gesang reviewed The Great Code by Northrop Frye
A book written by an expert for experts
5 stars
It is hard to really tell what the book is about. You'll be able to learn about Eliade's ideas, maybe provided that you have read Eliade's books, from this book than from any other book that gives expositions to Eliade's thoughts. You'll be able to discern the kernel of Jungian psychology without being distracted by the New Age elements in this book, maybe provided that you have read Answer to Job and Late Thoughts. You'll be able to feel deeply about his writings about Mystici Corporis Christi and Simone Weil's thoughts, provided that you have already thought deeply about these. In other words, you won't be able to comprehend what Frye is trying to say, without understanding what he is saying first.
It might be concluded that this is a review book written by an expert for experts, but it is hard to tell in which field the expertise is …
It is hard to really tell what the book is about. You'll be able to learn about Eliade's ideas, maybe provided that you have read Eliade's books, from this book than from any other book that gives expositions to Eliade's thoughts. You'll be able to discern the kernel of Jungian psychology without being distracted by the New Age elements in this book, maybe provided that you have read Answer to Job and Late Thoughts. You'll be able to feel deeply about his writings about Mystici Corporis Christi and Simone Weil's thoughts, provided that you have already thought deeply about these. In other words, you won't be able to comprehend what Frye is trying to say, without understanding what he is saying first.
It might be concluded that this is a review book written by an expert for experts, but it is hard to tell in which field the expertise is in, and it is certainly not a review. It is not about culture but about spirit, but highly cultured. It looks like an orthodox, traditional work, but it is filled with Jungian, Teilhard de Chardin-ian and Eliadian highly unorthodox thoughts and is factually extremely imaginative. It looks like a scholarly non-partisan work, but is highly religious.
Reading the book is like listening to a well-educated and eloquent person in a time of leisure. There is nothing new to learn if you have a wide range of interest, e.g. visual art, music, literature, theology, philosophy of history, new-age religions, and are able to form a bird-eye view of the whole amalgamation of Human creative works in the mind, but after listening to his talk you'll be flooded with inspirations and wild thoughts, together with a feeling of finally being understood.
The writing style is also remarkable. It is balanced. The solemness is balanced by imaginativeness, and passion by calmness. The thoughts, while highly intuitive and frank, are expounded in an analytical manner, flavoured with a sense of humor, leaving an impression that the author is extremely learned. Albeit calm and manifestly educated, it never feels paunchy like Harold Bloom's writings, never gives a sense of snobbishness.