Dear Marion,

My delay in answering your letter of January 7, was only marginally
intentional. Initially I paused with the thought of cooperating
with you in introducing some slack into our correspondence. Then
insensitivity to time of my 81 1/2 years old mind seized control
and had me forget how many days had passed since I last wrote, and
how long your own unanswered letter had been waiting for a reply.
As always, I'm impressed by - and admire - the catholic dimensions
of your interests, but however much my spirit pants for breadth, I
know I can't keep up with you, and I mustn't pretend. With respect
to contemporary music especially, I must console myself with the
knowledge that there is much beyond my hearing, and be content to
try to understand and analyse the passions aroused by the music I
am able to hear.

In particular, I am interested in Micha's novel about conductors and
conducting, partly because of the immediacy to Nathaniel's career
plans of the issues raised by "Perfect Pitch"; especially, however
because I would like to understand better the implications of selling
ones soul to the devil. In the final analysis, it seems to me, Goethe
notwithstanding the literary immortality he garnered from it, fails
to take seriously the Faustian bargain, persuaded as he is of the
innate goodness of humankind and the fiction of Hell: 
"Vor jener dunkeln Höhle nicht zu beben,
In der sich Phantasie zu eigner Qual verdammt,"
he skirts the agonies of suffering and exhibits Mephistopheles
as a sophisticated clown. Perhaps Goethe's belittling of evil
was - is - the only constructive and edifying approach. I anticipate
with interest, Micha's interpretations. In a related matter, I'm
recurrently embarrassed by my inability to come to terms with Dante's
description of the Inferno, a shortcoming which suggests to me a
basic flaw in my understanding of literature....

My letter to Cynthia Behrman, of which I e-mailed you a copy,
and my efforts to help Benjamin with a quirky assignment in a
"philosophy" course that he is taking, will suggest to you some
of the  trivial idiosycracies that preoccupy me from day to day.
I have also spent much time on chapter 49, which, for a change,
I am composing in parallel, with about 24 German and 8 English
pages more or less completed.

The cirumstance that in 15 minutes, I must fetch Margaret from
her book group meeting dictates an end to this letter. But I won't
wait six days to answer, the next time you write. Please keep me
informed about your health.

Jochen