psychology vs. reality of the land
Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 12:47 pm
Hi,
I'm new, so sorry if this is really noob-like. I've almost finished Fatal Revenant, and I've completed all the other books in the series over the past decade or so.
Something which has always eluded me - and this is probably the intent of SRD - is whether The Land is as real as real can be, or whether it's somehow a ramification of the "real world" character's psychologies.
There's support for both possibilities: Firstly, the fact that multiple persons in the 'real world' partake in the same experience of The Land supports (perhaps necessitates) the realness of The Land.
However, there are also clear links between psychological states of real-world characters, and events in the land: For instance, Joan's actual seizures seem to be The Land's magical ceasures, which occur during Linden's visit. This is a single example of many which support the idea that the land's existence hinges on the psychological state of the real-world people; not to mention the many metaphores the land offers for one or another 'real world' character's psychological state.
So which is it, and why? Or, is it both? Most importantly, if it is both, how can it be both?
There are so many confounding factors regarding the above, it's hard to ever know precisely what's going on
I just can't get past my perplexedness on this issue, and it keeps drawing me back to read novel after novel! I really hope SRD has something satisfying to say about this between here and where the series ends!!
I hope I've put this in the right forum.
Many thanks!!
I'm new, so sorry if this is really noob-like. I've almost finished Fatal Revenant, and I've completed all the other books in the series over the past decade or so.
Something which has always eluded me - and this is probably the intent of SRD - is whether The Land is as real as real can be, or whether it's somehow a ramification of the "real world" character's psychologies.
There's support for both possibilities: Firstly, the fact that multiple persons in the 'real world' partake in the same experience of The Land supports (perhaps necessitates) the realness of The Land.
However, there are also clear links between psychological states of real-world characters, and events in the land: For instance, Joan's actual seizures seem to be The Land's magical ceasures, which occur during Linden's visit. This is a single example of many which support the idea that the land's existence hinges on the psychological state of the real-world people; not to mention the many metaphores the land offers for one or another 'real world' character's psychological state.
So which is it, and why? Or, is it both? Most importantly, if it is both, how can it be both?
There are so many confounding factors regarding the above, it's hard to ever know precisely what's going on
I just can't get past my perplexedness on this issue, and it keeps drawing me back to read novel after novel! I really hope SRD has something satisfying to say about this between here and where the series ends!!
I hope I've put this in the right forum.
Many thanks!!