                           19980917.02

Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 14:04:25 -0400
To: Ernst Meyer 
From: Bill Edwards 
Subject: Re: Die Andere (3)
Status: RO

> If on Thursday
>you came to my office at 6 p.m., you could then accompany
>us to Belmont and there we could find something to eat,
>and or return to Cambridge, as you wished.

Thanks for your mail--if Thursday works for you, that would be great!  I
will appear at your office at 6 PM, and we can just play it by
ear--whatever is most convenient for you.  If we wind up getting dinner in
Belmont, I can take bus or cab home.  I'm looking forward to it!

On agape, I think I recall Doehring himself meditating on it, and casting
his attitude toward Dorothea in terms of agape, or charity, as opposed to
eros.  At least, he did this initially--where I am now (chapter 17), that
is obviously changing.  One context in which I hope eros and agape are not
mutually exclusive is marriage.  Is  Murphy  responsible for persuading
Doehring that D.'s feelings for Dorothea are not just, or need not just be
fatherly?  Or that incest is a relative (forgive the unintended pun)
concept?  Or both?  Again, I liked Murphy a lot.

I am not sure what you think of C.S. Lewis, but in the _Four Loves_, he
posits that "natural" loves:  storge, philia, and eros must eventually be
taken up into agape; otherwise they become corrupt.  I must warn you that
Lewis is a major influence on me, even though one sees his limitations.  I
think his writings  baptized my imagination when I was younger, especially
his fantasy and science fiction.  I am sure you have run across those.  All
the best. -- Bill

I look forward to seeing you again in my office
at 1679 Mass. Avenue
on Thursday, September 24, at 6 p.m.

The characters in a novel unavoidably acquire an existence
independent of their author whose claim to interpreting them
should be no greater than that of any careful reader. Except
to the extent that my knowledge of the text might be more
detailed, your judgments about Doehring's personality are
no less valid than mine.

I think that Murphy's candor has the effect not so much
of persuading Doehring to a different point of view as
of neutralizing Doehring's inhibitions.

Chapter 17, it seems to me, is tedious and too much dominated
by Doehring's selfcenteredness to be either interesting or
edifying. I hope your reading of the text survives it.

With respect to C.S. Lewis's writings, I must plead ignorance;
and ask your advice which of his books I should read first.

Ernst Meyer

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