving youth and Chekhov and Ibsen behind me I began to leave big gaps in my attention to the progress of fictional literature, drama and film. DH Lawrence, Malcolm Lowry and Thomas Hardy persisted a while. Lawrence and some of the Russians still have some pull. Had you earlier seen either of the film versions of ‘Long Day’s Journey’? I missed them.
Sorry for my thinking aloud. I note for my own interest that O'Neill's life spanned the rise to world dominance of the USA, the latter perhaps peaking not that long after his death in 1953.
Alcohol and TB claim a prominent historical place in our cultural inheritance along with ongoing failures to answer certain questions of the mind in terms of cause and effect. Alcoholism, given the ubiquity of alcohol, has an apparent randomness in its visitation not easily accounted for even by modern study. I know one young family man who has survived by tenacity of mutual devotion providing enough drive to stand away from chemical signalling. That devotion had not prevented his earlier falling prey to a very dangerous condition.
Which brings me, I think, to individualism; our eclectic internet has brought me many nudges recently about ‘inner light’ and perhaps government in the mind. There is the golden light of meditation, and in our tradition the ‘inner light of conscience’. Paul Kingsnorth recently reminded us of Winstanley and the ‘Diggers’ and the time of civil war. I turned to Hill’s account and the chapter on ‘Seekers and Ranters’, and then of course to the Quakers. There was manifest confusion. Fox, according to his wife Margaret’s testimony asked a big question. ‘You say Christ saith this, and the apostles say this; but what canst thou say?’
‘Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. Marcel Proust
‘In life, a person can take one of two attitudes: to build or to plant. The builders might take years over their tasks, but one day, they finish what they’re doing. Then they find that they’re hemmed in by their own walls.Life loses its meaning when the building stops.
Then there are those who plant. They endure storms and all the vicissitudes of the seasons, and they rarely rest. But unlike a building, a garden never stops growing. And while it requires the garden’s attention, it also allows life for the gardener to be a great adventure.’ Coehlo
Kindhearts are the garden
Kind thoughts are the roots
Kind words are the blossoms
Kind deeds are the fruits. John Ruskin
‘Anything that grows is always more beautiful to look at than anything which is built.’ Lin Yu Tang
I am doing brief bios and quotes on people that had integrity, character, morality, and the courage of their own convictions. (Do you remember when that was a thing?)
RACHEL CARSON
Rachel Carson was a marine biologist who was one of the first to research the harm of the dumping of toxic chemicals into the water system and went after the petrochemical and pesticide industries. She even came to New Brunsiwck, Canada to witness the budworm spraying of the forests with DDT. She expanded her research to all ecosystems and she meticulously correlated her research. Her last book ‘Last Spring’ is one of the most important books of the twentieth century. She was in a race against time as she was dying of breast cancer. This she kept secret because she was afraid that the big petrochemical and pesticide companies would say that she had an ulterior motive for speaking out. Her book, Silent Spring was published just before her death in 1964. Personally, I cannot understate Rachel Carson’s influence on the environmental activist movement nor her personal courage.
‘Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature- the assurance that dawn comes after night and spring after winter. Have we fallen into a mesmerised state that makes us accept as inevitable that which is inferior or detrimental, as though having lost the will or vision to demand that which is good? The question is whether any civilization can wage relentless war on life without destroying itself, and without losing the right to be called ‘civilised’. The human race is challenged more than ever to demonstrate our mastery, not over nature, but of ourselves.’ Marine Biologist and Environmental Activist Rachel Carson
In nature, nothing exists alone. Why should we tolerate a diet of weak poisons, a home in insipid surroundings, a circle of friends who are not quite our enemies, the noise of motors with just enough relief to prevent insanity? Who would want to live in a world which is just quite not fatal. We stand now where two roads diverge. But, unlike the roads in Robert Frost’s poems, they are not equally fair. The road we have been travelling is deceptively easy, a smooth, superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at the end lies disaster. The other fork in the road- the one less travelled by- offers our last, only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth.’ Environmental Activist and Marine Biologist Rachel Carson
‘A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us, that clear-eyed vision; that true instinct for what is awe- inspiring is diminished and even lost before we reach adulthood.’ Rachel Carson
‘If there is poetry in my book about the sea , it is not because I deliberately put it there, but because no one could write truthfully about the sea and leave out the poetry.’ Rachel Carson
She is speaking of her last book ‘Silent Spring’ released two months before she died of cancer. l
And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds,
A white cross streaming across the sky,
Its feet like black leaves,
Its wings like the stretching light of the river?
And did you feel it, in your heart
How it pertained to everything?
And have you, too, finally figured out
What beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?
We shake with joy. We shake with grief. What a time they have, these two, housed in the same body. Mary Oliver
And that is just the point- how the world, moist and beautiful, calls each of us to make a new and serious response. That’s the big question, the one the world throws at you every morning: ‘Here you are alive! Would you like to make a comment?’ Mary Oliver
Hi Philip.
No, I have never seen the films. Interesting the link you make to the American consciousness. Gurdjieff said that it is only the awakening of conscience can save us! ‘Con Science’, as Satish Kumar once said to me. I enjoyed your observations and thank your for reading. I hope back is healing.
David
Where do I start? First your writing is so good. I am going to assume you are British? I saw
centre' I'm Canadian so I use British language on my Google Docs. Americans seem to love their 'z's and hate their u's. It's a beautiful piece of writing and a great tribute to Eugene O'Neill. I have to confess that my degrees are in history and haven't been to a lot of plays, although when you come out of the play, you think,: That is so much more than a movie. I would have sworn 'that long day journey into night' was Shakespeare! So, obviously it is stored in one of the few remaining brain cells left. Your writing is beautiful. I have read a lot of Shakespeare's plays, but they are meant for the stage. I remember seeing 'the Scottish" play performed at the theatre and I was enthralled. What you wrote about D H Lawrence was beautiful- his appreciation of the gift of life and it reminded me of a poem.
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
Love what it loves.
Tell me about your despair, yours,
And I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile, the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear
Pebbles of the rain
Are moving across the landscapes,
Over the prairies and the deep trees,
The mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile, the wild geese, high in the clean
Blue air are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
The world offers itself to your imagination-
Calls to you like the wild geese,
Harsh and exciting,
Over and over announcing your place
In the family of things. Mary Oliver
============================
Thank-you David. I will be back!
Thank you. Yes, English for my sins. I hope to visit Canada one day. I have read too much and not travelled enough. Love Mary Oliver. The Theatre is sacred when done properly. I am glad you enjoyed my writing. Keep in touch and thank you for reading.
David
Thanks for this write-up of O’Neill. On leaving youth and Chekhov and Ibsen behind me I began to leave big gaps in my attention to the progress of fictional literature, drama and film. DH Lawrence, Malcolm Lowry and Thomas Hardy persisted a while. Lawrence and some of the Russians still have some pull. Had you earlier seen either of the film versions of ‘Long Day’s Journey’? I missed them.
Sorry for my thinking aloud. I note for my own interest that O'Neill's life spanned the rise to world dominance of the USA, the latter perhaps peaking not that long after his death in 1953.
Alcohol and TB claim a prominent historical place in our cultural inheritance along with ongoing failures to answer certain questions of the mind in terms of cause and effect. Alcoholism, given the ubiquity of alcohol, has an apparent randomness in its visitation not easily accounted for even by modern study. I know one young family man who has survived by tenacity of mutual devotion providing enough drive to stand away from chemical signalling. That devotion had not prevented his earlier falling prey to a very dangerous condition.
Which brings me, I think, to individualism; our eclectic internet has brought me many nudges recently about ‘inner light’ and perhaps government in the mind. There is the golden light of meditation, and in our tradition the ‘inner light of conscience’. Paul Kingsnorth recently reminded us of Winstanley and the ‘Diggers’ and the time of civil war. I turned to Hill’s account and the chapter on ‘Seekers and Ranters’, and then of course to the Quakers. There was manifest confusion. Fox, according to his wife Margaret’s testimony asked a big question. ‘You say Christ saith this, and the apostles say this; but what canst thou say?’
Just the correct one I think.
GARDENING
‘Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. Marcel Proust
‘In life, a person can take one of two attitudes: to build or to plant. The builders might take years over their tasks, but one day, they finish what they’re doing. Then they find that they’re hemmed in by their own walls.Life loses its meaning when the building stops.
Then there are those who plant. They endure storms and all the vicissitudes of the seasons, and they rarely rest. But unlike a building, a garden never stops growing. And while it requires the garden’s attention, it also allows life for the gardener to be a great adventure.’ Coehlo
Kindhearts are the garden
Kind thoughts are the roots
Kind words are the blossoms
Kind deeds are the fruits. John Ruskin
‘Anything that grows is always more beautiful to look at than anything which is built.’ Lin Yu Tang
I am doing brief bios and quotes on people that had integrity, character, morality, and the courage of their own convictions. (Do you remember when that was a thing?)
RACHEL CARSON
Rachel Carson was a marine biologist who was one of the first to research the harm of the dumping of toxic chemicals into the water system and went after the petrochemical and pesticide industries. She even came to New Brunsiwck, Canada to witness the budworm spraying of the forests with DDT. She expanded her research to all ecosystems and she meticulously correlated her research. Her last book ‘Last Spring’ is one of the most important books of the twentieth century. She was in a race against time as she was dying of breast cancer. This she kept secret because she was afraid that the big petrochemical and pesticide companies would say that she had an ulterior motive for speaking out. Her book, Silent Spring was published just before her death in 1964. Personally, I cannot understate Rachel Carson’s influence on the environmental activist movement nor her personal courage.
‘Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature- the assurance that dawn comes after night and spring after winter. Have we fallen into a mesmerised state that makes us accept as inevitable that which is inferior or detrimental, as though having lost the will or vision to demand that which is good? The question is whether any civilization can wage relentless war on life without destroying itself, and without losing the right to be called ‘civilised’. The human race is challenged more than ever to demonstrate our mastery, not over nature, but of ourselves.’ Marine Biologist and Environmental Activist Rachel Carson
In nature, nothing exists alone. Why should we tolerate a diet of weak poisons, a home in insipid surroundings, a circle of friends who are not quite our enemies, the noise of motors with just enough relief to prevent insanity? Who would want to live in a world which is just quite not fatal. We stand now where two roads diverge. But, unlike the roads in Robert Frost’s poems, they are not equally fair. The road we have been travelling is deceptively easy, a smooth, superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at the end lies disaster. The other fork in the road- the one less travelled by- offers our last, only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth.’ Environmental Activist and Marine Biologist Rachel Carson
‘A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us, that clear-eyed vision; that true instinct for what is awe- inspiring is diminished and even lost before we reach adulthood.’ Rachel Carson
‘If there is poetry in my book about the sea , it is not because I deliberately put it there, but because no one could write truthfully about the sea and leave out the poetry.’ Rachel Carson
She is speaking of her last book ‘Silent Spring’ released two months before she died of cancer. l
THE SWAN
Did you see it drifting all night
On the black river?
Did you see it in the morning,
Rising into the silvery air,
An armful of white blossoms,
A perfect commotion of silk and linen
As it leaned into the bondage of its wings,
A snowbank, a bank of lilies
Biting the air with its black beak?
Did you hear it fluting and whistling,
A shrill dark music-
Like the rain pelting the trees,
Like a waterfall
Knifing down the black ledges?
And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds,
A white cross streaming across the sky,
Its feet like black leaves,
Its wings like the stretching light of the river?
And did you feel it, in your heart
How it pertained to everything?
And have you, too, finally figured out
What beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?
We shake with joy. We shake with grief. What a time they have, these two, housed in the same body. Mary Oliver
And that is just the point- how the world, moist and beautiful, calls each of us to make a new and serious response. That’s the big question, the one the world throws at you every morning: ‘Here you are alive! Would you like to make a comment?’ Mary Oliver
----------------------======
Hi David. This is Colin.
Do you have access to all of my writing or just the current one?