"And this brings us to the nature of myths generally and how the understanding of them has changed over time. The change represents a great loss. It is as if a curtain of darkness has fallen over a vast treasure of truth, and all because of an unnecessarily narrow conception of truth.
Thus, we think now of myths as nothing but widely believed falsehoods, like the myth of racial superiority, or of inevitable progress" Richard Taylor.
Yes, Richard Taylor's essay on myth and mystery is wonderfully clear and informative. Conversely, I can't imagine ever having the doggedness to struggle through Eunoia, if the quoted extract fairly represents the book. Incidentally, Bok's book seems to be an extreme version of a lipogram. Perhaps the best-known lipogrammatist was Georges Perec, author of La Disparition, a lipogram in 'e'. He also wrote what might be the longest palindrome ever.
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"And this brings us to the nature of myths generally and how the understanding of them has changed over time. The change represents a great loss. It is as if a curtain of darkness has fallen over a vast treasure of truth, and all because of an unnecessarily narrow conception of truth.
Thus, we think now of myths as nothing but widely believed falsehoods, like the myth of racial superiority, or of inevitable progress" Richard Taylor.
Nice!
Yes, Richard Taylor's essay on myth and mystery is wonderfully clear and informative. Conversely, I can't imagine ever having the doggedness to struggle through Eunoia, if the quoted extract fairly represents the book. Incidentally, Bok's book seems to be an extreme version of a lipogram. Perhaps the best-known lipogrammatist was Georges
Perec, author of La Disparition, a lipogram in 'e'. He also wrote what might be the longest palindrome ever.
Also of interest—and probably more readable than Eunoia—is Michel Thaler’s "Le Train de Nulle Part"—a book written without verbs.
Finally, there is at least one book which comprises a single sentence: Dies: A Sentence by Vanessa Place.
However, not having read any of these books, I suppose I should suspend my judgement...
Thanks, Pete. The text of Eunoia is online at Coach House.
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