rubrics (I like that word), wrecking crews and hugfests

[malignd at aol.com]

<<Rudolf Steiner, polymath and philosopher, passed away in 1925,so it's 
hard to see how he could have reviewed any of Saul Bellow's booksin a 
physical sense.>>

This is, of course, correct. It was Owen Barfield who Bellow rejected.


-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Bailey <michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com>
To: P-list <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Wed, Nov 25, 2009 8:51 pm
Subject: Re: rubrics (I like that word), wrecking crews and hugfests


malignd wrote:> I can't speak with any authority,  but it seems 
entirely possible--from what> I know--that Bellow courted Rudolf 
Steiner for novelistic reasons.  He> denied Steiner's request to review 
The Dean's December.Rudolf Steiner, polymath and philosopher, passed 
away in 1925,so it's hard to see how he could have reviewed any of Saul 
Bellow's booksin a physical sense.Saul Bellow wrote a foreword to one 
of Steiner's 
books:http://www.steinerbooks.org/detail.html?id=0880101873Steiner 
followed Goethe to some extent; what I recall of Bellow'smysticism also 
quoted Goethe, I think.  Goethe wrote about a theoryof vision, for 
instance, that ascribed an energetic potency comingfrom the eyes and 
affecting objects so as to enable vision of them, right?While this is 
demonstrably false within mechanistic paradigms,there are certainly 
many ways to see the world, and sometimesa (great) notion might still 
seed productive thought even if false.Or they might hold true within 
certain limited domains: a flat earthis a workable perception as long 
as you're talking about a specificsubset of the surface.There are a lot 
of such thought-provoking ideas within Steiner's writings.The 
suspension of disbelief necessary to appreciate such theoriesisn't too 
far from that which fiction asks for...and the rewards are similar.  To 
me, non-negligible, valuablein several ways.Steiner was able, for 
instance, using his philosophy of medicine,to palpably assist 
people.http://www.skylarkbooks.co.uk/Rudolf_Steiner_Biography.htm In 
the early 1880's, Steiner became a private tutor to a family of four 
boys,three of whom he was to give preliminary instruction prior to 
elementary schooland then to coach them through secondary school. The 
fourth was a backwardhydrocephalic 10-year old with poor general 
health, who had hardly masteredthe rudiments of reading, writing and 
arithmetic. He was considered tobe physically and mentally abnormal and 
it was doubtful whether hecould be educated at all.Through Steiner's 
examination of the whole human and his ability to see wherethe 
difficulties lie not just in the physiological processes, but through 
theseprocesses as expressions of particular soul and 
spiritualdifficulties, he was able to design a program of therapy and 
study for the boy. In two years hemade up the deficiencies in his 
elementary school studies and passedthe grammar school entrance 
examination. As part of his developmentalprogress, his health also 
improved including the hydrocephalus.Steiner continued to work with him 
through most of his generaleducation, after which the young man 
continued in study, eventuallyqualifying as a medical doctor.-- - "The 
whole point of life is to have a story" - Jeremy Cioara