On the Marionette Theatre by Heinrich von Kleist (1801)

A real period piece. It was great stylistically and a joy to read save the abhorrent biblical reference and the postface, which seemed grossly wrong to me in asserting that the writer is proposing humanity move forward with "complete knowledge", whatever that is. Where they found that idea, I don't know.

This piece of writing to me demonstrates the sense of common curiosity and intellectual inquiry that can frequently be found in 19th and early 20th century writings. To join with the writer along a series of discoveries about a subject, combining both practical and aesthetic observations, is really something rarer today: post-industrial, post-war, post-modern English with its emphasis on efficiency, function, and commerce (ie. mass-market appeal ... in a sea of predominantly television-affected, often non-native readers) seems to have lost this. And all the more to draw it finally in to a higher point! Clearly, a manner of elucidation far too obtuse for a modern readship.

It probably had additional appeal to me as growing up in suburban Sydney a family of French puppeteers moved in next door to us, fresh from Polynesia. Living for most of the last decade and a half in Asia, I frequently see puppets in both the shadow and water incarnations, and have begun to collect close up photographs of them wherever I can. In addition, I have recently been reading a fantastic book (also from a prior era of the English language) on Chinese Theater, discussing the stupendous training regimes and regulations inflicted on generations of performers.

Anyway, I for one am going to swing onward, my thinking propelled by this string of text as if by pendulum, to smash another problem :)