Fear the Kraken.

On April 8th 1966 Time magazine published one of its most contentious editions in its history with the cover posing the stark quandary “Is God Dead?”. The intention was to question the relevance of monotheistic religion in a rapidly secularised world. The demise of religious belief in the West seemed to accelerate within a year of the magazine`s publication. In 1967 there was a discernible decline in traditional values and this coincided with a rising interest in alternative beliefs. Conservative notions that surrounded gender and sexuality were being challenged by a new generation that sought a different path through life than the previous generation.

This was a different generation. They sought more freedom and resisted any orthodoxy that they believed suppressed human desires. This was a “counterculture” which attempted to change the dominant culture of conservatism that was increasingly stultifying. The tail end of the sixties heralded a bright new era of burgeoning art but society as a whole was fragmenting. Eventually a society that loses its moral fulcrum entirely becomes a dangerous one. Ira Levin`s 1967 novel “Rosemary`s Baby” became a pertinent metaphor for a newly conceived society that becomes destructive.

Levin was inspired by the speculative fiction of John Wyndham. Wyndham`s vision has proven to be prophetic, he had a premonition of a future world on the brink of destruction owing to the threat of malevolent societal forces. These were manifested by the legendary “Kraken”. In 2021 we are facing unique challenges but instead of conceiving an alternative that is bright and hopeful we are dwelling upon the darkness. The spectre of the pandemic has brought untold damage.

The instability wrought by the virus has induced anxieties within the populace. Historical memories of racism have been exhumed when we once believed that these should have remained buried. The very notion that there are racial differences within humans is a shibboleth but it is a notion that has now gained popularity as we live in a society that has broken free of its moorings. The Kraken are a real threat to our existence because we lack the necessary unifying values. This is a hollow and moribund culture. Fifty-five years after that iconic magazine cover we really need to ask ourselves this question yet again and if the answer is “No” then perhaps we should face up to the consequences.

The King`s Shilling.

On the 28th March 1916 the premiere performance of Hubert Parry`s “Jerusalem” was played at a “Fight for Right” rally. “Fight for Right” was a campaign to support the war effort and to boost national morale. When the First World War broke out in 1914 Germany was the greatest military power in Europe. Its reputation as a ferocious force on the world stage lead to a nationwide call for strong and brave recruits to defeat the might of this formidable foe.

(Photograph-Wilfred Owen).

However this was an era characterised by conformity and deference, and the initial call to take “the King`s Shilling” was met with considerable enthusiasm, but after two years of conflict support for the cause was waning. 1916 would become one of the worst years in terms of fatalities, at the Battle of the Somme nearly 20,000 British soldiers died in just one day.

Consequently traditional allegiances to King and Country were loosening. The Government brought in the Military Service Act and it was passed in January 1916. Conscription became law and the penalties for avoiding compulsory military service were harsh. Bertrand Russell was imprisoned for his pacifist stance. A growing sense of demoralisation was seeping into the populace.

The lyrics of “Jerusalem” were written by William Blake. Blake`s words were inspired by John Milton and his desire for national unity in the wake of the English Civil War. The original poem is a plea to return to the spiritual values of a nation scarred by conflict. It was apt that such an emotive example of English verse was utilised to help lift the spirits of a nation. In the aftermath of the Great War more modern political notions were supplanting conformist beliefs, but the British people maintain a deep seated affection for history and this is the reason why Parry`s masterpiece is regarded with such fondness, even today.

Holy Courage.

Every March Ireland and the wider Irish diaspora celebrate St Patrick`s Day. St Patrick was a humble shepherd from England who arrived in Ireland in the fifth century. According to the legend he was taken by pirates and then sold on as a slave and forced into indentured labour by his captors.

In extremis he found succour in his Christian faith and soon became a missionary, but he was tested numerous times. The romantic poet Robert Southey dedicated a poem to St Patrick describing his “holy courage” amidst great adversity. Before St Patrick`s arrival Ireland was a pagan country riven with violent tribal conflict, so his divine quest to spread the Christian faith was met with severe resistance.

An Irish warrior called Oisin met and conversed with him as they both travelled on their separate missions. This encounter was immortalised in the poem “The Wanderings of Oisin” by WB Yeats. In the poem Oisin`s devotion to his warrior life wanes as he witnesses the exile and death of his fellow warriors. Oisin sees the light and finds fulfillment in the peaceful and contemplative doctrine of Christianity.

St Patrick inspired the brothers of Skellig island. This order of Monks established a community in the harshest environment, an outcrop of the Atlantic. These brave, hardy monks endured a life of complete isolation, but were strengthened by their dedication to their faith and vocation. This sense of dedication underpins the spiritual and cultural identity of Ireland, something that St Patrick himself described as “holy and constant, exalted, just and admirable”.

A Journey to the Rivers.

On February the 29th 1996 the siege of Sarajevo finally came to an end. It was the final chapter in the story of a city that had experienced so much tragedy. However this was just one story and one city. There are other stories of tragedy in a part of the world that has suffered for many years then and since. Yugoslavia used to be a place of many cultures and ethnicities which only thrived owing to its status as a socialist country, and the conventional belief shared by those who profess socialism as a creed is that cultural and ethnic differences are superficial.

In 1989 the Berlin Wall collapsed. In the wake of its collapse the sentiment for nationhood and independence from socialist super states was revived. Yugoslavia broke up as an entity, and each nation sought independent status. Ancient enmities that were once suppressed simmered to the surface again. Conflict broke out and this sense of shared unity was broken. Historical feuds between peoples were reanimated and dreadful acts of atrocity and vengeance were committed. War was the inevitable consequence, and in the ten years of fighting an estimated 140,000 people lost their lives.

In 2019 the War entered the public arena again when the Nobel awards committee declared Peter Handke as the winner of the Literature Prize. Handke is an Austrian born writer of Carinthian heritage. In 1996 he made a personal pilgrimage to delve further into his Slovenian identity. The Slovenes were allies of the Serbs during the war and this alliance drove him to travel into what had become a demoralised and broken nation. In the wreckage of war he sought to salvage meaning and this was evinced in the book that followed.

“A Journey to the Rivers” became controversial almost immediately after its publication. This controversy dogged him throughout his career and overshadowed his achievement as a Nobel laureate. However his critics completely misunderstood the book and its intention. The book was intended as a eulogy to a community which experienced great loss in the dark days of the war.

The book is a moving tribute to a courageous people, and it jars with the crude and reductive asides of his critics. It is spectacularly crass for entitled liberals from Western Europe and America to tell him what he should and shouldn`t write about when he has the lived experience as an ethnic minority in a vassal state. The truth is sometimes ugly but that does not mean that it should be censored. It is unfair to surmise that he is a warmonger simply for articulating the Serbian experience. The authenticity of the work is the most important issue to consider in the reputation of any writer. Handke needs to be congratulated rather than condemned for his appointment.

Bedlam Visions.

200 years ago the celebrated Romantic poet John Keats died. He was just twenty-five but the scope of his poetic vision and his wisdom belied his youth. In his lifetime his work was overshadowed by his contemporaries Byron and Shelley.

Byron dismissed him rather snootily as a “Cockney poet” owing to his humble roots, and said that his poetry was “a Bedlam of vision produced by raw pork and Opium”. It has to be said that nineteenth century Britain had a strong thread of philistinism running through it, much like today. Byron and Shelley were at the forefront owing to the various scandals that were attributed to them, and as a consequence Keats` literary reputation was diminished in the public`s imagination.

Keats` tremendous contribution to the English literary Canon was only recognised after his death. Byron`s critique was meant as an insult, but though crudely evinced, it reveals the essence of his continuing appeal. Keats numerous struggles in life and love allowed him to develop a poetic insight that arguably remains unrivalled. His exploration of darker mental states were profoundly beautiful “Bedlam visions”. His “Ode on Melancholy” is written with great sensitivity and maturity.

Very few poets would have the inclination or proficiency to deal with difficult subjects. Depression and suicide are taboo in our society and Keats was both fearless and brave to write about these disturbing issues. He was moved by the story of the poet and young prodigy Thomas Chatterton, who took his own life at the age of 17.

In 1815 he composed a sonnet called “To Chatterton” in which he mourned the loss of “a dear child of sorrow, son of misery”. Then three years later he dedicated his poem “Endymion” to his memory. At first the legacy of Chatterton was that he was an archetypal “tortured poet” who invented a persona “Rowley” to acquire a specific readership.

It was some time before his poetry was acknowledged as his reputation as a faker lingered in the memory before his work was even recognised. The notoriety continued to overshadow the luminosity of his literary portraits, especially the ones about his native Bristol as a city of “smoking streams”. Instead many simply recall the final portrait of him in a painting by Henry Wallis.

Conclusively it is important that we should remember the work of the great poets. On the 200th anniversary of Keats` untimely death his poems have become an immortal memory.

People of the Night.

The religious and ceremonial rites practiced in the Americas draw their inspiration from various sources. The annual Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans is an amalgamation of Western Christian and West African traditions. It is a riot of colourful theatricality that is initiated before the more reflective season of Lent begins. Although the Coronavirus has halted the celebrations the event has always occurred, even after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina it was allowed to happen, albeit as a scaled down affair.

New Orleans is a city renowned for its resilience. It is also a place with a unique culture. The music of New Orleans is well known all over the world, and it has an element of magic and legend associated with it. The main thoroughfare, Highway 61 was reputedly the place where the blues musician Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil to achieve musical perfection.

The literature of New Orleans is also regarded as legendary and magical. It has established a distinct presence in the popular imagination. Writers like Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote skilfully evoke the city`s languid and sultry atmosphere. However this atmosphere is seething with unease as it is a place with a troubled history, once part of the French colonial project and its slave trade. The island of Haiti was implicated in this slave trade and the degrading and humiliating experiences of slaves lead to the creation of specific folk tales and legends.

The legend of the “zombie” came from the stories of slaves who often felt more dead than alive. The Zombie trope is a familiar part of Horror fiction, reimagined by contemporary New Orleans writers like Anne Rice and Poppy Z. Brite. Horror is generally misunderstood as a genre. Most are ignorant of its historical context, and fail to realise its cultural importance. The desire for the forbidden is a major part of this culture.

The annual celebration of Mardi Gras is both ribald and frivolous, a party to enjoy before entering the sombre reflections of Ash Wednesday. It is a tribute to the robust character of the city and its people.

The Trial of Fate.

On February the 4th 1925 the Anglo-American author Russell Hoban was born. His most revered novel was published in 1980. “Riddley Walker” is a post apocalyptic tale set in rural Kent. The protagonist, the aforementioned Walker tells the story of a community struggling in the aftermath of a nuclear war.

Although the setting is in the future the devastation wrought from the war has plunged the people back into Iron Age civilisation. Riddley Walker is on a quest to salvage meaning from the ruins. His primitive style of reasoning and speech is a form of demotic rage.

This style of demotic rage is often utilised by other authors to convey the inner frustrations of characters who are trapped by fate and circumstance. The leitmotif in Hoban`s novel is the legend of St. Eustace. In the legend a huntsman follows a solitary deer into the forest. He then witnesses a vision of the Cross between the antlers of the deer. It is a commandment from God to become a Christian. He obeys the command and is baptised as Eustace. However God tests his faith through a series of unfortunate events, including the disappearance of his beloved sons, who he believes have been killed. When his sons re-enter his life unharmed, the reigning Emperor suggests that he make a Pagan sacrifice. When Eustace refuses he is thrown into a den of lions but the lions do not touch him. Then he is placed in a brazen bull but miraculously after his demise his body remains intact as if the fires had never been lit.

Walker`s life is a trial, but there is a kind of beauty that emerges from his lonely pilgrimage. His journey along the dwellings of Kent is especially poignant. Canterbury is the focal point of English Christendom and by implication English civilisation. The Kent coastline is significant in our collective consciousness as English people, most notably the seemingly impregnable fortress of the white cliffs of Dover. However on the north coast of Kent there is a haunting reminder of our darker history.

(Picture is of Deadman`s Island, Kent).

Deadman`s island is a wilderness only populated by birds, but it is also a place of grim discovery. Human remains have been found, believed to belong to people who died on prison ships that were bound for Australia. These convicts met a grisly and untimely end, and their haunting presence washed up on the coast is yet another reminder of how circumstance and fate determine an individual`s life and death. It is a theme which seems pertinent today as we grapple with the coronavirus.

The Man From Mars

52 years ago the American people watched the inauguration ceremony of a President promising both peace and healing. This was a time when 300 American servicemen were dying each week on the battlefields of Vietnam. The War in Vietnam was deeply unpopular with all sections of society.

However the situation at home was not much better, the process of complete racial segregation was proving to be incredibly painful. Healing seemed a vague prospect. Prejudices remained entrenched in the Southern states. The incumbent President, Richard Nixon sought conciliation through appeasement in an almost vain hope that he could appeal to their better natures. Meanwhile a new generation of African-Americans were seeking meaningful change in their lives by challenging oppression and persecution, often violently. These were the sons and daughters of the migrants who moved from the Southern states to seek new opportunities on the West coast, particularly in towns like Oakland in California.

These were not seamless transitions, employment opportunities were low and living standards were dire. Black people endured frequent police harrassment and brutality. America was a tinderbox. It needed a distinct personality to quell the fire that could consume the country entirely. However Nixon as a person was dour and prone to bouts of paranoia that lead to his undoing. There are striking parallels to the events of today, but it is time to consider the inherent nature of the USA and its origins in this entire story.

The United States of America as a national entity is founded upon a myth. The myth began from its earliest inception as a place for freedom and opportunity, and this appealed to Europeans who were fleeing economic and personal adversity. However before European colonisation it was a country populated by a people who had a totally different belief and culture. Unlike the people who usurped them the Native Americans believed that the land could never be owned by any living human being. In their eyes it was sacred “Mother Earth”.

In the modern age this myth has widened and America has been reimagined as a beacon of prosperity. It`s rise on the world`s stage seems impressive and it would be churlish to find fault in its success. Nevertheless in countries with an older history and tradition such idealism rings hollow, particularly countries like Britain. Many British people find American customs vaguely comical, especially bombastic ceremonies like Presidential inaugurations.

These occasions appear jarring to British audiences. Even in the twenty-first century America is a nation that is striving to find a unique identity in the world. In the eyes of its detractors it is a contrived and superficial place.

This is something that is potent in the 1961 novel “Stranger In A Strange Land” by the American science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein.

The book tells the story of “a man from Mars”. The main protagonist is member of the human species but was born on Mars and became fully assimilated into Martian society. He is captured by a visiting space ship from Earth and brought back to his ancestral planet. It soon becomes clear that although he is biologically human, he is still culturally Martian. The book reads like an allegory of early American history when the European settlers deliberately subverted the values of the indigenous inhabitants.

Heinlein became a countercultural icon in his lifetime, as he had modern and progressive ideas of gender and race. Inevitably he also became a “folk devil” for more conservative elements in American society. There were those who associated him with the crimes of the Manson family who were reputedly admirers of his work. In the twenty first century a similar pattern has emerged. Fringe elements on our culture, in the shape of internet conspirators have been elided with dissenting voices and in turn blamed for the scenes of insurrection in Washington. Conclusively it must be said that a nation built upon myth has a fragile and uncertain future.

Strange Views From Another Star.

On the eve of the First World War the German author Herman Hesse published a book of short stories called “Strange News From Another Star”. These were a set of fairy tales which implicitly challenged orthodoxy.

Fairy tales in essence are simplistic and rather childlike views of how a moral society should operate, and they always conclude with a “happy” ending. However in reality moral ambiguity exists within every human society as our nature is flawed and not one view of how we should live has ever succeeded in achieving happiness for every individual or community.

Political ideologies that set out to unify all of the world`s people in peace have admirable intentions but they are simply doomed to fail. Ideologies like socialism presume that all humans are the same as they are all inherently noble and pure. However our experience informs us that no mortal human could be regarded as a saint, this is just idealistic thinking.

Also, every civilisation upon Earth is organised in an attempt to promote peace and harmony, but not one is perfect. Again this is just wishful thinking. Socialism, historically utilised a kind of brainwashing or “social engineering” to convince people otherwise and this is the reason why this philosophy is wrong.

It is frightening that this regressive ideology has enjoyed a resurgence when so many people have suffered and died opposing it. When Left-Wing mobs rampaged the streets this summer there were two platitudes that were continuously parroted and never challenged.

I found that these were the most irritating and untrue statements that were uttered. The first one was that “we learn from our history to become a better society”, which is the contemporary equivalent of “they all lived happily ever after”. We don`t learn FROM our history we learn ABOUT it. The second one was that “white people cannot understand racism because they haven`t had the lived experience”.

There is a degree of condescension in this ideology which states that owing to the historical crimes of slavery Black people will be permanent victims of white people. Most of the greatest triumphs in our society have in fact been achieved by individual merit rather than any notion of shared racial “privilege”, or lack of it. Of course racism is a bad idea, but this inverse racism that denigrates another set of people is equally bad. It also diminishes the power of human imagination which contrary to Leftist dogma has the capacity to understand human suffering in all of its manifestations.

Sometimes this absurd expression of “white guilt” can backfire with devastating consequences. In the early twentieth century a young American Anthropologist called Margaret Mead visited Samoa, ostensibly to write a book about the culture of the island. She conducted a series of interviews with local women and asked them rather personal questions. However some of the younger women were embarrassed and sensing her naivety and gullibility made jokes about sex. Mead evidently took their responses seriously and compiled a book about their supposedly liberated sex lives, and as a result the Samoan people were deeply offended and felt disrespected. It seemed that Mead had projected her own self-loathing as a privileged white woman and idealised other cultures without really thinking.

Conclusively the better approach to life is to both acknowledge our shared imperfections and to not attempt to change the religions or philosophies that so many people throughout history have relied upon to give their lives meaning. Socialism subverts this approach and has kept people oppressed and voiceless, it should be avoided if we really want to be free.

A Thing Known And Not Spoken.

Carson McCullers was persuaded by her friend and contemporary Tennessee Williams to adapt her 1949 novel “The Member of the Wedding” for the stage. On the 5 January 1950 the play opened on Broadway. Plaudits soon followed, from esteemed sources. Edith Sitwell was so impressed that she called her a “transcendental writer”.

McCullers indeed had a rare gift and vision. She possessed an almost divine insight into the lives of people considered as outcasts by wider society. She imbued the seemingly insignificant moments of existence with a numinous quality. In her first novel, “The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter” she explores the isolation and difficulty faced by John Singer, a profoundly deaf man living in a mill town in Georgia. The rest of the community remain oblivious to the complexities of his character until his death. It is only in the aftermath of his suicide that they reach a kind of epiphany and awakening to the profound influence that he had upon their lives, as McCullers herself explains,

“Because of their loneliness these other people see in the mute a certain mystic superiority and he becomes in a sense their ideal. Because of Singer`s infirmity his outward character is vague and unlimited. His friends are able to impute to him all the qualities which they would wish for him to have.”

Singer`s quiet but almost noble suffering is acknowledged in the narrative. It is limiting to just perceive his disability as this belies his tremendous gift for understanding and compassion.

A common theme behind McCullers work is revealing the hidden depths of ostensibly naive and unworldly characters. In “The Member of the Wedding” Frankie Addams is a much more complex character than the narrative suggests, her imagination is vividly brought to life in the drama. She is an adolescent girl filled with half-baked notions in the eyes of those around her, but her understanding of romance is vastly superior compared to the adults. She can perceive the beauty of her brother`s impending wedding while the supposedly more mature characters are blind to it. It shows that the adults have become coarsened by their own experiences of misfortune in love and these have made them cynical and bitter. The play was made into a film two years later.

The experiences endured by McCullers characters are familiar to anyone who has felt like an outsider. However her characters always have the ability to rise above condescension and ignorance as they are allowed a degree of majesty that is too often written out by lesser writers.