Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Monday, April 21, 2014
A Novel.
Steppenwolf
By: Herman Hesse
"I see them as a document of the times, for Haller's sickness of the soul, as I now know, is not the eccentricity of a single individual but the sickness of the times themselves, the neurosis of that generation to which Haller belongs, a sickness, it seems that by no means attacks the weak and worthless only but, rather, precisely those who are strongest in spirit and richest in gifts."
pg. 24
I have re-read this passage over and over again, and it reminds me of a question...or hypothesis really that has crossed my mind several times over the years:
Humans that make such profound impacts on society one day are just as simply gone the next. In my experience in particular, the most brilliant of people always seem to be the most tortured. Why is this?
As Hesse describes this sort of despair that only plagues the souls of those with great gifts to offer humanity, I can't help but think of how true this is as I recount all of the ingenious souls who have been given to our race then abruptly taken away. For example, Jimi Hendrix, Sylvia Plath, Billie Holiday, Kurt Cobain, Heath Ledger, Basquiat, etc. there is an increasingly long list.
This trend over the centuries (including Hesse's time obviously) leads the scientist in me to prevail that there is a correlation between vast intelligence or "gifts" and emotional turbulence. Could the gift of intelligence and great creativity really stand alone in the human psyche without the over hanging despair of acute self awareness and that of others?
Or maybe it is the tragedy of their lives that makes their gifts more prevalent to society.
I am unsure. What do you think? More on this later as I just started reading Steppenwolf.
Also, I really want some stuffed mushrooms from Olive Garden.
By: Herman Hesse
"I see them as a document of the times, for Haller's sickness of the soul, as I now know, is not the eccentricity of a single individual but the sickness of the times themselves, the neurosis of that generation to which Haller belongs, a sickness, it seems that by no means attacks the weak and worthless only but, rather, precisely those who are strongest in spirit and richest in gifts."
pg. 24
I have re-read this passage over and over again, and it reminds me of a question...or hypothesis really that has crossed my mind several times over the years:
Humans that make such profound impacts on society one day are just as simply gone the next. In my experience in particular, the most brilliant of people always seem to be the most tortured. Why is this?
As Hesse describes this sort of despair that only plagues the souls of those with great gifts to offer humanity, I can't help but think of how true this is as I recount all of the ingenious souls who have been given to our race then abruptly taken away. For example, Jimi Hendrix, Sylvia Plath, Billie Holiday, Kurt Cobain, Heath Ledger, Basquiat, etc. there is an increasingly long list.
This trend over the centuries (including Hesse's time obviously) leads the scientist in me to prevail that there is a correlation between vast intelligence or "gifts" and emotional turbulence. Could the gift of intelligence and great creativity really stand alone in the human psyche without the over hanging despair of acute self awareness and that of others?
Or maybe it is the tragedy of their lives that makes their gifts more prevalent to society.
I am unsure. What do you think? More on this later as I just started reading Steppenwolf.
Also, I really want some stuffed mushrooms from Olive Garden.
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