Keri Ford has interviewed me (it lasts about 30 minutes) on the subject of cultural and spiritual importance of the Inklings; focusing on my Notion Club Papers blog and Owen Barfield blog.
Among other things; I explain the origins, meaning and significance of Romantic Christianity - and why it is the single most important matter for our time and place.
12 comments:
I watched this early this morning and posted a comment on Keri's YT account. Great interview. I really enjoed it.
Ah, Coghill.
When we started Chaucer the English teacher said words to the effect of "We shall work only with the original. It is not within my power, however, to prohibit your parents buying you the Coghill translation published by Penguin." Practical chap!
I really enjoyed this interview, and it got me thinking Bruce you should start a youtube vlog. You've noted in the past that blog readership has been down, and I do think this is partially due to the online visual medium becoming more commonplace. You have a good visual presentation and articulate your ideas well, and I think would have quite an impact if you started a channel with periodic video talks.
@ted - Thank you. I haven't considered doing a vlog, because 1. For me, writing is thinking, whereas lecturing is not. And my blog is mainly an overspill from my reading, thinking, and working on ideas. 2. The most popular/ enjoyed vloggers (at least this is the consensus are of attractive-looking individuals and/ or those with very pleasing voices... 'Nuff said.
Bruce, don't listen to Ted! I've been a loyal reader of this blog for a good long time now, but I'd drop you like a hot brick if you switched to video. (It's happened before; I had been a regular reader of Scott Adams's blog before it turned into a podcast or whatever.)
@William - Don't worry, it isn't going to happen! However, I enjoyed and was pleased with this interview with Keri, and would certainly be happy to be interviewed by him again.
Thanks Bruce, it was a good experience & produced an interview that i have already watched a number of times.
I ordered a copy of William Arkle's Geography of Consciousness, I was intrigued by your mention of his work, maybe when I have read that and if it sparks something I could interview you regarding Arkle?
@Keri - I would recoemmend starting Arkle by reading Letter from a Father (from The Great Gift), or Equations of Being both of which can be found on my Arkle Blog (best to print copies, not just read on screen).
GoC is wonderful but very concentrated, and can only usefully be read slowly and with full attention (much like Steiner's Philosophy of Freedom) - it is much easier to grasp after reading LfaF or EoB first.
but I'd drop you like a hot brick if you switched to video
No kidding, I didn't even finish this one, which is saying something if you know how much I adore the subject material!
Why the video format appeals to people, or who has time to sit and watch videos in any event, I have no idea.
@Matthew - Well I don't agree with the averasion that you and WmJas express. I like Keri's vlogs, for example; and several others I have encountered (Steiner Studies/ Saving the Appearances by Ama Boden; there are interviews with JRR and Christopher Tolkien that I have watched and rewatched. These are rather like a mini lecture/ essay - or else mini-biography. But I don't like personality-cult vlogs (and most daily vlogs are of this kind); nor the ones that are soft-sell marketing (like many authors videos). I find there is something of value from even a snippet of AV recording, so long as it is honestly done.
For instance, I can infer quite a lot from this series of segments featuring Owen Barfield. Also Clyde Kilby, who is a significant figure in realtion to the Inklings, having got to know Warnie Lewis after his brother died, and having spent some months working with Tolkien on developing the Silmarillion. He later set up the Marion Wade centre at Wheaton College:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3n5n5K5fPA
Interesting talk about mediums, I like both, for me Bruce's interview supplements his writing. Video is a more embodied medium it can spark a stronger engagement, but reading can foster greater concentration. When I do a video i feel like I have lived the idea more, also my typing is slow. There are opportunities to use sound and visual work as well. It's obvious that Bruce works well with the written medium and from a reader's point of view one of the rewards of reading is the development of idea which takes a bit of time, I think my writing can suffer from being overly terse.
Bruce, thanks for the comment on William Arkle I have then on my e reader, although I'm currently re reading Reilly's chapter on Barfield and I am currently trying to come to terms with Goethe too, but I'm impatient to experience Arkle. There was a time when I didn't know where to go with my reading, that is not the case now.
@Keri - I'm delighted to hear this! I'm sure you are someone who reads only when the spirit moves them, which is the best (and only real) way to read - so I anticipate 'great things'!
Post a Comment