[ilds] Oswald Spengler

[Richard Pine]

Bruce Redwine quotes from my "Mindscape". The full text of the book is now
available on the new website of the Durrell Library of Corfu (
www.durrelllibrarycorfu.org) where Bruce has recently posted an interesting
query regarding LD's collected poems (on the Notes & Queries page).
RP

On Sun, Jul 17, 2016 at 11:38 PM, Bruce Redwine <bredwine1968 at earthlink.net>
wrote:

> Richard Pine and Charles Sligh agree that Durrell was reading in
> translation Spengler’s *Decline of the West* at an early stage in his
> career, maybe before Corfu (1935).  The usual take on Spengler’s influence
> is that it leads to a decadent view of European society, so Pine writes in
> *Mindscape* (2005):  the *“Decline of the West* underpinned much of the
> thinking in *The Revolt”* (123).  This is undoubtedly true.  Spengler’s
> influence, however, may be even deeper and extend to Durrell’s “Heraldic
> Universe.”  Spengler was very much in the Germanic tradition, particularly
> with respect to Goethe’s *Faust* and the conclusion to Part II, where the
> chorus sings, “Alles Vergängliche / Ist nur ein Gleichnis” (12104-05), that
> is, “Everything transitory / Is only a metaphor.”  Spengler believes this,
> and so does Durrell — to wit, another ethereal reality underlies everyday
> reality.  Moreover, like Spengler, Durrell also delights in aphorisms and
> obscurity (the latter being a German obsession).  I’m not suggesting that
> Durrell picked up some of his ideas and stylistics from Spengler (who also
> picked up his ideas from his predecessors), rather that Durrell found a
> friend in Spengler who mirrored his own instincts.  This may help to
> explain why the Germans seem more receptive to Durrell than his native
> Englishmen.
>
> Bruce
>
>
>
>
>
> On Jun 20, 2016, at 12:53 PM, Bruce Redwine <bredwine1968 at earthlink.net>
> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the confirmation, Charles.  So Durrell knew his Spengler in
> translation, but I doubt he knew in depth other authors such as Paracelus
> or the *Vulgate* which he inaccurately quotes.  MacNiven has commented
> that Durrell’s readings were wide and discursive and that he picked up bits
> and pieces here and there, that is, whatever suited his interests.  The
> *impression* he leaves, however, is greater than the fact.  Does this
> really matter?  No.  The end product is what counts.
>
> Bruce
>
> PS Good to hear from you.  Hope all goes well.
>
>
>
> On Jun 20, 2016, at 12:09 PM, Charles Sligh <cls9k at virginia.edu> wrote:
>
> Bruce asks:
>
> Nevertheless, when he refers to “[Durrell’s] re-reading of Spengler,” does
> he know if Durrell read all of Spengler’s two volume Decline of the West
> (München 1918; New York 1926)?—which is massive, about 1000 pages—or did he
> crib it from some other abbreviated source?
>
>
> Richard responds:
>
> Spengler: as far as I know, LD read the 2-vol edition quite early.
>
>
> Absolutely--*very* early.
>
> From Ian MacNiven's bibliographical description of the Lawrence Durrell
> collection, Morris Library:
>
> MacNiven observes that LD's reading notes from a *Prospero's Cell* working
> notebook ("A.5" / dated 1938) show LD as "reading Spengler's Decline of the
> West [with page numbers referring to the A. A. Knopf, 1928 edition]."
>
>
> Good luck to all!
>
> C&c.
>
> *****************************************
> Charles L. Sligh
> charles.sligh at virginia.edu
> Department of English
> University of Virginia
> *****************************************
>
>
>
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