tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18762198.post113811005906660886..comments2023-12-02T06:33:50.847-08:00Comments on Notes from a Common-place Book: The Middle of the RoadTerry (John)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07523479530843509695noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18762198.post-1138140535035629552006-01-24T14:08:00.000-08:002006-01-24T14:08:00.000-08:00E. F. Benson was an early 20th-C English author. ...E. F. Benson was an early 20th-C English author. He was a contemporary of E. M. Forster, and was in many ways a similar type writer. I suppose his best known work remains the "Mapp and Lucia" series. This selection from "The Inheritor," references a particular subtext to that novel, but I believe the passage has a wider application as well.<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure Benson is saying that we should despise the middle of the road. Rather, he seems to be observing the crush of humanity who with absolute certainty trudges hurriedly down the path, with never a lingering thought to, or acknowledgment of those "shadowed margins" and the "shy wild beasts" residing there in the "dark forests of the soul." <BR/><BR/>This imagery resonates with me, and I see all sorts of applications to what passes for popular culture and popular religion.<BR/><BR/>One of my favorite quotes from Benson comes from the same book, where he described a gathering of Oxford professors, thusly: "like aged lambs in well-nibbled pastures."Terry (John)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07523479530843509695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18762198.post-1138124010331027942006-01-24T09:33:00.000-08:002006-01-24T09:33:00.000-08:00I'm not familiar with this work - but interesting ...I'm not familiar with this work - but interesting quote!<BR/><BR/>Does the author in the end suggest that we should despise the middle of the road sort for not investigating the dark forests of the soul, or?Hilariushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05702731902033210478noreply@blogger.com