Is the competition still running for the most cringe worthy opening line 'it was a dark and stormy night,'. I never understood this. It's a great line..Vril ya became Bovril of course....
I enjoyed this essay. Loved the conclusion asking the question about whether Bulwer-Lytton believed in progress. His relationship to progressiveness went backwards after the 1850s so it’s intriguing that he ended up writing “The Coming Race” in his last years. Actually I found your piece because I’d just posted one of my own about exactly that question — why and how Bulwer-Lytton went from Radical to Tory. It’s at this link: https://ideasevolve.substack.com/p/edward-bulwer-lyttons-ideational?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
The idea that a perfectly ordered society could lose poetry, passion, and moral struggle feels strangely contemporary — as if Bulwer-Lytton anticipated our own tension between technological advancement and the parts of life that make us human. Maybe the real “coming race” is not an external species but a version of ourselves shaped by efficiency without mystery. Fascinating reflection on how literature preserves the questions science alone cannot answer. If you enjoy exploring time, meaning, and the human story across eras, I write about similar themes here: https://theeternalnowmm.substack.com/p/eternal-love?r=71z4jh
Thank you for this essay. I had completely forgotten about Bulwer as an author I once intended to read. Adding to my to-be-read stack yet again.
Is the competition still running for the most cringe worthy opening line 'it was a dark and stormy night,'. I never understood this. It's a great line..Vril ya became Bovril of course....
I enjoyed this essay. Loved the conclusion asking the question about whether Bulwer-Lytton believed in progress. His relationship to progressiveness went backwards after the 1850s so it’s intriguing that he ended up writing “The Coming Race” in his last years. Actually I found your piece because I’d just posted one of my own about exactly that question — why and how Bulwer-Lytton went from Radical to Tory. It’s at this link: https://ideasevolve.substack.com/p/edward-bulwer-lyttons-ideational?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
The idea that a perfectly ordered society could lose poetry, passion, and moral struggle feels strangely contemporary — as if Bulwer-Lytton anticipated our own tension between technological advancement and the parts of life that make us human. Maybe the real “coming race” is not an external species but a version of ourselves shaped by efficiency without mystery. Fascinating reflection on how literature preserves the questions science alone cannot answer. If you enjoy exploring time, meaning, and the human story across eras, I write about similar themes here: https://theeternalnowmm.substack.com/p/eternal-love?r=71z4jh