These Unreal Worlds

James Redfield, in his preface to his book on the Iliad, discusses the escapist fascination that such literary works can have for readers:

I thus remind the reader of a puzzle, a puzzle which is central to this book. It is this: Why do we care about these stories, which are so far from us and which are anyway not true?. . . These unreal worlds become at certain moments more real to us than reality itself; that is the puzzle.

That's not so puzzling to me. When your life can feel as empty and meaningless as mine does too often, it is easier to live off the rich meaningfulness and beauty of literary masterpieces. What makes works like the Iliad or the plays of Shakespeare even richer is that so much is written about them that you can continue to enjoy such classics through new critical vantage points, and hence getting to live deeper in those stories. Such works provide the fertile grounds for an ongoing meditation that can have a quasi-religious tone. It is not love or money, but it is something that can get me through the day, and that makes all the difference.

These Unreal Worlds

James Redfield, in his preface to his book on the Iliad, discusses the escapist fascination that such literary works can have for readers:

I thus remind the reader of a puzzle, a puzzle which is central to this book. It is this: Why do we care about these stories, which are so far from us and which are anyway not true?. . . These unreal worlds become at certain moments more real to us than reality itself; that is the puzzle.

That's not so puzzling to me. When your life can feel as empty and meaningless as mine does too often, it is easier to live off the rich meaningfulness and beauty of literary masterpieces. What makes works like the Iliad or the plays of Shakespeare even richer is that so much is written about them that you can continue to enjoy such classics through new critical vantage points, and hence getting to live deeper in those stories. Such works provide the fertile grounds for an ongoing meditation that can have a quasi-religious tone. It is not love or money, but it is something that can get me through the day, and that makes all the difference.