Friday, July 31, 2009

Vampires in the news: A dream come true


I think I could not have asked Guillermo del Toro to write a better op ed piece. It's Frankenstein meets Dracula meets Tom Cohen writing about technology in literature (or film). It's fantastic (bad pun intended)! Enjoy.




"Despite our obsessive harnessing of information, we are still ultimately vulnerable to our fates and our nightmares. We enthrone the deadly virus in the very same way that “Dracula” allowed the British public to believe in monsters: through science. Science becomes the modern man’s superstition. It allows him to experience fear and awe again, and to believe in the things he cannot see.

And through awe, we once again regain spiritual humility. The current vampire pandemic serves to remind us that we have no true jurisdiction over our bodies, our climate or our very souls. Monsters will always provide the possibility of mystery in our mundane “reality show” lives, hinting at a larger spiritual world; for if there are demons in our midst, there surely must be angels lurking nearby as well. In the vampire we find Eros and Thanatos fused together in archetypal embrace, spiraling through the ages, undying.

Forever."



You can read the full text here:

Why Vampires Never Die

Monday, July 20, 2009

I finally finished Cien años de soledad. Many thoughts to come but for now, I need to read Paul's paper again now that I know what it's about. Hopefully I'll get a copy of La Marca sometime soon....