Noontide Puns

I bet you guys will never guess where I'm going for lunch

Near the beginning of Wanderer and His Shadow, we have this aphorism:

>IN THE NIGHT. – So soon as night begins to fall our sensations concerning everyday matters are altered. There is the wind, prowling as if on forbidden paths, whispering as if in search of something, fretting because he cannot find it. There is the lamplight, with its dim red glow, its weary look, unwillingly fighting against night, a sullen slave to wakeful man. There are the breathings of the sleeper, with their terrible rhythm, to which an ever-recurring care seems to blow the trumpet-melody – we do not hear it, but when the sleeper’s bosom heaves we feel our heart-strings tighten; and when breath sinks and almost dies away into a deathly stillness, we say to ourselves, ‘Rest awhile, poor troubled spirit!’ All living creatures bear so great a burden that we wish them an eternal rest; night invites to death. If human beings were deprived of the sun and resisted night by means of moonlight and oil-lamps, what a philosophy would cast its veil over them! We already see only too plainly how a shadow is thrown over the spiritual and intellectual nature of man by that moiety of darkness and sunlessness that envelops life. (HatH.III, "Wanderer and His Shadow":8)

There is a connection between our material conditions and our philosophy. When N. says that a people living in perpetual night would develop a very different philosophy, he is drawing attention to our intuitive recognition that our thought concepts and ideologies come secondary to the physiological & physical realities that govern our lives, and determine a people's way of life.

N. is enamored with metaphors about light and darkness, day and night, dawn and twilight, sunlight and shadows, midnight and noontide, etc. Whereas "darkness" or "night" may be mere metaphors for wickedness or immorality to the Christian. N. is not using darkness as the same kind of metaphor, as this passage demonstrates. Where he would agree with the Christian aesthetic (and the Christian ascetic, for that matter), however, is in associating darkness with ignorance and light with knowledge. Night represents a reversion to a more fearful and animalian state in mankind. Even in the advanced civilizations that exist today, a fundamental fear of the dark persists to some degree in people. And, of course, there is sleep and dream. N. says that thought in dreams is very similar to the way primordial man thought when awake. In a somewhat poe

Welcome to week 37 of the Osten Ard read along. This week, we wade a little deeper into Part 2. Our future reading schedule can be found here: https://reddit.com/r/ostenard/comments/ctrz5n/read_along_schedule_update_check_this/

 

This thread is intended for folks who have read all the Osten Ard books already - if you haven't read the books yet, tread carefully in this thread! The paths are treacherous!

 

#Discussion Questions

Just some quick little questions to spark conversation - answer them or ignore them, the choice is yours!

• Which character really stands out to you in this section?

• Any little hints/foreshadowing that stand out?

• Anything that surprised you/you didn't remember?

"And it is the great noontide, when man is in the middle of his course between animal and Superman, and celebrateth his advance to the evening as his highest hope: for it is the advance to a new morning."

Can someone elaborate and explain this noontide concept to me?

Anyone else thinking of utilizing it in any way? Noontide with a Killer/Slayer weapon means you'd have it ready immediately upon getting attacked, so you'd counter with it and gain HP based off the full possible damage you can inflict on the opponent.

I'm kind of thinking I'll do that with a Gwendolyn equipped with Wary Fighter. Would make her really difficult to take down without lancebreaker because she'd frequently get back into Wary Fighter range. Obviously less deadly in and of herself without going Bonfire, but I think the gimmick could work.

Welcome to week 37 of the Osten Ard read along. This week, we wade deeper into Part 2! Our full future reading schedule can be found here: https://reddit.com/r/ostenard/comments/ctrz5n/read_along_schedule_update_check_this/

 

This thread is meant for first-time readers of the series. Please cover any spoilers beyond "A High, Dark Place" with reddit's built-in spoiler code:

>!Spoilers go here!<

This is the result: >!Spoilers go here!<

&nbsp;

#Discussion Questions

Just some quick little questions to spark conversation - answer them or ignore them, the choice is yours!

• Anything you didn't expect from the new trilogy vs. MST?

• What was your favorite moment?

• What surprised you?

• Which character really stood out for you in this section?