{"id":1742,"date":"2007-08-04T04:13:54","date_gmt":"2007-08-04T11:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=1742"},"modified":"2012-06-02T09:12:33","modified_gmt":"2012-06-02T16:12:33","slug":"my-task-which-i-am-trying-to-achieve-is-by-the-power-of-the-written-word-to-make-you-hear-to-make-you-feel-it-is-before-all-to-make-you-see-that-and-no-more-and-it-is-everything-if-i-succeed-you-shall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1742\/my-task-which-i-am-trying-to-achieve-is-by-the-power-of-the-written-word-to-make-you-hear-to-make-you-feel-it-is-before-all-to-make-you-see-that-and-no-more-and-it-is-everything-if-i-succeed-you-shall\/","title":{"rendered":"“My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel — it is, before all, to make you see<\/em>. That — and no more, and it is everything. If I succeed, you shall find there according to your deserts: encouragement, consolation, fear, charm — all you demand; and, perhaps, also that glimpse of truth for which you have forgotten to ask.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is Joseph Conrad’s preface to The Nigger of the “Narcissus”<\/i><\/a>:<\/p>\n

A work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line. And art itself may be defined as a single-minded attempt to render the highest kind of justice to the visible universe, by bringing to light the truth, manifold and one, underlying its every aspect. It is an attempt to find in its forms, in its colours, in its light, in its shadows, in the aspects of matter and in the facts of life, what of each is fundamental, what is enduring and essential — their one illuminating and convincing quality — the very truth of their existence. The artist, then, like the thinker or the scientist, seeks the truth and makes his appeal. Impressed by the aspect of the world the thinker plunges into ideas, the scientist into facts — whence, presently, emerging they make their appeal to those qualities of our being that fit us best for the hazardous enterprise of living. They speak authoritatively to our common-sense, to our intelligence, to our desire of peace or to our desire of unrest; not seldom to our prejudices, sometimes to our fears, often to our egoism — but always to our credulity. And their words are heard with reverence, for their concern is with weighty matters: with the cultivation of our minds and the proper care of our bodies; with the attainment of our ambitions; with the perfection of the means and the glorification of our precious aims.<\/p>\n

It is otherwise with the artist.<\/p>\n

Confronted by the same enigmatical spectacle the artist descends within himself, and in that lonely region of stress and strife, if he be deserving and fortunate, he finds the terms of his appeal. His appeal is made to our less obvious capacities: to that part of our nature which, because of the warlike conditions of existence, is necessarily kept out of sight within the more resisting and hard qualities — like the vulnerable body within the steel armour. His appeal is less loud, more profound, less distinct, more stirring — and Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is Joseph Conrad’s preface to The Nigger of the “Narcissus”: A work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line. And art itself may be defined as a single-minded attempt to render the highest kind of justice to the visible universe, by bringing to light the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6,5,16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1742","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-blogging","7":"category-marketing","8":"category-real-estate","9":"category-weblogging-101","11":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3231,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3231\/sun-tzu-takes-the-art-of-war-to-mr-rogers-neighborhood-while-the-renet-creates-pablum-pimps-who-deal-in-warm-fuzzies\/","url_meta":{"origin":1742,"position":0},"title":"Sun Tzu takes the art of war to Mr Roger’s Neighborhood while the RE.net creates pablum pimps who deal in warm fuzzies","author":"Teri Lussier","date":"June 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The RE.net equivalent of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood can easily be found in multiple places but the price you pay for your pablum addiction is very real.","rel":"","context":"In "Casual Friday"","block_context":{"text":"Casual Friday","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/casual-friday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/21\/moondacity\/","url_meta":{"origin":1742,"position":1},"title":"Moondacity…","author":"Odysseus","date":"December 6, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Jon Talton is the Arizona's Republic's house Socialist. He hates just about everything associated with free enterprise, but he makes up for it by waxing rhapsodic over any stray government boondoggle. He is convinced that Phoenix will continue to go down the toilet by growing and prospering until it dares\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2473,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2473\/to-concerned-citizen-who-may-or-may-not-be-a-sock-puppet-for-loudoun-county-tax-assessor-todd-kaufman-the-bill-of-rights-exists-to-protect-citizens-from-government-not-the-other-way-around\/","url_meta":{"origin":1742,"position":2},"title":"To “concerned citizen,” who may or may not be a sock-puppet for Loudoun County Tax Assessor Todd Kaufman: The Bill of Rights exists to protect citizens from government, not the other way around","author":"Greg Swann","date":"January 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This is an extended response to \"concerned citizen,\" who commented at length on my Loudoun County Tax Assessor Todd Kaufman has a friend post. The nom de poltroon \"concerned citizen\" may or may not be a sock puppet for Todd Kaufman himself, but it sure reads that way to me.Does\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1470,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1470\/making-movies-wrestling-with-science-commerce-and-art-to-sell-the-idea-of-a-unique-and-distinctive-phoenix\/","url_meta":{"origin":1742,"position":3},"title":"Making movies: Wrestling with science, commerce and art to sell the idea of a unique and distinctive Phoenix","author":"Greg Swann","date":"May 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't think I'm done with this yet, but it's coming along. I mentioned last week that I've been making a movie in all my spare time. I've got about two weeks in the project by now, most of that lost to rendering and FTP. I may start over again\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/68\/in-the-battle-of-the-baseball-cards-the-biggest-shoe-box-wins\/","url_meta":{"origin":1742,"position":4},"title":"In the battle of the baseball cards, the biggest shoe-box wins — but Realtors who master the art of marketing homes will be fine","author":"Greg Swann","date":"June 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"[This post appeared on BloodhoundBlog on June 30, 2006, our second day. I'm reprising it now as a part of our birthday celebration. It's fun for me to see how much of what I talk about here was with us on our very first days. --GSS] \u00a0Cathleen and I live\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16793,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/16793\/unchained-melody-sisters-of-mercy-because-leonard-cohen-deserves-better-than-this\/","url_meta":{"origin":1742,"position":5},"title":"Unchained Melody: \u201cSisters of Mercy\u201d \u2013 because Leonard Cohen deserves better than\u00a0this.","author":"Greg Swann","date":"August 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"So: Leonard Cohen wrote a song called \u201cHallelujah.\u201d People hear what they want to hear, so they think it's a religious song, when in fact it is a distant and self-absolving lamentation of a broken relationship. Cohen later rewrote the song as a much sexier despairing of what would seem\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Casual Friday"","block_context":{"text":"Casual Friday","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/casual-friday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/XzuxpucEmZw\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1742"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15973,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742\/revisions\/15973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}