One aspect that is overlooked, but which clearly marks the evolution of a personality, is the succession of breakups, conscious or not, which solidify what can be called the past and increase the list of what has already been overcome. Here, friendships come into play. Losing them without trauma, willingly if not voluntarily, is a sign that one is moving in some direction. Thus, not losing them should be a cause for concern, as should the prolonged absence of significant breakups, as they may signal unwanted stagnation. When one moves forward, something is always left behind.
Category: Notes
Sometimes It Is Difficult to Control…
Sometimes it is difficult to control the strong disinterest in literature and its devices, which arises after contact with the extraordinary in a real story. Come to mind all the criticism of Northrop Frye, systematizer of a wide variety of creative possibilities, divisions into genres, modes, particular uses of symbols, myths, etc., etc. All of this, in short, is quite interesting, but seems insignificant in the face of a simple real experience. The question arises: for what purpose do we read and study? And then we realize that literature, like any science, the more we study it from a strictly technical perspective, the more we leave aside what truly justifies a creation. It is very, very difficult not to want to send all these expedients to hell and retreat forever into silence and meditation.
As Intense as the Desire to Study…
As intense as the desire to study and learn is the anguish experienced on those days when possible knowledge seems irrelevant, possibilities extremely limited, and the means of learning insufficient. And it seems that time only intensifies them, as death approaches and conclusions must be reached quickly. At the same time, the urgency and sense of lost time worsen, at a stage when one thought it could be appeased. There is no solution: one must let the fleeting nature of it all pass and make the most of the positive, stimulating, perhaps somewhat illusory impulse, but one that does not run out and always provides a reason to want to wake up.
As Can Be Seen in Individual Personalities…
As can be seen in individual personalities, it seems very appropriate to make a distinction in literature between authors whose spirit is inclined toward knowledge and authors whose spirit is inclined toward pleasure. Poetry, more than other genres, shows that these are very different types, in which the years bring about different transformations, so that, for the former, the work seems to be much more dependent on this evolution. Thus, the tendency is for the former to produce their best work at the end, with their early books taking on a somewhat preparatory character, of greater interest to the biographer than to the ordinary reader. For the latter, it is not uncommon for maturity to spoil that youthful verve on which their best compositions depend.