Existentialism can be reduced to this equation: Consciousness minus self-deception equals freedom (the authentic human condition).
There are many types of lies. English has 23 such words. In the stories The Mendacium Institute and Double Double Toil and Trouble, the intentional inaccuracies of certain representations (oral and written) are artistically observed as part of the existential experience of self-deception. Put simply: If you believe a lie, it is your responsibility. It is self-deception as surely as if you had merely believed your own myths. But there are other senses, in addition.
By way of contrast, the story Erotic Shock creates an environment which dispenses with language representations and deals only with those things which can be observed. Such observed phenomena include conventions of meaning used in society and by Mother Nature. The overall irony is that even those things, which can be observed, can be misunderstood as readily as written and oral statements. Therefore, they also lessen man’s authentic condition of perfect freedom of action. And yet truth can reside in what we see if we respond to it with reflex and leave our clunky word-laden thoughts behind.
There are many types of lies. English has 23 such words. In the stories The Mendacium Institute and Double Double Toil and Trouble, the intentional inaccuracies of certain representations (oral and written) are artistically observed as part of the existential experience of self-deception. Put simply: If you believe a lie, it is your responsibility. It is self-deception as surely as if you had merely believed your own myths. But there are other senses, in addition.
By way of contrast, the story Erotic Shock creates an environment which dispenses with language representations and deals only with those things which can be observed. Such observed phenomena include conventions of meaning used in society and by Mother Nature. The overall irony is that even those things, which can be observed, can be misunderstood as readily as written and oral statements. Therefore, they also lessen man’s authentic condition of perfect freedom of action. And yet truth can reside in what we see if we respond to it with reflex and leave our clunky word-laden thoughts behind.
Similarly, the story Of
Windage and Dead Reckoning shows the protagonist distrustful of all sense
impressions. Wisely, Conway abandons use
of the mind’s reflective system and, instead, relies completely and faithfully
upon only the mind’s intuitive system.
All of my stories include some
limiting factor. More often, the stories
are part of a world directed system
which imposes limitations both concrete and abstract upon the protagonist. Such stories include those four stories
mentioned above. Others in this category
include: West of West Texas, Leda
and the Swan, Point of View, The Prince of Staten Island, A
Danger in Becoming, and Evan Donevan Must Die.
In other of my stories, the freedom-restricting factor is some limitation of the self in a character directed
system. Such stories include Deadstick,
Wise Enough Alone, Gather Me My Scattered Selves, Only Boat
for Fifty Miles, Irresistibly American, and Reshuffled.
As you can see, a paradox exists. Two opposites can be simultaneously true. Our Booktender is a writer whose faith in words has been shaken over time, only because of the use to which men and women put them. Yet we all believe in the perfectibility of mankind. In time, this must, eventually, mean that words will no longer become "twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools."
As you can see, a paradox exists. Two opposites can be simultaneously true. Our Booktender is a writer whose faith in words has been shaken over time, only because of the use to which men and women put them. Yet we all believe in the perfectibility of mankind. In time, this must, eventually, mean that words will no longer become "twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools."
Submitted
by the Booktender of the GOOD STORY Saloon, October 1, 2013
