[lit-ideas] Three Men on the Bummel (Was: Kant)

 
 
In a message dated 9/29/2004 8:28:09 AM Eastern Standard Time,  
Henninge@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
The  Germans, "Respekt!" I would almost say, I believe with Kant,
that it is the  most natural thing in the world to acknowledge the talent of
another, but  Kant puts in words the source of this feeling of "naturalness":
it is this  Achtung, respect, and more specifically, *respect for the law*,
"the  consciousness of the immediate subordination of my will to a law and
its  determination by it. . . . [This] respect extends not only to the  law
itself, but to everything we think in accordance with it, as legal and  moral
or as the object of the law of one's duties, for example, dutiful  actions;
to rights; to law-abiding or even _talented_ persons (my  emphasis), to the
extent that we ascribe the development of their abilities  _to the legal use
of their freedom_ (m.e.); to our own (Selbstschätzung  [self-esteem]) and to
any other free and reasonable  being."


----
 
There is a fascinating book on this by Jerome K. Jerome, Three men on  a 
bummell (his presequel to Three men in a boat). Set in Germany, they find  a 
nice 
old lady who won't cross a park because "there is a law forbidding it",  even 
though there is nobody to _see_ her violating the norm. I don't have the  book 
with me, but I can always misquote it. In any case, Jerome was working with  
that assumption that all Germans are Kantian (and all Kantians are German -- 
the  Henning Convertible Rule).
 
Cheers,
 
JL
 
----

 
Set ten years later than Three Men in a Boat it  tells of a cycling 
expedition through the Black Forest.  The three fearless  friends introduced in 
Three 
Men in a Boat decide to take a cycling trip through  the Black Forest and end 
up in a series of misadventures even more hilarious  than their previous. 5 
cassettes. A "bummel" is a journey without end. Whether we  want to or not, 
most 
of us have to settle with a return to our regular  exertions. So do these 
heroes of THREE MEN IN A BOAT,  only on this occasion, a cycling trip through 
the 
Black Forest, it seems they  may cycle on forever, such are their problems. 
Whether it's George attempting to  buy a cushion for his aunt or Harris's 
harrowing experience with a road-waterer,  not to mention the routine problems 
with 
language and directions, things get  very confused indeed! "A delightful 
excursion in a world which, alas,  exists no longer--and indeed may only have 
been 
found in the author's lively  imagination." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board)  
Humorous tales of cycling the Black  Forest -- I read this book--which I assume 
is a fictionalized  account of an actual journay--after having spent a year in 
Germany and I bemused  by the fact that the Germans that Jerome K. Jerome 
characterizes in this book  (published in 1900) are very similar to those of 
the 
present day. Added to this,  is the fact that the book is mainly set in the 
Black Forest region of Germany,  which is where I stayed. So not only was this 
book humorous and entertaining, it  rekindled fond memories as well. The 
writing I fear will disillusion the more  casual reader, but for those who have 
the 
inclination, this book is a very  worthwhile read. 

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