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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
[3.5 stars] basically only read this because of Ulver’s adaptation thereof but this is obviously quite cool
“You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.”
A fantastic satirical rant on the treacherous nature of 18th century Christianity. The Proverbs of Hell section has to be my favourite, some of them being painfully accurate or just very funny in a witty way. Blake was certainly no coward, what a piece!
A fantastic satirical rant on the treacherous nature of 18th century Christianity. The Proverbs of Hell section has to be my favourite, some of them being painfully accurate or just very funny in a witty way. Blake was certainly no coward, what a piece!
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
If you've got an afternoon, you've got time for The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. After all, it's only 48 pages. 48 very dense pages.
If only it were possible to give this book two different ratings... I'd give it 5 stars for its excellent writing quality and 1 star for its horrendous theology/philosophy/whatever this is.
If you appreciate poetry, or even descriptive prose, then you can't help but admire the way Blake writes. For example, in describing creation, Blake writes: "Then the perilous path was planted/and a river and a spring/on every cliff and tomb/and on the bleached bones/red clay brought forth/till the villain left the paths of ease/to walk in perilous paths, and drive/the just man into barren climes." That is beautiful poetry, and much of the book is written in the same way. Descriptions are beautiful -- or in some cases, horrifying -- and I'd be lying if I said even the most heinous passage wasn't intriguing.
The content, not the quality, of this piece is what I have an issue with. I know that Blake wrote this with the intention of being satirical and thought-provoking, but really... What was he smoking? That which we see that is "good" is mere passivity, and that which is "evil" is energy -- energy that is needed in order for progress. Hell is merely a place were the -- energetic -- go to delight in sensuality, but to angels it looks like chaos and torment. Then there are the proverbs of Hell, for example:
"Drive your cart and your plough over the bones of the dead."
"He who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence."
"A dead body revenges not injuries."
To be fair, some of the proverbs seem pretty appealing (such as "The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest"), but most are in celebration of evil or selfishness.
To put this work in context, Blake was railing against two opposing forces: the church in the wake of the Enlightenment, and another philosophy that was popular at the time (I can't remember what it was called) that basically said there is only one set of moral laws. (For example, one of the laws was to always tell the truth, even if a psychopathic murderer is chasing your BFF into a blind alley and asks you where your friend went. You can't lie to protect your friend because that's not permissible under the moral law.) This is why the vast majority of "Marriage" is about good and evil coexisting in various degrees. Blake says: "Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence."
I would recommend this book to anyone that wants to know where C.S. Lewis got the basis for writing "The Great Divorce" (which I highly recommend to everyone!). And I also recommend it to anyone that appreciates good poetry.
If only it were possible to give this book two different ratings... I'd give it 5 stars for its excellent writing quality and 1 star for its horrendous theology/philosophy/whatever this is.
If you appreciate poetry, or even descriptive prose, then you can't help but admire the way Blake writes. For example, in describing creation, Blake writes: "Then the perilous path was planted/and a river and a spring/on every cliff and tomb/and on the bleached bones/red clay brought forth/till the villain left the paths of ease/to walk in perilous paths, and drive/the just man into barren climes." That is beautiful poetry, and much of the book is written in the same way. Descriptions are beautiful -- or in some cases, horrifying -- and I'd be lying if I said even the most heinous passage wasn't intriguing.
The content, not the quality, of this piece is what I have an issue with. I know that Blake wrote this with the intention of being satirical and thought-provoking, but really... What was he smoking? That which we see that is "good" is mere passivity, and that which is "evil" is energy -- energy that is needed in order for progress. Hell is merely a place were the -- energetic -- go to delight in sensuality, but to angels it looks like chaos and torment. Then there are the proverbs of Hell, for example:
"Drive your cart and your plough over the bones of the dead."
"He who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence."
"A dead body revenges not injuries."
To be fair, some of the proverbs seem pretty appealing (such as "The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest"), but most are in celebration of evil or selfishness.
To put this work in context, Blake was railing against two opposing forces: the church in the wake of the Enlightenment, and another philosophy that was popular at the time (I can't remember what it was called) that basically said there is only one set of moral laws. (For example, one of the laws was to always tell the truth, even if a psychopathic murderer is chasing your BFF into a blind alley and asks you where your friend went. You can't lie to protect your friend because that's not permissible under the moral law.) This is why the vast majority of "Marriage" is about good and evil coexisting in various degrees. Blake says: "Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence."
I would recommend this book to anyone that wants to know where C.S. Lewis got the basis for writing "The Great Divorce" (which I highly recommend to everyone!). And I also recommend it to anyone that appreciates good poetry.
After a month of reading books about mysticism and religion (both anti- and pro-) and dipping in and out of articles on the philosophy of religion, I decided to read this thing again [the rippling consequences of dating a literal Witch for a short while then angrily dismissing her entire worldview during an argument and then feeling spectacularly guilty about being so judgmental and frankly sad about no longer feeling her embrace on a couple nights a week are not to be underestimated].
Given the emotional investment I had when encountering the book this time around, I found it, uh, moving (?) in a way I hadn't before.
And yeah, I'm not going to bother finding ways to put into words the level of sheer, awe-inspiring genius to be found in this text, and I'm not going to write a critical essay, so let's leave it at this. Blake towers above most writers of any species and this is his peak achievement.
Given the emotional investment I had when encountering the book this time around, I found it, uh, moving (?) in a way I hadn't before.
And yeah, I'm not going to bother finding ways to put into words the level of sheer, awe-inspiring genius to be found in this text, and I'm not going to write a critical essay, so let's leave it at this. Blake towers above most writers of any species and this is his peak achievement.
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A