There is more to him then simple creativity, he was an academic philosopher and romantic, yearning for the spiritual and his mystic side really shows in this book.
I know! I rushed a bit there, but one of things I cherish about Stapledon is his devotion to the nuance of the intangible, the senses, the "spirit" to which he so often refers. Perhaps one of his crowning contributions is that he melds embracing reality as it is and the essence of worship; it's so rare to find the two in the same place, I've found. Maybe I haven't search enough, and will take a trip through some of your suggestions, so thank you. And that link - an interesting site! Thank you for that as well.
For me, for what it's worth, I had spent years searching for something I couldn't quite place, and once I found him, realized it was this tremendous sense of scope, our littleness and such sensitivity to thought and creativity. At time he's so rich in descriptiveness a break helps, sure, and then you pick up again where you left off.
Stapledon's works have inspired me to no end. He is brilliant and visionary. I humbly believe if his works were written now, they would still be ahead of their time. Now, as to the following:
1. fsiekfen: "Even so I'd like to believe Stapledon really was traveling among the stars 'in some way', also his description of the out of body experience is oddly similar to credible accounts later in the 20th century and might be autobiographical but if not could be explained by him reading earlier accounts of this psychological effect."
2. nkoren: "Still, like you, I do like to imagine that Stapledon tapped into something that was somehow beyond the ordinary. I don't feel like speculating beyond that, but however he did it, Star Maker is an extraordinary book."
The two of you and others I assume, might be curious to know about "The Opening of The Eyes" (there used to be an online version here (http://olafstapledonarchive.webs.com/openingoftheeyes_index....) but it's down now. If you like, I could make the .mobi file I created available somewhere from the various parts.
Not commonly known, as far as I can tell, even among Stapledon fans. It was published posthumously by his wife and is written in the first person. Essentially, it's an essay by him to his "creator". I won't comment on what that entails; hopefully his work speaks for itself. But within that story he mentions this - the exact quote:
"Long ago (it was while I was scrambling on a rugged coast, where great waves broke in blossom on the rocks) I had a sudden fantasy of man's whole future, aeon upon aeon of strange vicissitudes and gallant endeavours in world after world, seeking a glory never clearly conceived, often betrayed, but little by little revealed."
It says... something. I'm not sure what. Either way, the piece is a powerful expose on the author. You get to see a lot into his mindset, and even into the challenges he faced in relation to his proposed philosophies. Some interesting commentary on Christianity as well, among others.
But in the end, I guess you get the feeling there's more to him than simple imaginative power. The concept of "fiction as cover for non-fiction (so people will read your stuff without calling you a lunatic) tends to crop up in some of his works too. Either way, his works are nothing short of incredible.
There is more to him then simple creativity, he was an academic philosopher and romantic, yearning for the spiritual and his mystic side really shows in this book.
I know! I rushed a bit there, but one of things I cherish about Stapledon is his devotion to the nuance of the intangible, the senses, the "spirit" to which he so often refers. Perhaps one of his crowning contributions is that he melds embracing reality as it is and the essence of worship; it's so rare to find the two in the same place, I've found. Maybe I haven't search enough, and will take a trip through some of your suggestions, so thank you. And that link - an interesting site! Thank you for that as well.
For me, for what it's worth, I had spent years searching for something I couldn't quite place, and once I found him, realized it was this tremendous sense of scope, our littleness and such sensitivity to thought and creativity. At time he's so rich in descriptiveness a break helps, sure, and then you pick up again where you left off.