my mind like a wave invading every lonely space, filling me with a
sense of delight and the desire to keep on digging for meaning –
since I cannot be content with the mere fact that I exist in the way
Golems can, I have to assign meaning to everything in order to
prevent my inner self turning from quiet and calm into a raging
torrent of existential uncertainty & my spirit from acquiring a
waiflike quality, moving between consciousness states, too
confused to choose between moments of being to settle
down long enough to feel the delight of existence
as escape from non-being…
'Going Postal’ works perfectly, it took a while to drag my mind
away from the feeling of guilt about this holiday and concomitant
fear – suspecting that a short escape from robotic existence at the
office might corrupt my heart to again develop a passionate longing
for freedom; feeling confident enough to skip over disturbing passages
about Reacher Gilt as I hate his guts – then found this passage last night
which has me in stiches as making fun of self-aggrandising philosophy
while pointing out universal truths behind it; is one of the more
fabulous aspects of Pratchett’s writing:
p.78 – ”Freidegger, in Modal Contextities, claims all freedom is
limited… true freedom… overwhelms the soul… like the state
he describes as Vonallesvolkommenunverstandlichdasdaskeit.”
I surmise it is Heidegger - Dasein as well as Ding-an-sich – who is targeted
here while Emmanual Kant’s modalities – the organising principles we assign
to reality – are likewise concerned – what an excellent mind Pratchett assigns
to Lord Vetinari - a character I love especially as I share some of his traits –
I also love ideas as Platonic principles: Vetinari loves music as signet ideals,
staves on paper and clean notes safely ensconced thereon with no attempt
at execution to spoil its pristine beauty – just as I adore the idea of romance
as an ethereal ideal formulated in enchanting WORDS but NOT the attempt
at execution which always falls short of the ideal changing it into a hopeless
Don Quixotic longing for the impossible…
Going Postal - Terry Pratchett – Doubleday 2004
Quoted from p.78
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