Bruce N H
Active Member
Hey all,
I know now there's no class tomorrow (July 3) but I was re-listening this morning to class 3 in preparation for the class I thought we'd have, and something really struck me. We were talking about the door and all of the allusions to (heck, direct quoting from) the biblical book of Revelation. And of course a couple of chapters beyond this the blind monk declares that antichrist is on the way and they only have 7 days (and of course, this book is only 7 days long), so there's lots of revelation stuff. Corey was making the point that Apocalypse doesn't only mean a big fight with the devil at the end of the world, it really means uncovering, or revealing or ... unveiling. That's what really struck me. We've just finished our discussion of Till We Have Faces, and the ongoing theme that we kept coming back to was about faces (who had them, who didn't, what masks we wear etc), and when they were veiled, and when they were un-veiled. Orual is unmasked at last for the final section of the book, and she finally comes to the understanding that: "How can they [the gods, or God] meet us face to face till we have faces?" - Which should remind us all of 1 Cor 13:12 - "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."
I've never read Eco before, so I don't know what's going to happen beyond day 2 (which is how far I've gotten), but it seems clear that someone, or something, is going to be revealed in the next seven days (and presumably that's going to happen up in the library). I wonder if that unveiling will be so that he, or it, will be destroyed in judgement, or if maybe it will be an opportunity meet God face to face as Orual ultimately did.
Anyway, I don't have any insight to add, just a thread of thought that I'm looking forward to following as this book unfolds. As Corey would say, there's definitely a moot paper in there - compare and contrast the concept of "unveiling" in Till We Have Faces and The Name of the Rose.
Bruce (Bricktales)
I know now there's no class tomorrow (July 3) but I was re-listening this morning to class 3 in preparation for the class I thought we'd have, and something really struck me. We were talking about the door and all of the allusions to (heck, direct quoting from) the biblical book of Revelation. And of course a couple of chapters beyond this the blind monk declares that antichrist is on the way and they only have 7 days (and of course, this book is only 7 days long), so there's lots of revelation stuff. Corey was making the point that Apocalypse doesn't only mean a big fight with the devil at the end of the world, it really means uncovering, or revealing or ... unveiling. That's what really struck me. We've just finished our discussion of Till We Have Faces, and the ongoing theme that we kept coming back to was about faces (who had them, who didn't, what masks we wear etc), and when they were veiled, and when they were un-veiled. Orual is unmasked at last for the final section of the book, and she finally comes to the understanding that: "How can they [the gods, or God] meet us face to face till we have faces?" - Which should remind us all of 1 Cor 13:12 - "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."
I've never read Eco before, so I don't know what's going to happen beyond day 2 (which is how far I've gotten), but it seems clear that someone, or something, is going to be revealed in the next seven days (and presumably that's going to happen up in the library). I wonder if that unveiling will be so that he, or it, will be destroyed in judgement, or if maybe it will be an opportunity meet God face to face as Orual ultimately did.
Anyway, I don't have any insight to add, just a thread of thought that I'm looking forward to following as this book unfolds. As Corey would say, there's definitely a moot paper in there - compare and contrast the concept of "unveiling" in Till We Have Faces and The Name of the Rose.
Bruce (Bricktales)