How is it possible for a seriously flawed human being to produce art that is good; true; and beautiful. Why is the art of Richard Wagner; a very imperfect man; important and even indispensable to us?In this volume; Father Owen Lee ventures an answer to those questions by way of a figure in Sophocles - the hero Philoctetes. Gifted by his god with a bow that would always shoot true to the mark; and indispensable to his fellow Greeks; he was marked by the same god with an odious wound that made him hateful and hated. Sophocless powerful insight is that those blessed by the gods and indispensable to men are visited as well with great vulnerability and suffering.Wagner: The Terrible Man and His Truthful Art traces some of Wagners extraordinary influence for good and ill on a century of art and politics - on Eliot and Proust as well as on Adolf Hitler - and discusses in detail Wagners Tannhauser; the work in which the composer first dramatised the Faustian struggle of a creative artist in whom two souls dwell. In the course of this penetrating study; Father Lee argues that Wagners ambivalent art is indispensable to us; life-enhancing and ultimately healing.
#3087093 in eBooks 2014-11-24 2014-11-24File Name: B00T8VNZYU
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Historic But UnknownBy CustomerIts an event from Chicago history few people ever heard of; and the documentation of the event itself is no more inclusive than it needs to be. The emphasis is on the rescue attempts; the ways and people involved in trying to save the survivors and then cope with those unfortunate enough to have lost their lives. Many photos probably not seen in a century; now brought to the pages; bringing the level of pathos to an extreme; but for a purpose: to show how many cared to try to help after the ship keeled over in that filthy sewer of a river. See that cover shot? Expect more of that!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The Eastland Disaster in ChicagoBy Kathy SlupikA forgotten disaster that happened 100 years ago in Chicago. Being a Chicago native I was familiar with the Eastland disaster but learned much from reading this book. Fabulous archival photos from Western Electric and newspapers who covered the disaster. An easy read with many photos about a day that was to be relaxing and fun-filled and turned out to be disastrous and very sad.20 of 21 people found the following review helpful. Why havent many people heard about this?By microtvIm going to cheat. Im going to write one review and use it on three separate books. No doubt Ill offend the review gods at ; but this subject merits it. Even though I live only 4 hours away from Chicago; I had never heard of the Eastland until I was searching for something entirely different and found a Western Electric website mentioning it. This is an utterly incredible story. I promptly ordered "The Sinking of the Eastland." The book goes into a fair amount of detail about the tragedy itself; yet its primary purpose is to describe the people involved and how they were affected. The author never claims to be a technical authority and instead makes reference several times to another book "Eastland: Legacy of the Titanic." I promptly ordered that one as well and while searching for additional information I learned of a third book "The Eastland Disaster (Images of America)." That one was ordered as well. Since you have read this far; you are obviously interested in my opinions and in my opinion; all three are required reading to grasp what happened. "The Eastland Disaster" is primarily a collection of relevant photographs which augment the other two books. Many more photographs of the events surrounding the ship; the sinking and the aftermath. And finally; "Eastland: Legacy of the Titanic" is much more technically oriented including the naval architecture concepts concerning the ship itself. I found this book to be especially good as it attempts to provide as much of a balanced view as possible; including several contemporary naval experts analyzing the court testimony of a leading architect of the day. Absolutely fascinating stuff. Not only that; but it is interesting to learn our concern for American jobs being lost to China is not a new thing. Ninety years ago people were worried about the same thing as a result of new regulations coming from the Titanic sinking. All three books solidly contribute to gaining knowledge about the disaster.
