Video Asylum

Posted by petew (A) on March 29, 2002 at 17:30:01

In Reply to: RGB cable posted by blake on March 29, 2002 at 16:31:47:

Joseph Conrad was very into high end!

sheesh!

what...no wait...let me quote:

HEART OF DARKNESS

by Joseph Conrad

Chapter One

"The "Nellie," a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest. The flood had made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide."

****

that's the opening, written by a guy who learned English as a third language.

compare that prose to that of any person living or dead, ever.

(the horror...)

and look, read it again.

is that about adventure?

he's telling us we are at rest, we are to wait...but what? are we not filled with the urge to continue? can you possibly sleep without ever knowing the next line ?

is that not a monumental rent in the very fabric of wonder?

oh, how can you not take the next step into that gaping maw?

so subtil, it's almost not apparent

he's telling us to wait, right at the moment when we are most ready for action

he's telling us there's a moment, not now

he's telling us we are "bound down the river"

what a beautiful turn of phrase: "bound" as in "traveling"

and "bound"...a forboding against free will...a hint at enslavement...

the inevitablity of the union dance of fate and character...waiting for the turning

on "our cruising yawl"...a lark, we're on a cruise, our free will brought us to this place...this threshold

"without a flutter of the sails"

we are becalmed, at peace, and yet

on the edge of something, are we not?

there's a change beneath the surface of things

the force of our soul has "swung to her anchor"

something so vast, so mysterious, so unknowable

has made itself known to us

is that not the very essence of the high end?

yes

oh god,

yes!

(deep in the heart

of darkness)