tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907071700721966011.post7053846522864091135..comments2024-02-29T02:16:45.679-08:00Comments on Gladly Lerne, Gladly Teche: What News?John V. Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17136533410768061217noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907071700721966011.post-62212339450621002942016-11-17T17:59:54.601-08:002016-11-17T17:59:54.601-08:00I was following a thread (which I now can't re...I was following a thread (which I now can't recall) through that great time-consuming Tower of Babel known as the internet when I stumbled upon your "Dark Side ...". Apart from a passing interest in alchemy, I was puzzled about why I decided to start reading your book but it turned out to be enough of a fun and fascinating read to let me both tolerate and enjoy its academic precision. Still, what really compelled me was the mind that created the work. An unpretentious, self-effacing yet deep scholarship and a general wisdom about history, about life life in general, filtered through the overt subject matter. So much so, that I decided to write and tell you so even though in my almost 70 years I've never contacted an author. <br /><br />Now, after googling you, I find that you have received about every form of recognition and praise that someone in your field could obtain. So my little "well done" seems both pathetic and redundant. But as a real layman, as an academic outsider and general reader maybe it is of some value. I am an artist http://www.peterjcross.com and I'd like to think that I have gotten to that point, that an artist must necessarily get to, where he/she becomes detached from both criticism and praise of his/her work. But, now and then, someone says something that indicates that they really "get" something you've done, someone penetrates the occult so to speak. And you can't help feeling that, if this one passing comment is all that comes of it, my efforts have still been worthwhile. So I hope my response is something of that sort. I also hope that "Dark Side ..." is to be followed by more of the same. For me it was, to say the least, "most enlightening".<br /><br />Peter Cross<br />peterjcross[at]icloud[dot]com<br /><br />P.S. I find it hard to believe that you tackled the story of Cagliostro. Most would have avoided him in some fashion because of the tangled mess of sources involved. Somehow, though (and it must have been with much trouble) you have managed to convey the story in an interesting and coherent manner while not sacrificing academic integrity. Again, well done.Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12113509272255859801noreply@blogger.com