Susan Cooper is the author of more than twenty books as well as plays, screenplays and poetry. She was born in Buckinghamshire, England, and went to Oxford where she studied under the great fantasy writers J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis. She began writing as a reporter for London’s Sunday Times, where she worked under James Bond creator, Ian Fleming. She is best known for the books in the Dark is Rising series, which have received many literary awards since their publication in 1976. She now lives and writes by the sea in Massachusetts and comes to Cambridge to speak at forums.
The presentation by Susan Cooper and open discussion were the second of a two-part program presented by the Cambridge Forum, and were recorded for publication on NPR. The author’s talk was preceded by a musical introduction from two members of Revels (a Christmastime celebration that began in Cambridge). The songs correlated with the theme of the night: ‘Unriddling the world.’ While the songs were intriguing, the audience came to hear the author speak. For this reason, many felt that the singing went on a little too long. Not to mention, audience participation in the songs ruined any possible enjoyment. After the disturbingly off-key audience sing-a-long, Susan Cooper finally took the podium.
According to Cooper, humans have invented stories to make sense of the world throughout time. These stories take the form of creation myths and legends that explain the way the world works. She says that there are five myths that we try to ‘unriddle’: life, death, time, good and evil. These five myths are all present in Cooper’s stories, especially good and evil. However, her view on modern culture is somewhat cynical: people prefer facts to metaphors, and they have come to think that technology and science will explain all of life’s riddles. People generally are so rooted in linear time that they repel all fantasy in general.
Cooper’s theory involves her target audience. Her stories are not written specifically for children, she says, but publishers have put her books on the children’s lists because adults do not appreciate fantasy to its fullest. She says that children (specifically pre-adolescent) are more engrossed in the story, and allow themselves to be enveloped in the world of fantasy. This is because children are still looking to unriddle the five myths and feel scientific explanations leave much unanswered. Adults, however, are hardened by their experience in the real world and are less open to the mystical goings-on of the genre.
Mystical stories are more relevant to real-life than one would think. Cooper says that, in her books, the fictional quests to differentiate between good and evil often end up being accidental metaphors for the quest for adulthood and the struggles it entails. She says she “teaches without intending to.” Put simply, sex takes over the imagination beginning in adolescence because the quest of good versus evil is no longer as interesting to readers, or it isn’t relevant to their lives. In no way does she regret the toll growing-up takes on her readership. In fact, Cooper proudly shares letters she has received from young readers. She also talks about how adults have shared how much the books meant to them when they were young.
However, Susan Cooper’s ideas don’t merely pertain to the younger generation’s issues. After discussing the impact of modern religion on the acceptance of her stories, Cooper stated, “I am a storyteller. I tell stories to unriddle the world.” She ended with talking about 9/11 and related it to fantasy world, where good triumphs over evil, “But in real life, things go on, and on, and on.” It is not as simple as us and them, the line is fuzzy. Yet, at times, Coopers’ books do not embody her characterization of fantasy, but rather the real world, something she is the first to acknowledge. When a white horseman comes to save the day from a black horseman, it turns out the white one is questionably evil as well, blurring the lines of morality.
Cooper was a riveting speaker and it is obvious she has a great deal of knowledge about the fantasy genre. She lacks modesty to a point, which is surprising, but mostly because in this day we are not used to confident, smart women who are not afraid to speak boldly about the world. Cooper’s confidence is deserved, as she is a leader in her genre and an excellent (and very quotable) speaker.
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Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Susan Cooper: Fantasy and Literature; Unriddling the World
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Alan Lightman mixes science and the supernatural
TOPH TUCKER '08
On November 6, author and theoretical physicist Alan Lightman spoke at the Harvard Book Store. He was there to promote his new novel, Ghost, a tale of a banker who loses his job and is forced to take up a temporary job at a mortuary. When he sees something inexplicable one day, he is forced to confront the supernatural. Mr. Lightman read select passages from the book before taking questions and speaking about his inspiration and beliefs.
Alan Lightman brings a unique approach to the subject because of his background. In 1989, Lightman became the first professor at MIT to receive a joint appointment in both the sciences and humanities. As a scientist, he has made a number of important contributions to the field of astrophysics, including research on accretion disks, stellar dynamics, and relativistic plasmas. Today, however, he focuses primarily on his writing. When asked whether he misses science, he replied, “Oh, I miss it terribly,” but that “science is a young person’s game. After your 30s you’re past your peak as a scientist.”He contrasted this to writing, where experience is invaluable: “Any number of romances I have are not going to help me as a theoretical physicist.”
Lightman’s most famous work is his 1992 novel Einstein’s Dreams, which explores unconventional perceptions of time in the hypothetical context of Einstein’s visions. Ghost, while similar in that it mixes science with a more fantastic element, is very different in the concepts it explores. “I think people have a fascination with death,” he said. “In a funeral home, the boundary between death and living is vivid.” Lightman went on to speak in more general terms: “A lot of religious belief,” he said, “is supernatural. It’s in a being that can violate the laws of nature.” Lightman cited some fascinating statistics: according to one poll, 82 out of 100 people believe in miracles, and 83 out of 100 believe that something lives on after death.
Several attendees brought up the question of the inherent conflict between science and religion. “There are certain types of [belief] that are incompatible with science, but many gray areas,” he said. “A large fraction of scientists believe in God, but miracles are not allowed for almost all scientists.” Miracles, Lightman said, go against the most basic tenets of science—that there are underlying rules to the universe, and that those rules must be obeyed. “But,” he continued, “you can still believe in a god who got the universe started, and then stopped intervening.” Asked about arguing over the existence of something that could theoretically make itself undetectable, Lightman admitted that “a scientist can talk about the existence of God, but only as an ordinary citizen. It… lies outside the realm of science. Anything is possible. I’m not going to argue about that.”
Mr. Lightman acknowledged that science and religion have a lot in common—for one, that they are the two dominant forces that have shaped civilization. Furthermore, Lightman contended that both scientists and believers in the supernatural ultimately rely on faith—faith that nothing can dodge cause and effect, or faith that something can. The motivation behind both sides of the argument is the same: “the desire to have more control over the world. To me, that is the greatest irony.”
To hear someone like Mr. Lightman is enthralling—indeed, I found the question and answer segment to be far more interesting than the excerpts from Ghost. (Of course, it’s not a fair comparison, given that the excerpts were out-of-context, and that a book is naturally a more long-form medium.) He does not just deal in black and white, but looks at things from myriad new and unexpected perspectives. He is no fanatic; he approaches both sides of the debate logically and with a cool head. He does not fall into traditional all-or-nothing stereotypes, and is all the more persuasive for it.
Alan Lightman is a great physicist, a skilled writer, and a fascinating speaker. If his track record is any indication, Ghost—when given the time it deserves—will be another fascinating read.
Image from:
http://www.mit.edu/~humanistic/faculty/lightman.html
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