Corum

Finished reading Corum after the rude interruption by Visions.
Notes:

clever things independent of context

"There will always be such beings, sometimes beings of great wisdom, who cannot bear to believe in an insouciant universe"

Was it knowledge that the Mabden feared? (Mabden = Men)

(Somewhat like Smith in the Matrix) 'You and your race are insane. You are like a Canker. You are a sickness suffered by the world' (To a Mabden Earl)

"Pity destroys true love"

"You Mabden seem to think that happiness must be bought with misery"

"The dead are selfish"

"Chaos and destruction is 'interesting'"

"Let it perish unavenged! Too many crimes have been committed so that vengeance might be won!"

"What Mortal does not mistrust a God?"

"There is even a theory I have heard that all mortals are aspects of one single cosmic identity and some believe that even the gods are part of that identity, and that all planes of existence, all the ages which come and go, all the manifestations of space which emerge and vanish, are merely ideas in the cosmic mind, different fragments of its personality. Such speculation leads us nowhere and everywhere, but it makes no difference to our understanding of our immediate problems"

"All good comedy has tragedy beneath it"

"Existence is a paradox, friend Jhary. Everything that is Good is also Evil. You know that, I am sure."
"Aye. That is what makes me so insouciant"
"And it is what makes you so concerned"

"Ultimately, Chaos brings a more profound stagnation than anything it despises in Law. It must forever seek more and more sensation, more and more empty marvels, until there is nothing left and it has forgotten what true invention is."

"The Cosmic balance would require an equilibrium - something of Chaos, something of Law - so that each stabilizes the other. The difference is that Law acknowledges the authority of Balance, while Chaos would deny it.

"The nearest we ever come to knowing the truth is when we witness a paradox"

clever things only in context

"If they valued what they stole, if they knew what they were destroying, then I would be consoled"

"Then death must be more awful than I imagined it to be"

"You thought your own sweet dream a reality and your reality a dream"

"Your capacity for love makes you strong, Prince Corum"
"And my capacity for hate?"
"That directs your strength."
(Harry Potter fans and theorists take not of THAT)
(I just realized that I was a theorist without being a fan - or a fan because I was a theorist)

"Do not pray to me" (God in conversation to a Vadagh)

Planes circle as some say the planets circle the sun.

Experimenters - sorcerers, scientists, scholars, call the what you will
(A brief scientific history of man)

"No time for self-pity"

"My fury keeps me sane"
(Again, HP?)



The story is set in the fifteen planes taken over by Chaos, and the hero fights to get back Law. Some greater gods than the gods of Chaos and Law ultimately kill gods serving both, and instead of restoring a balance, let mortals make their own destinies. A traveler between the planes, and a friend of the hero, possibly says the most illuminating thing in the entire book. While leaving the fifteen planes not ruled by Gods to some planes where gods still rule, he says "I would hate it if I came to blame myself for all my misfortunes"

One night @ the call center is next on my list. And I think I will start reading Clarke again for the comparison.