The Strange Necessity

"The Strange Necessity" is a profound and intellectually daring collection of essays by the celebrated writer and critic Rebecca West. At the heart of this work is a lengthy title essay that serves as a philosophical inquiry into the nature of art and its biological and psychological importance to the human experience. Using James Joyce's "Ulysses" as a primary case study, West navigates the complexities of modernism, exploring why humans possess an innate, almost instinctive drive toward a...