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The Flight To Lucifer
''The Flight to Lucifer: A Gnostic Fantasy'' is a 1979 fantasy novel by American critic Harold Bloom, inspired by his reading of David Lindsay's fantasy novel ''A Voyage to Arcturus'' (1920). The plot, which adapts Lindsay's characters and narrative and features themes drawn from Gnosticism, concerns Thomas Perscors, who is transported from Earth to the planet Lucifer by Seth Valentinus. The book received negative responses, and was compared, including by Bloom himself, to the film '' Star Wars'' (1977). Bloom eventually repudiated the work. Plot summary Thomas Perscors ("through fire"), an incarnation of Primal Man, is taken from Earth to the planet Lucifer by Seth Valentinus, a reincarnation of the gnostic theologian Valentinus. Their guide is Olam, who is an Aeon, an emanation of the true god. Lucifer is controlled by "Saklas", which is a Gnostic name for the false creator. Olam has brought Perscors to Lucifer to fight Saklas, and has brought Valentinus so he can remember ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cornelius Agrippa
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (; ; 14 September 1486 – 18 February 1535) was a German polymath, physician, legal scholar, soldier, theologian, and occult writer. Agrippa's ''Three Books of Occult Philosophy'' published in 1533 drew heavily upon Kabbalah, Hermeticism, and neo-Platonism. His book was widely influential among occultists of the early modern period, and was condemned as heretical by the inquisitor of Cologne. Life Agrippa was born in Nettersheim, near Cologne on 14 September 1486 to a family of middle nobility.Valente, Michaela "Agrippa, Heinrich Cornelius". In: ''Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism'' (Wouter J. Hanegraaff, ed.), pp. 4–8. Brill, 2006. . Many members of his family had been in the service of the House of Habsburg. Agrippa studied at the University of Cologne from 1499 to 1502, (age 13–16) when he received the degree of ''magister artium''. The University of Cologne was one of the centers of Thomism, and the faculty of art ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Leonard (critic)
John Leonard (February 25, 1939 – November 5, 2008) was an American literary, television, film, and cultural critic. For ''Life'' and ''The New York Times'' he wrote under the pen name of Cyclops. Biography John Leonard grew up in Washington, D.C., Jackson Heights, Queens, and Long Beach, California, where he graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School. Raised by a single mother, Ruth Smith, he made his way to Harvard University, where he immersed himself in the college newspaper, ''The Harvard Crimson'', only to drop out in the spring of his second year. He then attended the University of California at Berkeley. A political leftist, Leonard had an unlikely early patron in conservative leader William F. Buckley, who gave him his first job in journalism at ''National Review'' magazine in 1959. There, he worked alongside such young talents as Joan Didion, Garry Wills, Renata Adler and Arlene Croce. Leonard went on to be Drama and Literature Director for Pacifica Radio flagship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Time (magazine)
''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published Weekly newspaper, weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on March 3, 1923, and for many years it was run by its influential co-founder, Henry Luce. A European edition (''Time Europe'', formerly known as ''Time Atlantic'') is published in London and also covers the Middle East, Africa, and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition (''Time Asia'') is based in Hong Kong. The South Pacific edition, which covers Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, is based in Sydney. Since 2018, ''Time'' has been published by Time USA, LLC, owned by Marc Benioff, who acquired it from Meredith Corporation. History ''Time'' has been based in New York City since its first issue published on March 3, 1923, by Briton Hadden and Henry Luce. It was the first weekly news magazine in the United St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Pater
Walter Horatio Pater (4 August 1839 – 30 July 1894) was an English essayist, art critic and literary critic, and fiction writer, regarded as one of the great stylists. His first and most often reprinted book, ''Studies in the History of the Renaissance'' (1873), revised as ''The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry'' (1877), in which he outlined his approach to art and advocated an ideal of the intense inner life, was taken by many as a manifesto (whether stimulating or subversive) of Aestheticism. Early life Born in Stepney in London's East End, Walter Pater was the second son of Richard Glode Pater, a physician who had moved to London in the early 19th century to practise medicine among the poor. Dr Pater died while Walter was an infant and the family moved to Enfield. Walter attended Enfield Grammar School and was individually tutored by the headmaster. In 1853 he was sent to The King's School, Canterbury, where the beauty of the cathedral made an impression that would r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anxiety Of Influence
Anxiety of Influence is a type of literary criticism established by Harold Bloom in 1973, in his book, '' The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry''. It refers to the psychological struggle of aspiring authors to overcome the anxiety posed by the influence of their literary antecedents. Theory The theory of anxiety of influence is a theory applied principally to early nineteenth century romantic poetry. Its author, Harold Bloom, maintains that the theory has general applicability to the study of literary tradition, ranging from Homer and the Bible to Thomas Pynchon and Anne Carson Anne Carson (born June 21, 1950) is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator, classicist, and professor. Trained at the University of Toronto, Carson has taught classics, comparative literature, and creative writing at universities across the Unit ... in the 20th and 21st century. It is based primarily on Bloom's belief that there is no such thing as an original poem, that every new composition is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers. It has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity. His best known works include the short story "The Metamorphosis" and novels ''The Trial'' and '' The Castle''. The term ''Kafkaesque'' has entered English to describe absurd situations, like those depicted in his writing. Kafka was born into a middle-class German-speaking Czech Jewish family in Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, today the capital of the Czech Republic. He trained as a lawyer and after completing his legal education was employed full-ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of nascent Modern English verse and is often considered one of the greatest poets in the English language. Life Edmund Spenser was born in East Smithfield, London, around the year 1552; however, there is still some ambiguity as to the exact date of his birth. His parenthood is obscure, but he was probably the son of John Spenser, a journeyman clothmaker. As a young boy, he was educated in London at the Merchant Taylors' School and matriculated as a sizar at Pembroke College, Cambridge. While at Cambridge he became a friend of Gabriel Harvey and later consulted him, despite their differing views on poetry. In 1578, he became for a short time secretary to John Young, Bishop of Rochester. In 1579, he published ''The Shepheardes Calender'' and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perelandra
''Perelandra'' (also titled ''Voyage to Venus'' in a later edition published by Pan Books) is the second book in the ''Space Trilogy'' of C. S. Lewis, set on the planet of Perelandra, or Venus. It was first published in 1943. Plot summary Philologist Elwin Ransom, some years after his return from Mars at the end of ''Out of the Silent Planet'', receives a new mission from the Oyarsa (the angelic ruler) of Mars. Ransom summons narrator-Lewis to his country home. Ransom explains to Lewis that he (Ransom) is to travel to Perelandra (Venus), where he is to counter some kind of attack - details not yet specified - to be launched by Earth's Black Archon (Satan). Ransom is transported in a casket-like vessel which is seemingly made of ice and contains only himself, unclothed, as Oyarsa tells him clothes are unnecessary on Venus. He returns to Earth over a year later and is met by Lewis and another friend, then recounts his experiences. The remainder of the story is told from Ransom' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Children Of Dune
''Children of Dune'' is a 1976 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the third in his ''Dune'' series of six novels. It was originally serialized in '' Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' in 1976, and was the last ''Dune'' novel to be serialized before book publication. At the end of ''Dune Messiah'', Paul Atreides walks into the desert, a blind man, leaving his twin children Leto and Ghanima in the care of the Fremen, while his sister Alia rules the universe as regent. Awakened in the womb by the spice, the children are the heirs to Paul's prescient vision of the fate of the universe, a role that Alia desperately craves. House Corrino schemes to return to the throne, while the Bene Gesserit make common cause with the Tleilaxu and Spacing Guild to gain control of the spice and the children of Paul Atreides. Initially selling over 75,000 copies, it became the first hardcover best-seller ever in the science fiction field. The novel was critically well-received for its plot, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Herbert
Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel '' Dune'' and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, photographer, book reviewer, ecological consultant, and lecturer. The ''Dune'' saga, set in the distant future, and taking place over millennia, explores complex themes, such as the long-term survival of the human species, human evolution, planetary science and ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, economics and power in a future where humanity has long since developed interstellar travel and settled many thousands of worlds. ''Dune'' is the best-selling science fiction novel of all time, and the entire series is considered to be among the classics of the genre. Biography Early life Frank Patrick Herbert Jr. was born on October 8, 1920, in Tacoma, Washington, to Frank Patrick Herbert Sr. and Ei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, as ''The Atlantic Monthly'', a literary and cultural magazine that published leading writers' commentary on education, the abolition of slavery, and other major political issues of that time. Its founders included Francis H. Underwood and prominent writers Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and John Greenleaf Whittier. James Russell Lowell was its first editor. In addition, ''The Atlantic Monthly Almanac'' was an annual almanac published for ''Atlantic Monthly'' readers during the 19th and 20th centuries. A change of name was not officially announced when the format first changed from a strict monthly (appearing 12 times a year) to a slightly lower frequency. It was a mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Kipen
David Kipen (born August 14, 1963) is an author, critic, broadcaster, arts administrator, full-time UCLA writing faculty member and nonprofit bilingual lending librarian. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in ''The New York Times'' , the ''Los Angeles Times'', ''Alta'' Magazine, ''The Atlantic Monthly'', OZY.com and elsewhere. Former literature director of the National Endowment for the Arts, he lives in his native Southern California. Print and multimedia journalism Kipen was born in Los Angeles and educated at public schools and Yale. After starting out editing sections for the Los Angeles city magazine ''Buzz'' and ''Variety'', Kipen served from 1998 to 2005 as book critic and editor for the San Francisco Chronicle. While there he wrote the magazine essay on screenwriters that became his first book, The Schreiber theory: A Radical Rewrite of American Film History (Melville House). His op-ed "An open letter to Uniontown from Los Angeles" ran as part of the Pittsburgh Post ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
