What are you writing about at present?<\/i><\/p>\n
The Generation of 98 have you heard of them?<\/i><\/p>\n
Vaguely <\/i><\/p>\n
They were a group of novelists and poets and philosophers active in Spain in 1898<\/i><\/p>\n
Lorca was a member I believe <\/i><\/p>\n
That would have been hard as Lorca was born in 1898<\/i><\/p>\n
Who were the Generation of 98?<\/i><\/p>\n
As I said they were a group of novelists and poets and philosophers active in Spain in 1898<\/i><\/p>\n
You have to remember that Spain had lost many of its colonies such as Cuba the Philippines and Puerto Rico and this amongst many other things created a moral social and a political crisis <\/i><\/p>\n
And this is where the Generation of 98 came in <\/i><\/p>\n
They were a group of intellectuals who criticised the establishment for their conformity amongst other things<\/i><\/p>\n
They thought the country was drained of its spirit <\/i><\/p>\n
This criticism was aimed at literary as well as educational establishments <\/i><\/p>\n
The Art Class<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Do you dream? <\/i><\/p>\n
Frequently <\/i><\/p>\n
Tell me of your last dream <\/i><\/p>\n
It was a strange dream as the other dream I had that night was violent\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
I was fighting and suffered injury <\/i><\/p>\n
Tell me about your second dream <\/i><\/p>\n
It was a gentle dream in comparison to the first <\/i><\/p>\n
Describe it to me <\/i><\/p>\n
I found myself with a group of strangers both men and women of various ages <\/i><\/p>\n
We were on a field trip but a field trip with a difference <\/i><\/p>\n
How was it different? <\/i><\/p>\n
We were a group of artists who were to draw from life in a field which was near to a river <\/i><\/p>\n
Go on <\/i><\/p>\n
The dream did not exactly start in the field as I found myself in a passage with white walls which led to the field <\/i><\/p>\n
I was in a type of college an art college maybe <\/em><\/p>\n Describe the field <\/i><\/p>\n It was like any other field except it was bordered by a river <\/i><\/p>\n What happened when you reached this field?<\/i><\/p>\n Well this is where my dream became strange <\/i><\/p>\n Why strange? <\/i><\/p>\n Well the artist in charge paired us off and suggested that we remove our clothes and draw each other from life <\/i><\/p>\n I take it there was no model <\/i><\/p>\n Not one that I could see <\/i><\/p>\n How did you feel about removing your clothes?<\/i><\/p>\n Well nudity does not bother me it never has after all it is all skin and some hair but for some reason I felt nervous about removing my clothes <\/i><\/p>\n Did any of the others share your inhibitions? <\/i><\/p>\n Not really most of the group stripped without hesitation <\/i><\/p>\n What was your worry? <\/i><\/p>\n It was quite simple I was afraid that I would become erect <\/i><\/p>\n Did you become erect? <\/i><\/p>\n Did the nakedness arouse you? <\/i><\/p>\n No <\/i><\/p>\n So you stayed dressed? <\/i><\/p>\n No I undressed <\/i><\/p>\n I remember looking at a small fat girl who was sketching her partner not far from where I was standing<\/i><\/p>\n She was totally oblivious to me <\/i><\/p>\n I looked at her fat bottom and thought how stupid I was being <\/i><\/p>\n Who was your partner? <\/i><\/p>\n A woman called Kay <\/i><\/p>\n Did you find her attractive and was that the reason you feared that you would become aroused? <\/i><\/p>\n No I did not find her attractive but I did find an inner beauty in her <\/i><\/p>\n Was it her manner that you found attractive? <\/i><\/p>\n No I found her beautiful as she was two or three months pregnant <\/i><\/p>\n There was softness within her <\/i><\/p>\n That is rather abstract <\/i><\/p>\n I cannot explain it but I sensed softness within her<\/i><\/p>\n So you like seeing pregnant women naked? <\/i><\/p>\n Not really but when I do see a pregnant woman naked I find that there is a great deal to admire <\/i><\/p>\n Was Kay showing outward signs of her pregnancy?<\/i><\/p>\n Obviously her belly was a little swollen and her breast were bigger<\/i><\/p>\n Her nipples and areola’s were quite dark and prominent <\/i><\/p>\n She was with child<\/em><\/p>\n Did you sketch her?<\/i><\/p>\n Yes <\/i><\/p>\n And she drew you<\/i><\/p>\n Yes <\/i><\/p>\n How did you feel as she sketched you?<\/i><\/p>\n I felt a sense of freedom <\/i><\/p>\n And your fear of an erection? <\/i><\/p>\n I knew that if I became erect then she would understand and take it naturally \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n Did you not feel embarrassed standing naked in a field next to a river?<\/i><\/p>\n I was not the only one naked and the people passing took no notice of me or the others<\/i><\/p>\n Indeed a small number of them were also naked\u00a0 <\/i><\/p>\n How did your dream end?<\/i><\/p>\n It ended when one of the people passing approached Kay and asked where he might hire a taxi as he needed to get to a nearby town in a hurry <\/i><\/p>\n And that was it?<\/i><\/p>\n Yes I woke up and the dream was gone <\/i><\/p>\n My Uncle in Runcorn <\/b><\/p>\n Do you read newspapers?<\/i><\/p>\n How do you find them?<\/i><\/p>\n Idiotic mostly <\/i><\/p>\n It you read a report in a newspaper that features a photograph of a person who has recently died how do you feel?<\/i><\/p>\n I feel sad for them <\/i><\/p>\n Do you feel anything else? <\/i><\/p>\n Would you enlarge on your question<\/i><\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you are looking at a photograph of a man or woman who has died in a car crash what do you feel <\/i><\/p>\n Well I feel that they did not start their journey intending to die <\/i><\/p>\n Do you look at their eyes? <\/i><\/p>\n Yes<\/i><\/p>\n What do you see?<\/i><\/p>\n That their eyes are dead <\/i><\/p>\n They stare at you in a vacancy<\/i><\/p>\n Even if they are not looking at the camera<\/em><\/p>\n There is no communication <\/i><\/p>\n Here is a cutting from our local paper which reports on the tragic deaths of the four young people who died in that appalling accident on the by-pass<\/i><\/p>\n What do you see? <\/i><\/p>\n I am looking at the photographs of two girls and two boys <\/i><\/p>\n I imagine that they are all under thirty <\/i><\/p>\n They appear to be in a bar <\/i><\/p>\n Do you think that they knew that they were going to die in that blazing wreck on the by-pass?<\/i><\/p>\n And at that exact moment the driver of the lorry was drinking in a pub some miles away <\/i><\/p>\n Obviously they did not know what was going to happen to them when this<\/i> photograph was taken<\/em> If they had known that they were going to crash head on with the lorry they would have taken another <\/i>route or not travelled at all What do you see?<\/i><\/p>\n The vacancy of their eyes <\/i><\/p>\n And I am aware that they have the answer to a question that I can only begin to guess at <\/i><\/p>\n That question being? <\/i><\/p>\n The existence of an afterlife <\/i><\/p>\n They now know the answer<\/em><\/p>\n They could be all in the company of angels in Heaven or experiencing the nothingness of an eternal void<\/em><\/p>\n Do you believe in an afterlife? <\/i><\/p>\n Yes <\/i><\/p>\n I have one more question for you <\/i><\/p>\n Go ahead <\/i><\/p>\n Do you have an uncle in Runcorn? <\/i><\/p>\n No <\/i><\/p>\n Lorca <\/b><\/p>\n When you are writing about the Generation of 98 do you have a favourite within the group?<\/i><\/p>\n No<\/i><\/p>\n So Lorca is not your favourite <\/i><\/p>\n He was not a member of the Generation of 98 <\/i><\/p>\n The only connection he has to that year is that it was the year of his birth<\/i><\/p>\n 1898<\/em><\/p>\n Yes<\/em><\/p>\n Ignoring the Generation of 98 what do you think of Lorca as a poet?<\/i><\/p>\n I think he was a poet of genius <\/i><\/p>\n A visionary <\/i><\/p>\n A visionary such as William Blake or Samuel Palmer during his Shoreham period <\/i><\/p>\n Yes they all saw the world from differing angles <\/i><\/p>\n Does the fact that Lorca was murdered in 1936 bother you? <\/i><\/p>\n Yes <\/i><\/p>\n In what way? <\/i><\/p>\n He was murdered by the fascists partly because he was a homosexual <\/i><\/p>\n Are you a homosexual? <\/i><\/p>\n No <\/i><\/p>\n Do you approve of homosexuals? <\/i><\/p>\n I cannot answer that question<\/i><\/p>\n Why? <\/i><\/p>\n Because I have mixed feelings on the subject <\/i><\/p>\n Continue <\/i><\/p>\n Well if I take a secular view then although I am not attracted to men I know that some men are and why should I harm or despise them<\/i><\/p>\n But if I view the question from a Christian viewpoint then the subject makes me uncomfortable \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n So the murder of Lorca upsets you <\/i><\/p>\n Yes <\/i><\/p>\n I feel the terror he must have suffered when he was taken out and shot <\/i><\/p>\n How do you feel this? I just feel the fear\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n You cannot begin to experience the fear that Lorca experienced during those final moments on the road between Viznar and Alfacar <\/em><\/p>\n I feel it when I am writing <\/i><\/p>\n I feel it when I read his poetry <\/i><\/p>\n Like those four people killed in that awful car crash he could not have known what<\/i> was about h<\/em>appen to him <\/i><\/p>\n He knew that he was a target<\/i><\/p>\n So were many people in Spain at the time<\/i><\/p>\n His brother in law was assassinated on the same day that Lorca was arrested<\/em><\/p>\n The 18th of August 1936<\/em><\/p>\n They murdered Lorca on the 19th of August 1936 or so people belive <\/em><\/p>\n When they shot Lorca they destroyed his vision <\/i><\/p>\n They were evil men <\/i><\/p>\n Could you not say that they were misguided?<\/i><\/p>\n No his assailants were evil men <\/i><\/p>\n We all have a capability for evil <\/i><\/p>\n Possibly but I do not think that statement covers all people <\/i><\/p>\n Perhaps <\/i><\/p>\n I do not buy into the devil and the hell theories but I do believe that evil exists <\/i><\/p>\n Then you are saying that twins born to the same mother could differ <\/i><\/p>\n Yes <\/i><\/p>\n One might become a serial killer whereas the other might become a missionary and dedicate his life to helping people <\/i><\/p>\n I do believe that some men and women and women have an inner capacity for evil you only have to look at the death camps to illustrate that <\/i><\/p>\n Can you forgive an evil act such as the murder of Lorca? <\/i><\/p>\n No <\/i><\/p>\n Do you think that God could forgive the gunmen who murdered Lorca? <\/i><\/p>\n I am not God <\/i><\/p>\n If a truly evil man or woman from a death camp sought God\u2019s forgiveness do you think he would grant it to them?<\/i><\/p>\n You are generalising <\/i><\/p>\n But God forgives all sinners <\/i><\/p>\n Does he forgive all sinners? <\/i><\/p>\n What do you mean?<\/i><\/p>\n Would he forgive someone from a Nazi death camp who had slaughtered or had been complicit in the slaughter of innocents?<\/i><\/p>\n Would he forgive them?<\/i><\/p>\n I cannot answer that question <\/i><\/p>\n Why?<\/i><\/p>\n The answer is obvious <\/i><\/p>\n That being? <\/i><\/p>\n I am not God <\/i><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What are you writing about at present? The Generation of 98 have you heard of them? Vaguely They were a group of novelists and poets and philosophers active in Spain in 1898 Lorca was a member I believe That would have been hard as Lorca was born in 1898 Who were the Generation of 98? 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