The Search for Klingsor

Sun Jul 28 06:51:48 CDT 2002

>From Jorge Volpi, In Search of Klingsor (trans. 
Kristina Cordero, NY: Scribner's, 2002 [1999]), "The
Quest for the Holy Grail," pp. 158-62 ...

   "'Go on about Parsifal and Kundry, I'm listening.' 
His gaze left my face and wandered over to the young
woman's breasts.  'Did you say Klingsor was some kind
of devil?'
   "'The incarnation of evil, and of perfection,
depending on your point of view.  The castle of Kolot
Embolot is on a tall hill that towered over an
enchanted valley.  There is one catch, however: In the
land ruled by Klingsor, everything is an illusion. 
Beauty is false, for beneath her facade lies death. 
And according to legend, that is the reason why
Klingsor has castrated himslef.  He is a demon, no
doubt, but an impotent, sterile demon.'

[...]

   "'Klingsor, being the devil, promises that he will
deliver love and truth, but it's all lies.  He is made
of stone.  He is a creature with a deformed, empty
soul.  In the tower of his castle he does nothing more
than stare at himself in an enormous mirror.  He is a
narcissist incapable of loving anything but himself. 
But he needs to prove his love, like a jealous
husband, by guarding over his own likeness.  Or
perhaps the image in the mirror is as false as the man
reflected in it.'  I took a sip of my drink.  'He is a
kind of Mephistopheles, the spirit that denies, an odd
child of chaos.'

[...]

   "'And Parsifal is his opponent, his opposite.'"
   "'No,' I answered flatly.  'Klingsor's true rival
is Amfortas, the stricken king.  The core of the
tragedy resides in him, the man who is dying because
he is not permitted to die.  Parsifal is merely the
hero, the vehicle necessary to break the equlibrium
between good and evil in the world.  Remember, in this
universe there are only two magical lands: the area
around Monsalvat, controlled by the knights of the
Holy Grail, and the hevenly gardens hidden inside the
Kollot Embolot.  Parsifal will be the person who will
finally put an end to this game that seems caught in a
permanent tie.'

[...]

"'Parsifal is an innocent man.  Rather than being the
incarnation of human goodness--that is the role of the
wounded Amfortas--he represents ignorance.  Parsifal
is content because he does not know who he is, nor
does he care.  Gamuret, his father, died in battle. 
His mother, Herzeleide, has raised him in a world
removed from all knowledge of good and evil.  He is a
new Adam, almost a savage, who is unaware of the
primordial struggle that is eternally being waged all
throughout the universe.  And for that very reason he
is the only person who can possibly change the fate of
the universe.'"  (pp. 161-2)