tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post3831045400414330568..comments2024-02-18T06:21:45.375-06:00Comments on ~<i>The Three Prayers</i>: Robert Hugh Benson and The Lord of the WorldJanet Cupohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037555111680888247noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-84743287228147710422012-10-04T15:20:07.540-05:002012-10-04T15:20:07.540-05:00Could have been. Chatting on Delphi was such an ex...Could have been. Chatting on Delphi was such an exercise in patience that the trauma of it has wiped away much of what was said.<br /><br />AMDGJanethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09069018443486415173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-4056738450131809662012-10-04T15:11:53.967-05:002012-10-04T15:11:53.967-05:00I thought we'd chatted about Lord of the World...I thought we'd chatted about <i>Lord of the World</i> on Delphi, and given how long ago that must have been, I supposed it must have been before I'd even heard of Joseph Pearce. But I see now that <i>Literary Converts</i> was published in 2000, so it's just about possible.Paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-90566697358510961152012-10-03T15:07:26.813-05:002012-10-03T15:07:26.813-05:00Goodness Paul, your memory is much younger than mi...Goodness Paul, your memory is much younger than mine and you might remember better than I do. I would have said not, but I might easily be wrong.<br /><br />AMDGJanethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09069018443486415173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-74102222018599056322012-10-03T15:05:01.600-05:002012-10-03T15:05:01.600-05:00Is my memory playing tricks on me, or did you read...Is my memory playing tricks on me, or did you read <i>Lord of the World</i> before reading about the author?<br /><br />It is a novel that is prescient in all sorts of ways.<br /><br />I'm often surprised at the number of people who seem to take the view that no existing Communist state of system has been "real" Communism. Somehow you never hear that said about Fascism. ("It wasn't really a Fascist state, the economic situation and foreign pressure, and then the war of course, meant that Fascist ideals could never really be implemented in any true sense" etc.) But then I've also heard it proposed that the Soviets were "not really atheists" because no real atheist would run Siberian labour camps. The heart is perverse and unsearchable.Paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-92108612068473358202012-10-01T14:16:54.712-05:002012-10-01T14:16:54.712-05:00Oh, I don't either, and the philanthropy is of...Oh, I don't either, and the philanthropy is often directed at causes instead of people: population control, the environment, etc.<br /><br />AMDGJanethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09069018443486415173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-45551574083565602542012-10-01T14:12:19.098-05:002012-10-01T14:12:19.098-05:00I love the ending of Come Rack Come Rope. Benson ...I love the ending of Come Rack Come Rope. Benson was not the greatest 20th century novelist, but he did a good ending.<br /><br />Students always think that the idea in Lord of the World that philanthropy replaces Christianity as a religion is ridiculous and shallow. I do not.<br /><br />GrumpyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-27080410538088003912012-10-01T13:13:21.703-05:002012-10-01T13:13:21.703-05:00Janet, re your comment about control: I think that...Janet, re your comment about control: I think that's very true. There's apparently a sizeable contingent that seems to believe that if you *should* do it, or not to it, the government should *make* you do it, or not do it. The argument in matters of health is that bad health has a social cost. I ran across this many years ago in a debate about outlawing smoking. One line of the anti-smoking argument was that "society" is burdened in various ways by smokers with health problems, and therefore "society" has a right to forbid it. One of the creepy things about Obamacare is the way it will tend to advance that argument. Machttp://lightondarkwater.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-59063601671297726392012-10-01T11:20:10.129-05:002012-10-01T11:20:10.129-05:00No, but I know how to look at the archives.
AMDGNo, but I know how to look at the archives.<br /><br />AMDGJanethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09069018443486415173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-74024064797240089182012-10-01T10:03:43.765-05:002012-10-01T10:03:43.765-05:00What?! You can remember what they are?What?! You can remember what they are?Craighttp://cburrell.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-27777841094200894942012-10-01T09:22:48.071-05:002012-10-01T09:22:48.071-05:00Then when will I have time to read all the books t...Then when will I have time to read all the books that you recommend?<br /><br />AMDGJanethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09069018443486415173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-31216971383326901202012-10-01T09:16:42.074-05:002012-10-01T09:16:42.074-05:00The nice thing about being forgetful is that one c...The nice thing about being forgetful is that one can enjoy the same books over and over again.Craighttp://cburrell.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-64680307036537031622012-10-01T09:00:28.268-05:002012-10-01T09:00:28.268-05:00I don't remember either.
AMDGI don't remember either. <br /><br />AMDGJanethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09069018443486415173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-56444232916685526532012-10-01T08:09:07.144-05:002012-10-01T08:09:07.144-05:00This sounds really good, Janet. I'm going to p...This sounds really good, Janet. I'm going to put it on my list.<br /><br />I read "Come Rack! Come Rope!" a few years ago, when I was doing a lot of reading about the Jesuits in Elizabethan England. I thought it was quite good -- his portrayal of Edmund Campion was very memorable and attractive. Unfortunately I don't quite remember how the plot played out. (Hazards of reading at bedtime!)Craighttp://cburrell.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-54737434684440691552012-09-30T18:43:04.121-05:002012-09-30T18:43:04.121-05:00I thought it was probably you because you commente...I thought it was probably you because you commented at Maclin's about that same time, but I figured that if I said that, it would have turned out to be somebody else.<br /><br />AMDGJanet Cupohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01037555111680888247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-25200120742474889802012-09-30T17:33:28.745-05:002012-09-30T17:33:28.745-05:00That was me, Grumpy, from my Iphone. It's qui...That was me, Grumpy, from my Iphone. It's quite tricky to comment from the Iphone. It's touching the right blob of colour.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-88120868691746380312012-09-30T11:55:38.882-05:002012-09-30T11:55:38.882-05:00Indeed it is. I'm going to move that into the ...Indeed it is. I'm going to move that into the original post.<br /><br />AMDGJanet Cupohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01037555111680888247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-53489741159244253932012-09-30T11:51:35.532-05:002012-09-30T11:51:35.532-05:00Yes, I was thinking after Mass about this. People ...Yes, I was thinking after Mass about this. People are all for a lot of the same government controls that the Communist government had without recognizing that that is where they are going. I think that often people don't see the effect of this control on themselves. They think a certain behaviour is good, for instance a certain way of eating, and they don't have any trouble imposing that on another group of people. They never stop to think what it will be like when someone is imposing that control on them. <br /><br />AMDGJanet Cupohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01037555111680888247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-14591058588177334642012-09-30T11:29:01.197-05:002012-09-30T11:29:01.197-05:00I don't know if communism can make a comeback ...I don't know if communism can make a comeback under that name and with all the 19th c theoretical apparatus. But if you think of those as particular expressions of something larger, yes, I think it definitely is. And re the negative baggage: that's an understatement. This is something I rail about constantly, to the point of being tired of hearing myself. Those Che images are still popular, and in fairly fashionable circles. And old-time communist imagery of all sorts is considered sort of cute. Nobody does that kind of thing with the Nazis. <br /><br />And the openly communist extreme of the left pretty much gets ignored by most of the media. There's a guy who lives in the SF Bay area who calls himself Zombie and has made sort of a hobby of going to left-wing demonstrations and photographing people, signs, literature, and so forth. I don't think there are comparable manifestations of fascism. The people who go in for that (and there are some) tend to stay out of the public eye, and at any rate are certainly not afforded anything like the indulgence that communists are.Machttp://lightondarkwater.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-74174978906870647852012-09-30T06:34:34.422-05:002012-09-30T06:34:34.422-05:00The ending is magnificentThe ending is magnificentAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-44609412182709028752012-09-29T20:54:11.302-05:002012-09-29T20:54:11.302-05:00I think that most people only have a shadowy idea ...I think that most people only have a shadowy idea of what Communism was all about and it might be poised to make a comeback. I don't think that the word "Communist" carries nearly as much negative baggage for most people as the word "Natzi."<br /><br />AMDGJanet Cupohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01037555111680888247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6774681833222176907.post-59878817083035294032012-09-29T19:04:12.739-05:002012-09-29T19:04:12.739-05:00"..Catholics are treated with scorn. They are..."..Catholics are treated with scorn. They are allowed to worship on Sundays but have no say in public affairs."<br /><br />Well, he sure got that prediction wrong, didn't he? :-/ <br /><br />I looked for this in the library yesterday but they don't have it. I actually heard of it many years ago, not long after I became Catholic, and have occasionally thought I ought to read it, but have never gotten around to it. <br /><br />I'm beginning to think that communism was really only a specific manifestation of this spirit. Communism has mostly failed and is not in good repute, but the more diffuse thing behind it is very much alive and strong.Machttp://lightondarkwater.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.com