Funny you got into those Castaneda books. I did, too; apart from the comedy of Carlito always winding up in the drainage ditch after a trip the thing that stays with me is the profound sorrow and blessing of the last parting.
I was at first a little surprised you were into those, but it makes sense. It was a long time ago and, around here at least, all the kids who had any kind of concept of art, or were really into drugs and could read, read the Don Juan books, at least the first two about tripping. But it was the third, Journey to Ixtlan, that influenced me. I'd never realized it, at least not verbally, but communicating "profound sorrow" is something Castañeda was very good at. He was also great at communicating the great beauty and the profound awe the desert could invoke. That's what stuck with me most.
But he was interesting in other ways. The wise master-clueless student trope that stuck with you is probably as old as literature. Castañeda put it in a unique environment and did it as comedy (one hopes), but the basic story is the same as Jesus and his disciples or Paul Newman mentoring Owen Wilson in Cars.
Funny you got into those Castaneda books. I did, too; apart from the comedy of Carlito always winding up in the drainage ditch after a trip the thing that stays with me is the profound sorrow and blessing of the last parting.
I was at first a little surprised you were into those, but it makes sense. It was a long time ago and, around here at least, all the kids who had any kind of concept of art, or were really into drugs and could read, read the Don Juan books, at least the first two about tripping. But it was the third, Journey to Ixtlan, that influenced me. I'd never realized it, at least not verbally, but communicating "profound sorrow" is something Castañeda was very good at. He was also great at communicating the great beauty and the profound awe the desert could invoke. That's what stuck with me most.
But he was interesting in other ways. The wise master-clueless student trope that stuck with you is probably as old as literature. Castañeda put it in a unique environment and did it as comedy (one hopes), but the basic story is the same as Jesus and his disciples or Paul Newman mentoring Owen Wilson in Cars.