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The Translunar Narrative in the Western Tradition
Discusses the most famous translunar literary voyages-from Dante's Paradiso to H.G. Wells's The First Men in the Moon - and examines how humanity's fascination with flight away from the earth coincides with out anxiety about technology and the growing schism between the sciences and the humanities.
148 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2004
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March 2, 2010
The fact that mine is the first review of this book, published in 2004, tells me that much as I love all of you friends, Goodreads is the wrong readers community for me. However, in case any of you are interested enough in this book to wonder if it's worth the time, I'll give you my take on it.
This scholarly work examines noteworthy examples of accounts of trips from Earth to the Moon, drawn from Western literature as far back as the Roman author Lucian (2 Cent. CE) and as recently as Norman Mailer's "A Fire on the Moon". I was fascinated to find out how deep-seated, and how long-articulated in the cultural imagination, the impulse to travel to and be on the Moon is and has been. The final chapter examines relevant literature from the era in which this long-expressed dream became a material reality, and examines the spiritual and metaphysical crises associated with the Apollo moon effort. Aside from the social and ethical concerns articulated by Mailer regarding the defensibility of Croesan moon-shots in an era of poverty, racial inequality, environmental degradation, nuclear concerns, etc., I was fascinated by the authors thesis that materializing this specific journey, so long representing a canvas of the absurd upon which Western thinkers have sketched revelatory caricatures of humanity, provoked a crisis in our culture.
It's unquestionably academic; for many, this means dry. I was really fascinated by the information and the arguments. I suppose I really can't speak to either the literary merit of the book's prose itself (can there be any doubt that I'm somewhat of a prosy anaesthete?) nor to the significance of this work's contribution to literary scholarship. I can state however that it caught my attention and imagination, and left me wishing badly for months for someone to talk with about it.
Plus, the book was my first exposure to mention of C.P. Snow's seminal essay "The Two Cultures". :)
This scholarly work examines noteworthy examples of accounts of trips from Earth to the Moon, drawn from Western literature as far back as the Roman author Lucian (2 Cent. CE) and as recently as Norman Mailer's "A Fire on the Moon". I was fascinated to find out how deep-seated, and how long-articulated in the cultural imagination, the impulse to travel to and be on the Moon is and has been. The final chapter examines relevant literature from the era in which this long-expressed dream became a material reality, and examines the spiritual and metaphysical crises associated with the Apollo moon effort. Aside from the social and ethical concerns articulated by Mailer regarding the defensibility of Croesan moon-shots in an era of poverty, racial inequality, environmental degradation, nuclear concerns, etc., I was fascinated by the authors thesis that materializing this specific journey, so long representing a canvas of the absurd upon which Western thinkers have sketched revelatory caricatures of humanity, provoked a crisis in our culture.
It's unquestionably academic; for many, this means dry. I was really fascinated by the information and the arguments. I suppose I really can't speak to either the literary merit of the book's prose itself (can there be any doubt that I'm somewhat of a prosy anaesthete?) nor to the significance of this work's contribution to literary scholarship. I can state however that it caught my attention and imagination, and left me wishing badly for months for someone to talk with about it.
Plus, the book was my first exposure to mention of C.P. Snow's seminal essay "The Two Cultures". :)
Displaying 1 of 1 review