Pneumonia.

Turns out, something does beat the shingles and it comes in the form of a needle thick as an IV and full of muscle-maddening antibiotic. That was last week, who knows what adventures this one will behold?

Anyways, sorry to hide under a wet, cold dishrag all week but I’m back in the space-saddle editing and writing. In the process of sickness, I listened to Professor Corey Olsen’s podcast blindfolded (remember the rag?) Eucatastrophe came up and, as I wrestle with the concept, I called my buddy Alex to clear things up. Turns out, it’s not some clever word for deus ex machina. It’s so… much… more.

The basic concept mirrors a thought I first encountered in Making Sense Out of SufferingThe thought goes: we can’t understand eternal bliss this side of New Creation. To understand happiness, we must undergo some sort of suffering or suffering must be experienced on our behalf. Eucatastrophe plays with this idea and fits a phrase I keep saying to my writer friends.

Here’s the phrase:

Tragedies are Comedies stopped halfway through.

Of course I’m referring to the classical Aristotelian categories, not simply some diluted sense of “comedy” in romcoms. I mean a bad-ending or a good-ending, either “…and they all died” or “…and they all lived happily ever after and bought each other ponies.” In my opinion, with New Creation in mind, every story eventually ends happy. If you stop Comedy in the middle, you end on the downward swing. That, literally, is a Tragedy.

Eucatastrophe gets at the goodness behind certain catastrophes. By catastrophe, I’m getting at the old sense of the word. Words are living things with roots and branches so let’s break this one down. Kata meaning “down” and strophe meaning “stanza” – the turn in a musical or poetic piece. Sharp, downward turn. Sometimes we say, “things took a turn for the worst.” But a eu catastrophe makes all of that good. Things took a turn for the worst… for the best?

How the imprecation does that work?

The best example comes from Jesus, so bear with me a bit if you see the world in a different light. We’ll first assume that Jesus was the most innocent man to ever live–more so than an African refugee or a holocaust survivor or a bastard infant–that he lived under the banner of a sinless life, never wronged another soul. Then that man was exiled to Egypt for a time, was called the bastard child of Mary, was tortured to death as a Jew under Roman rule. If the most innocent man to ever walk the earth was falsely accused and sentenced to death, what could be worse than that?

But what if that same death allowed Him to conquer death through resurrection? More than that, what if through His death and successive resurrection, every jacked up thing in this world found reckoning and every mortal found a chance to rise in a new body along with Jesus? Wouldn’t that constitute a turn for the worst… for the best?

A smaller example would be Frodo:

“We set out to save the Shire, Sam and it has been saved – but not for me.”

Frodo had to give up the Shire, had to leave Middle Earth, to save her. Other examples fit: Luke, minus his arm and father. The last of the Numenor, minus their land and name. A world without Moriarty… and Sherlock. It also makes me wonder if Kvothe promising a bad ending actually refers to eucatastrophe. A man can hope that Rothfuss ends up a bit more idealistic in his prose than Martin, can’t he? Regardless of that, it’s certainly affected my writing and world.

READ NEXT:  Once More — Tap and Die 018

In any case, the idea is that readers and audience members accept “they all lived happily ever after,” but only when it costs something. The sweetness of a happy ending must keep a bitter edge.

But no sad ending stays sad for long. Without pneumonia, I couldn’t have learned about good catastrophes.

It would’ve been different, but it wouldn’t have been better.


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  1. Doberman

    So sorry you have been ill! Pneumonia is painful and exhausting, not to mention dangerous! I hope you are on the mend…?

    Here is a little something to cheer you up as you continue to convalesce:
    http://hijinksensue.com/2012/09/05/sherlocked-and-loaded/

    1. tara (@etsetara)

      he is much better [the injection of antibiotics, followed by another round of oral meds did the trick!]

      love the link!

      1. Doberman

        Thanks for the great news! Whew!

    2. lanceschaubert

      Thanks for the comic and the vid! They certainly helped.

  2. Doberman

    I am not sure about Kvothe….however, he is only “waiting to die” not actually dying! Hence Bast’s frantic attempts to revive Kvothe’s er…Mojo. Yes, his Mojo covers everything.

    1. lanceschaubert

      True, but then again, there’s major death pointers. I’m holding to his eminent death!

      1. Doberman

        I know it is likely, I am somewhat dreading the thrid book. Expecting to need a huge box of kleenex.

        1. lanceschaubert

          And comfort ice cream. Or cider.

  3. Doberman

    More stuff to help you get better….
    http://youtu.be/Kvw7J26V68U

    DOWNTON!

  4. Why I Never Try to be a Dark Person « Lance Schaubert

    […] My point is not that artifacts of culture should feel like a round of Candy Land—and, in fact, even Candy Land has its Molassas Monster and Lord Licorice. Certainly bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. We should use these things in stories and value them in culture as elements of the truth—especially since tragedies are comedies stopped halfway through. […]

Quick note from Lance about this post: when you choose to comment (or share this post with your friends) you help other readers just like you.

How?

Well, see, your comments & sharing whisper a few things to those who come after you:

The first is that this site is a safe place to speak up & stay curious. That it's civil. That discussion is encouraged. That there's no such thing as a stupid question (being a student of Socrates, I really and truly believe this). That talking to one another and growing together is more important than anything we could possibly publish. That the point is growing in virtue and growing together and growing wise. That discovery is invention, deference is originality, that we all can rise together. The only folks I'm going to take comments down from are obvious jerks who argue in bad faith, don't stay curious, or actively make personal attacks. And, frankly, I'd rather we talk here than on some social media farm — I will never show ads and the only thing I'm selling anywhere on the site or my mailing list is just the stuff I make.

You're also helping folks realize that anything you & they build together is far more important than anything you come to me to read. I take the things I write about seriously, but I don't take myself seriously: I play the fool, I hate cults of personality, and I also don't really like being the center of attention (believe it or not). I would much rather folks connect because of an introduction I've made or because they commented with one another back and forth and then build something beautiful together. My favorite contributions have been lifelong business and love partnerships from two people who have forgotten I introduced them. Some of my closest friends NOW I literally met on another blog's comment section fifteen years ago. I would love for that to happen here — let two of you meet and let me fade into the background.

Last, you help me revise. I'm wrong. Often. I'm not embarrassed to admit it or worried about being cancelled or publicly shamed. I make a fool out of myself (that's sort of the point). So as I get feedback, I can say, "I was wrong about that" and set a model for curious, consistent learning, and growing in wisdom. I'm blind to what I don't know and as grows the island of my knowledge so grows the shoreline of my ignorance. It's the recovery of innocence on the far end of experience: a child is in a permanent state of wonder. So are the wise: they aren't afraid of saying, "I don't know. That's new: please teach me." That's my goal, comments help. And I read all reviews: my skin's tough, but that's not license to be needlessly cruel. We teach one another our habits and there's a way to civilly demolish an idea without demolishing another person: just because I personally can take the world's meanest 1-star review doesn't mean we should teach one another how to be crueler on the internet.

For three magical reasons — your brave curiosity, your community, & my ignorance:

Please comment & share with friends how you prefer to share:

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