Passing Through Paradise
Dennis Vickers
- The
- novel
- takes
- its
- title
- from
- an
- entry
- in
- Samuel
- Taylor
- Coleridge’s
- notebook:
- “If
- a
- man
- could
- pass
- through
- Paradise
- in
- a
- dream,
- and
- have
- a
- flower
- presented
- to
- him
- as
- a
- pledge
- that
- his
- soul
- had
- really
- been
- there,
- and
- if
- he
- found
- that
- flower
- in
- his
- hand
- when
- he
- awake
- -
- Aye,
- what
- then?”
- This
- theme,
- vague
- yearning
- for
- a
- better
- place,
- better
- time,
- better
- circumstance,
- reverberates
- in
- many
- of
- the
- sources
- from
- which
- elements
- in
- this
- literary
- collage
- are
- drawn,
- including:
- Damien
- Andreas
- writes
- memories
- of
- his
- mother,
- who
- died
- when
- he
- was
- eight,
- into
- his
- diary
- and
- searches
- to
- reconnect
- with
- her
- spirit;
- the
- Paradise
- Theater,
- a
- grand
- remnant
- of
- the
- Jazz
- age,
- decays
- and
- becomes
- subject
- of
- an
- intense
- political
- debate;
- and
- the
- neo-satyr,
- Silenus,
- head
- of
- an
- unlikely
- cult
- known
- as
- the
- Dogs,
- walks
- a
- thousand
- miles
- to
- bring
- his
- entourage
- to
- the
- first
- and
- only
- performance
- of
- an
- ancient
- satyr
- play,
- the
- Ichneutae
- of
- Sophocles.
Snippets
- from
- these
- narratives
- coalesce
- with
- literary
- found
- objects
- (clips
- from
- dictionaries,
- encyclopedias,
- and
- so
- on)
- to
- form
- a
- larger
- narrative
- fabric
- unified
- by
- tone,
- purpose,
- and
- theme.
- The
- result
- is
- a
- thought
- provoking
- reading
- experience
- you’ll enjoy.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
