perspective detective

[Paul Mackin]

On Thu, 21 Sep 2000, Terrance F. Flaherty wrote:
> 
> Paul, NO solutions to What?

Just that there is no way to deal with Death. Trying to embrace it--other
than with some pie in the sky (or on earth) spiritual approach--can only
be accomplished at the expense of life--the only life we have. Rilke tries
to do justice to the problem with art and does so beautifully in the
poem. Still the concept of embracing death as a part of life remains a  
contradiction--though an absolutely necessary one to Rilke's piece of
mind I would gather. Blicero's hairbrained attempt to use high tech to
somehow cross over the Zero to the Other Side is a Pynchonian burlesque
and a superb one. It's well worth discussing expecially if it can be seen
as some kind of crazy metaphor for the Nazi mentality. Not saying it has
to be seen as that. My only hesitation might be in giving a moral
dimension to B's outlandish act itself rather than just giving him an
B- for effort. Perhaps there is heroism of a kind in attempting to square
the  circle. It was a grand fantasy. What the Nazi did went well beyond
phantasizing about Death. Would that they had left it with phantasizing
about Death.

			P.