There are no clear answers... but there is a hint. At one point, Haroun Al-Raschid threatens to destroy a crystal globe full of demons, which upon escaping would destroy the minds and dreams of humankind. Fortunately, the Lord of Dreams prevents the disaster. It seems that Gaiman is making the point that the end of dreams — and of stories — would as great a tragedy as any war, if not greater. After all, it is our ability to dream and to re-imagine the world through storytelling that makes us human. A world of purely matter-of-fact, objective reality would not be a world worth living in.
Yet to this day the world's storytellers and "imagineers" remain insecure about their contribution to the world. It's not enough just to be a actor or musician anymore — one must be associated with a cause like world hunger or AIDS. And celebrities are boycotting the Oscars because they think a whole show devoted to cinema is something "frivolous" in a time of war. Perhaps they haven't watched best picture nominee The Pianist, which is about the Holocaust.
And perhaps they don't realize that without the culture and arts that express the dreams and yearnings of a people, there wouldn't be anything worth fighting for.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
Excellent Flea, thanks very much.
2 - lioness
what a beautiful piece....gives hope for a better day
3 - jake
this info sucks my dick
4 - Eric Olsen
I find that to be a peculiar reaction to this story.
5 - SFC SKI
NIce entry, great tip, it is hard to reconcile the romantic view of the world with the real world, unfortunately.
Lots of thought and comment provoking sentences, but I would have to start with this:
"It's not enough just to be a actor or musician anymore -- one must be associated with a cause like world hunger or AIDS."
I don't agree, I really wish more entertainers would stick to entertaining, and artists let their works speak for themselves.
That being said, once again thanks for a great post.
6 - SFC SKI
The SpamBots are dredging up some worthy threads today, I will have to see if I can find a copy of this novel, and maybe a nice throw rug, too.
7 - Eric Olsen
yeah Flea, where've you been?