TR . . sure Gaddis is christian in perverse way (shade of gray)

[Michael Bailey]

 Kai Frederik Lorentzen  wrote:

>> Goethe's formula allows Faust to be saved because he at last finds
>> happiness in the thought that he is helping others
>
> Very American and not quite correct. What saves Faust's ass is that he never
> gives up trying ...
> As the Angels (cf. 11936-7) have it: "Wer immer strebend sich bemüht, den
> können wir erlösen."
>

ah yes, you're quite right: by saying "moment linger"  he calls the
deal acceptable, "game over" - but that statement and the good
intentions he's cherishing wouldn't be grounds for saving him, lots of
theology arguing against that idea...

I'm not sure if all my American cohorts are as prone to
misinterpretation as I am
...the always striving bit, now that wouldn't be associated with a
particular nationality, would it? (smile)  but that does seem to be
something the angels could more readily work with than good intentions
(which the road to perdition is supposedly paved with) (and under
them, the beach?)

>> ... not to mention finding clear 20th century equivalents to the medieval
>> devil/God entities or their Enlightenment version, or making it clear
>> that such distinctions aren't always easily drawn
>

> Neither Thomas Mann ("Doktor Faustus") nor Michail Bulgakow  ("Master i
> Margarita") had any problems with that, so ...
>

they successfully went the finding equivalents route, but I'm
wondering if there might not be an approach where reworking it would
dwell on and perhaps conclude with a finding of moral ambiguity
(Inherent Vice...)