In the first half of the 20th century, there were two very important literary creation groups in Britain, namely the "Bloomsbury Group" in London and the "Dark Mo Society" (transliterated as "Hard Kelin") in Oxford.
When Xu Zhimo, Ling Shuhua and others formed the "Crescent Society", they adopted the "Bloomsbury Group" model, which brought together poets, writers, scientists, philosophers, politicians, etc. to gather in a salon style, and then
Expand your influence by publishing magazines and opening bookstores.
The difference between the "Crescent Society" and the "Bloomsbury Group" lies in their ideological concepts and moral concepts. The latter is so avant-garde that it can destroy people's outlook even in the 21st century.
The "Bloomsbury Group" emphasizes intrinsic value. As long as the heart can recognize truth, goodness and beauty, and does not affect others, then it doesn't matter what they do. Therefore, they pursue pleasure and oppose monogamy. Their relationships with each other are complex and multi-faceted.
Sexual partners, those of the same sex, are the norm.
This kind of moral concept was very scary at the beginning of the 20th century. Just think about Turing being persecuted to death because he was gay after World War II. The "Bloomsbury Group" actually had a lot of fun after World War I.
Sexual partners and same-sex partners.
It must be said that the 1920s was a period of chaos, whether in Europe or the United States.
Because of the sequelae of the war (World War I) and the rapid development of the post-war economy, all kinds of weird ideas and weird characters emerged one after another. Western society as a whole has entered a crazy era of extreme self-pursuit (including the proliferation of pacifism and fascism).
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In the 20 years between World War I and World War II, Western society was very tolerant of heterosexuals, and even respected them. After World War II, this tolerance and freedom were suppressed, resulting in Turing's homosexual tragedy, which lasted until 1970
It became open again in the 1980s and reached its peak in the 1980s.
Therefore, Zhou Hexuan dared to establish the so-called "Flying Noodle Cult" at Oxford University in 1940 in front of many devout believers. This point in time can be regarded as the tail end of the crazy era, and will not attract terrible pressure from public opinion, and can even attract countless pursuits
Self-conscious young man.
As for another literary society, the "Dark Ink Society", the representatives are Tolkien and Lewis. This is a Christian society, and most of the members are Christians; it is also a straight men's society, all men. In 1944, the female writer Dorothy
·Sayers wanted to apply to join, but was directly rejected.
The "Eagle and Child Tavern" near Oxford University is a regular meeting place for the "Dark Ink Society". "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" were born here. Tolkien and Lewis met to write a novel each while drinking.
Fantasy works.
This pub later became a holy place for Lord of the Rings fans, with countless Lord of the Rings fans coming to worship every year.
On Friday, Zhou Hexuan gave a lecture at Oxford University. On Saturday and Sunday, they took the Oxford students who were eager to join the religion and worked together in the library to create the "Flying Spaghetti Bible" and "The Flying Spaghetti Gospel", and established the various aspects of theistic religions.
A kind of religious etiquette.
The prayer and mantra is "Don't care", which corresponds to the Christian "God bless", the Buddhist "Amitabha" and so on.
The end of the prayer is to add an "r" in front of "Amen", which means ramen, which means noodles.
When the FSM gathers, each member must wear a pot on his head. The priest responsible for praying must not only wear a pot, but also hold a big spoon in his hand. This spoon is the power of the FSM.
Oxford students even plan to raise funds to build a super spoon for Zhou Hexuan, representing the pope's supreme scepter.
What’s funny is that two Oxford professors have also joined the church, and they even plan to preach in London and Cambridge when they have time.
In just three days, there were as many as 14 followers of the Flying Spaghetti Cult, including 1 pope, 1 archbishop, prophets, 6 saints, and 4 noodle eaters.
Just when a ridiculous farce was over and Zhou Hexuan was about to leave Oxford, he suddenly received an invitation to a party from the "Danmo Society", and a group of straight Christians wanted to invite Zhou Hexuan to drink. And only Zhou Hexuan could attend, and the others
They were all looked down upon by Tolkien and others. As for Ma Jue, even if she could catch their eye, it would be impossible to get permission for the gathering because she is a woman.
…
Tuesday, Eagle and Child Tavern.
Different from the prosperity of the 21st century, there are still fields around the tavern at this time, and even occasionally hares break in and scurry under the feet of the drinkers. This kind of situation is impossible to encounter in China. As long as the hares dare to come, they will
There can be countless people who "wait for rabbits", and the rabbits often end up being taken off the pot and then served on the table.
The second room after entering the tavern is the gathering place for Tolkien and others.
As soon as Zhou Hexuan opened the door and walked in, Tolkien held up a beer glass and said with a smile: "Hey, everyone, please stand up and salute, the Pope is here!"
A group of straight Christian men stood up collectively and said cheerfully to the Pope of the Flying Spaghetti Cult: "Welcome to His Majesty the Pope! The Pope is late and must be punished with a glass of beer."
It was just a glass of beer, and Zhou Hexuan immediately drank from it while Tolkien and Lewis also began to introduce others.
The man sitting in the back is called Warren, an officer and Lewis's younger brother. The man next to Warren is called Humphrey, a doctor by profession and graduated from Oxford University. Sitting with his back to the door is Neville Coghill.
, is an expert on Middle English. The person next to Tolkien is Charles Williams, who is also a professor and writer. The last person is Hugo Dyson, a professor of English literature at the University of Reading, who came to Oxford by train to participate.
reunion.
There are four basic standards for men who attend the "Dan Mo Club" gathering: they understand literature, can drink, and can brag.
Before we even talked about literature, Zhou Hexuan punished himself with one drink, and then drank five more drinks. This is not a literature club at all, but a drinking club!
After drinking and joking around, this group of straight Christian men never mentioned anything about FSM because they knew the debate would lead to no results.
Tolkien burped and asked: "Guys, please bring out your new works."
Lewis' brother Warren, an officer, stood up and said: "I recently wrote a poem, which expressed the bombing of London."
"Read it quickly!" Doctor Humphrey cheered.
Warren recited loudly and passionately: "Over London, there are scavenging vultures hovering. They are God's abandoned children and the devil's apostles..."
A long English poem with a big concept for five minutes. The level is considered average, and it is still one galaxy away from being a classic. Zhou Hexuan strongly doubted that Warren was able to join the "Dan Mo Society" purely because of the influence of his brother Lewis.
Warren asked expectantly: "How are you feeling?"
Middle English expert Coghill said: "There are two obvious grammatical errors, and the escort in the second stanza is also a problem."
It was tiring to be friends with a bunch of big guys, so Warren could only ask for advice humbly, and like his grandson, he nodded and admitted his mistake.
Hugo Dyson suddenly put down his beer glass and asked Tolkien: "Where is your "The New Hobbit"? I took the train from Berkshire specifically to listen to your story."
Tolkien drank a full glass of beer and said, "I've been in a bad mood lately. A water pipe burst at home, and writing of The New Hobbit has been stopped."
"Stop writing?" Hugo Dyson was immediately angry. "Last year you said you could finish the final chapter in the spring, then in the summer you said you could finish it in the winter, and in the fall you said you would stop writing! Have your water pipes been repaired? I'll help.
You repair, but you must write the latest chapter of "The New Hobbit"!"
Tolkien regretted: "I'm sorry, I've been stuck recently and have no inspiration at all."
Hugo Dyson said with a black face: "Friend, I want to kill you!"
Tolkien spread his hands and said: "Then you will never want to see the ending of "The New Hobbit"."
Charles Williams quickly changed the subject and asked Lewis: "Where is your "A Wandering to Venus"?"
Lewis had not yet started writing the magical work "The Chronicles of Narnia" at this time, but was writing the second part of the science fiction work "The Space Trilogy". He was not like Tolkien's procrastinator, who immediately picked up his own
I read my new manuscript aloud while drinking.
This is the tradition of the "Danmo Club". Before the members' new works are published, they must read them aloud in the pub and let their friends evaluate them, including "The Lord of the Rings".
"Snap, snap, snap!"
Everyone applauded and expressed their great satisfaction with the new chapter of "Wandering on Venus", and praised and praised it in various ways.
Lewis showed appropriate modesty and said with a smile: "Of today's science fiction novelists, the one I admire most is Mr. Zhou. His "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" is simply a great realistic fable."
I'm afraid the original author Yoshiki Tanaka never thought that magic master Lewis would praise "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" so highly.
Although this novel has been criticized by many readers of later generations as a novice novel, it is very interesting if it was written before World War II. It contains various allusions to Hitler, and also discusses fascism, democracy and war, and explores the idea that "human beings will never be able to
Anti-war issues such as "Learning Lessons from History" are also designed to cover higher-level religious and philosophical topics.
Everyone was bragging about science fiction literature for a long time, and the topic gradually shifted to fantasy literature. First they discussed "Alice in Wonderland", which was also born in Oxford, and then they discussed how to express Christian doctrine in the magical world.
There was a dispute between Tolkien and Lewis and Williams. The former believed that Christianity and God should not appear directly in magical works, and only the core doctrinal ideas need to be elaborated. The latter two believed that God is everywhere and should not be an empty one.
A magical world where God does not exist.
Then the three began to bet and agreed to write different fantasy novels.
After Tolkien finished speaking, he turned back and asked Zhou Hexuan: "Mr. Zhou, your "Goddess" is very exciting, with many religious myths and legends. Have you ever thought about directly creating a magical world and writing a great magical work in the future?"
Zhou Hexuan said happily: "Okay. I can write it now and publish it after the war is won. Well, the name will be "A Song of Ice and Fire"."