Lovely piece. I'm currently between books 4 and 5, taking a break to catch up on some other books.
For me, it draws my mind to Matthew 4 when Jesus is tempted by the Devil. There is a subtext where the tempter is trying to convince him to take up immortality for himself: bend the laws of nature so you can eat, test God so he'll prove he won't let you die, worship this world: all testing his submission to the Father, and therein, his submission to the death he would die.
Could be grasping at straws, but I don't think I'm far off. Requires much more thinking but your piece has sent me down some lovely trails.
This is some nice commentary here. I like your division of the "types" of magic. And I agree with your counterargument against Scruton - choice and agency are endemic to the outcomes in these books. And specifically, choices that have nothing to do with the magic involved, but rather the decisions we make to pursue our inherent goodness/evilness. And is that dichotomy not at the heart of all "adult" spirituality anyways?
Lovely piece. I'm currently between books 4 and 5, taking a break to catch up on some other books.
For me, it draws my mind to Matthew 4 when Jesus is tempted by the Devil. There is a subtext where the tempter is trying to convince him to take up immortality for himself: bend the laws of nature so you can eat, test God so he'll prove he won't let you die, worship this world: all testing his submission to the Father, and therein, his submission to the death he would die.
Could be grasping at straws, but I don't think I'm far off. Requires much more thinking but your piece has sent me down some lovely trails.
This was a wonderful essay. Well done.
This is some nice commentary here. I like your division of the "types" of magic. And I agree with your counterargument against Scruton - choice and agency are endemic to the outcomes in these books. And specifically, choices that have nothing to do with the magic involved, but rather the decisions we make to pursue our inherent goodness/evilness. And is that dichotomy not at the heart of all "adult" spirituality anyways?