Beyond Life; Dizain Des Démiurges [Paperback]

James Branch Cabell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2012

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1919. Excerpt: ... X Wherein We Await HERE for a moment John Charteris ceased talking. He, at least, seemed not fatigued: but the venerable tall clock behind him again had asthmatically cleared its throat; and now, in thin unresonant tones, which suggested the beating of a pencil on the bottom of a tin pan, was striking five: so Charteris had paused, provisionally. And I seized the chance. Said I: --So here we are back again precisely where we started, with a sfrained pose upon the same half-truth. Now, Charteris, suppose you let me talk a little! His hands went out in a wide gesture of magnanimity. . . I continued: --Where is one to begin, though! . . Well, I shall generously say at outset that not in a long time have I heard a discourse so insincere. It is an apology for romance by a man who believes that romance is dead beyond resurrection; and who considers therefore that to romance may be attributed every imaginable virtue, without any imaginable consequences. It is a tissue of wild errors, deceitfully glossed with the unreasonableness of a person who is really in earnest; so that, I confess, I was at first quite taken in, and fancied you to be lamenting with honest grief the world's lost youth. Said Charteris: --Ah, but who can with honesty lament the passing of youth? No, youth remains current everywhere, though, like all other forms of currency, its only value is that it purchases something else. For the rest, far from deploring that our present-day reading-matter is no longer youthful, I have just voiced unfeigned regret that it is childish. --But, my dear Charteris, consider soberly this conceit of yours! Of course, I must protest that you have been shamefully unfair with "realism" throughout: for however pleasingly you have defined romance--by implication, at least--you have left "realism" ...

Product Details

• Paperback: 70 pages
• Publisher: General Books LLC (January 3, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1459037499
• ISBN-13: 978-1459037496
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.4 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)