As those who read the book know, Narziss was an apparently ascetic, very spiritual, incredibly gifted person. The story seems to be about Goldmund and his quest for love in the image of his lost mother, but the real main character is Narziss. He is the mover and shaker, he got all the power in the monastery, he is the inspiration behind Goldmund's quest. In short, it's all about him. Ahhhh. Now I'm starting to see the Freudian reasons why Hesse named his character after the youth that fell in love with his image and drowned into a pond in the vain hope of embracing it.
We live in narcissistic times - or better we are enduring a narcissistic epidemics, no question about it. The media are now in everyone's reach thanks mainly to the Internet and its social sites, smartphones, and text phones. It's a constant "LOOK AT ME". The Hiltons, the Biebers, the Kardashians, the Housewives and the viral YouTube videos. Not to mention the omnipresent cats, dogs, and kids who do spectacular things. Porn galore! Lives dissected and commented by trolls, with misspellings and insults!
Yeah, you'll say - but you are blogging! Touché? No, sir. I'm making the case of a blog being what school essays or even certain university thesis used to be - or, for the more narcissistic among us bloggers, a journal that now anyone - or a few selected ones - can read. Bloggers are the wallflowers of the virtual world. Now that I think about it, this would be a better title for my blog. We don't show what we do, we speak our minds or our minds or someone else's mind. We hide behind pseudonyms, cartoon character avatars (ahem), we THINK before we act (one hopes. Never mind). We are still trying not to be obnoxiously pushing our lives in front of all and sundry - after all, one choses to read a blog, while visuals are much more immediate and quick. You can decide at any time and in any moment if what we write is of interest for you or not. We'll simply fade into the background.
We live in narcissistic times - or better we are enduring a narcissistic epidemics, no question about it. The media are now in everyone's reach thanks mainly to the Internet and its social sites, smartphones, and text phones. It's a constant "LOOK AT ME". The Hiltons, the Biebers, the Kardashians, the Housewives and the viral YouTube videos. Not to mention the omnipresent cats, dogs, and kids who do spectacular things. Porn galore! Lives dissected and commented by trolls, with misspellings and insults!
Yeah, you'll say - but you are blogging! Touché? No, sir. I'm making the case of a blog being what school essays or even certain university thesis used to be - or, for the more narcissistic among us bloggers, a journal that now anyone - or a few selected ones - can read. Bloggers are the wallflowers of the virtual world. Now that I think about it, this would be a better title for my blog. We don't show what we do, we speak our minds or our minds or someone else's mind. We hide behind pseudonyms, cartoon character avatars (ahem), we THINK before we act (one hopes. Never mind). We are still trying not to be obnoxiously pushing our lives in front of all and sundry - after all, one choses to read a blog, while visuals are much more immediate and quick. You can decide at any time and in any moment if what we write is of interest for you or not. We'll simply fade into the background.
