Maddenation
The Nigger of the Narcissus
Yesterday, I was watching a Charlie Rose interview with Hunter Thompson, replayed after Thompson’s recent suicide, and heard him mention a quote from Conrad. Partly because of Thompson’s mumbling voice, I didn’t understand where the quote was from, other than the fact that it was from a preface to one of Conrad’s works. I thought I would recognize it if I saw it, so I googled Conrad (Joseph Conrad of Lord Jim fame) and found the quote in The Nigger of the Narcissus.
A work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line. And art itself may be defined as a single-minded attempt to render the highest kind of justice to the visible universe, by bringing to light the truth, manifold and one, underlying its every aspect.
Thompson only repeated the first sentence of the quote, but I though the second sentence (if not the whole paragraph) was worth repeating here. Thompson is himself worth googling as the inventor of gonzo journalism, the notion that journalism can be more truthful without strict observance of traditional rules of factual reportage. We’ve discussed that here before. Isn’t that the essence of creative non-fiction? Well, I’ll let the professor decide that one.
Dad • Quotes • 03/06/05 • 5 comments
Comments
davidemadden@yahoo.com • 03/07/05 • 10:24 PM:After reading this post I said to myself, “What/Who/How are you talking about?” I said this because I never heard of this Thompson fellow, nor of his suicide, nor of the book mentioned, and I’ve only barely heard of Joseph Conrad. So I felt kinda stupid. But that’s okay, I decided to do some investigating!
The most interesting thing I found, while looking up what/who Narcissus was, was the story of Echo - a Greek nymph (a beautiful one). Echo fell in love with Narcissus. He wasn’t interested because he fell in love with his reflection. Check out these sites for the whole story (it’s not too long). I hadn’t realized that the word echo came from Greek mythology. How cool is that? And how cool is the story behind it?
Dan • 03/08/05 • 3:16 PM:“Hunter Thompson“‘s name is usually written “Hunter S. Thompson”. Maybe that helps? Anyway, I know a bit about him because Jon R is a big fan (a big fan of a lot of the beat writing from the ’50s and ’60s) of his. We’ve talked about HST’s relationships with Wolfe, Kesey, Dylan, Kerouac, etc. By the way, in recent years, HST wrote a semi-weekly/monthly column on ESPN’s Page 2 called Hey Rube, which I’ve read a few times but never got hooked. This link is the last article he wrote.
When I told Jon (that same day he was visiting Hermosa) about his suicide, Jon was visibly upset and asked, “What do you know about it? Was he ‘unnder the influence’?” There was no mention of drugs or any inebriation, but, given HST’s history, it’d be a safe bet he was.
Regarding Narcissus and Echo, I read their story in my Latin Literature class when we read Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Now, I didn’t exactly read all about them, but I did pay attention in class. I think that story and the one about Icarus are the only ones I remember, and the Icarus one might only be because I learned about it in Art History, too (Pliny the Elder or Younger painted a scene of Icarus’s fall or something). I just looked at both stories in my book (I kept it!) and they’re underlined to where I might as well have circled the whole thing and scribbled in the margin, “read the whole thing”.
Joseph Conrad also wrote Army of Darkness, which was based on the movie Apocalypse Now. Ha. Just kidding. Switch that around.
AJ • 03/08/05 • 8:14 PM:Heart of Darkness, maybe? I think Army of Darkness is a “low-budget modern tough guy gets sent back in time to fight the undead in medievel times” movie that I for some reason thought was entertainingly funny. I’m sure that once Dan hears that he will stop talking to me for at least 2.37 hours plus or minus 24. I gather this is because somewhere along the line he’s been taught how to criticize films the proper way. This, of course, means that Dan will entertain no notion that Citizen Kane isn’t one of the greatest pieces of art ever recorded on film.
Dan • 03/09/05 • 11:45 AM:Ah, yeah, Heart of Darkness, which I never read.
Army of Darkness is by that director of the Spiderman movies and has that actor guy in them wielding a chainsaw. It’s a stupid movie that has about an ounce of entertainment value.
AJ once called the movie Zoolander “clever”. Nuff said regarding AJ’s taste.
People who think Citizen Kane is a horrible movie are the same people who think every good movie has to have a “Usual Suspects” ending. What’s that called? Ah, yes, a gimmick.
David • 03/11/05 • 12:11 AM:There’s really only one reason why I know the story of Icarus. Kid Icarus was the bomb. Also, I did always liked the story of Daedalus and Icarus
Bravado
If we burn our wings, flying to close to the sun.
If the moment of glory, is over before its begun.
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