Thursday, December 18, 2008

The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony

When we were down in Portland for Thanksgiving, we visited Powell's Book Store, which is a dangerous thing to do for someone like me. We emerged relatively unscathed, with a mere 9 books. :) I had a good time trolling the mythology section. I found this great book called "The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony", by Roberto Calasso. I've been reading it, and it's terrific! Check out my favorite quote from the first 50 pages or so:

"Mythical figures live many lives, die many deaths, and in this they differ from the characters we find in novels, who can never go beyond the single gesture. But in each of these lives and deaths all the others are present, and we can hear their echo. Only when we become aware of a sudden consistency between incompatibles can we say we have crossed the threshold of myth." (Calasso page 22)

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