It brought to mind Armies of the Night, which had a profound effect on me when I read it. It was truly revolutionary, written in the third person, which was a sheer stroke of genius. I remember being so enamored with it that for about a year all the letters I wrote to my friends were in the third person. Looking back, that was a really liberating exercise. For some reason, I was able to get outside of myself more, sort of like the spirit of a dying man looking down on his body.
I immediately had an urge to read something from "Armies of the Night," if not the whole thing. I can't remember whether I still have a copy around but it's a moot point because we are remodeling right now so all of our books are packed away. So, I went on the Amazon site and called up "Armies of the Night" and then clicked on "Search Inside," then chose "Excerpt." This brought up the first few pages of the book and it was like being with an old friend I had not seen for far too long. A definite literary contact high! I may have to go out and buy a used version because it may be a while before the books get unpacked and I may not have it anyway.
Well, here are a couple of quotes from the brawler himself:
The sickness of our times for me has been just this damn thing that everything has been getting smaller and smaller and less and less important, that the romantic spirit has dried up, that there is no shame today. We're all getting so mean and small and petty and ridiculous, and we all live under the threat of extermination.
Ultimately a hero is a man who would argue with the gods, and so awakens devils to contest his vision. The more a man can achieve, the more he may be certain that the devil will inhabit a part of his creation.
