N&G

[wingblossom]

I enjoyed reading Narcissus & Goldmund about a couple of months ago, but didn't have much to say initially. So I was thinking about it recently, and realized that its intrinsic logic doesn't really hold up to scratch

Comments

[alphacomp]

You're alive!!!

Where have you been?

[wingblossom]

Wha, didn't realize I could be considered otherwise. XD

Silly joke aside, I just haven't been on AIM in a while -- when I signed on, other people usually weren't there, so. But I'll probably start using it more often soon.

[haydenthorne]

I agree with you wholeheartedly with regard to Narcissus's treatment. I found the beginning and end to be the best parts since we have both archetypes together, challenging each other's thinking. I pretty much slogged through the middle. I think you've hit on what Hesse's purpose was in concentrating so much on sensuality and physical pleasure, which was why I ended up not liking Goldmund as a character.

Also: if Goldmund were a Victorian-era dandy, he'd be Dorian Gray. Carelessly amoral blond prettyboys, both.

I think of him as the love child of Dorian Gray and Lord Byron, really. ^^

[wingblossom]

It's hard to say: I liked reading about both characters (when together), but was frustrated because there was so much wasted potential. I kept on meandering -- at one point, I'd think to myself, "hey, nice way for Hesse to deal with so-and-so conflict." At another, the scene would fall flat in my estimation.

What did you think of Narcissus? He actually irked me more than Goldmund; the text-idealization put me off. I mean, he was intriguing, but I kept wishing that someone would knock him off his pedestal a little. ^^. Plus I was wondering what went on with him while Goldmund was having his great, sweeping trials and tribulations. :D More so than what the book mentioned.

I think of him as the love child of Dorian Gray and Lord Byron, really

Ahah, yeah. That does seem like a closer assessment, now that you mention it.

[haydenthorne]

I agree with the abbott's assessment of Narcissus as arrogant. XD Because he is. Both characters represent extremes to me, and if Hesse devoted chunks of the novel to Narcissus, I'd be aching to open a can of whupass on him as much as I did with Goldmund, esp. if the situations were just as repetitive as Goldmund's.

I suppose, with Narcissus stuck in the cloister for so many years, there really isn't much to cover where he's concerned other than vast amounts of philosophizing since he's really not moving in the world the way Goldmund was. :S

[wingblossom]

*grin* I'm not rolling my eyes. Actually, your Radiohead sl0ring worked better than you probably think it did -- I bought Hail to the Thief as an Xmas present (to myself ^^;.). I've only listened to it once the whole way through, but I really like it.