The Disjointed Epic: Reconceptualising Grandeur in a World of Fragments(A Conceptual Inquiry from The Strand, Easter 1995)

From this window, high above the ceaseless, ancient flow of the Thames, a pulse runs. It's not just the city's rhythm below – SoHo's vibrant, labyrinthine hum, each brick and every echo of music resonating with an undeniable interconnectivity – but a deeper current, the very isness of everything. Here, the world refuses to be contained by simple lines. It sprawls, layers upon itself, a grand, beautiful, chaotic whole. And it is this raw, felt truth that compels me to question the very framework through which we comprehend "epic."

For too long, the epic has been presented as a linear procession: the journey of Odysseus, the meticulous unfolding of Tolkien's quests, the plotted precision of Dickens's social tapestries. These are monuments, certainly, vast and undeniably profound, illuminating the human condition through a singular, discernible path. Yet, when my thoughts move – as they often do – not in sequence but in simultaneous bursts, connecting disparate points across an invisible web, the very notion of a confined, straight-line epic feels... inadequate. It feels like trying to contain the boundless essence of a river within the rigid banks of a canal.

My claim, then, is that the 'epic' has evolved, mirroring our own, increasingly fragmented and profoundly interconnected reality. It has broken free from its literary moorings to manifest in forms that embrace, rather than shy away from, disjointedness. The challenge lies in articulating this truth, in a form that demands linearity, when the very subject often refuses it. It's a wrestling match: an intuitive understanding, rich with 'levels' and simultaneous perceptions, against the strictures of a page that demands rational, sequential presentation. The fear, perhaps, is that in seeking to condense and rationalize, the profound chaos, the very holistic 'truth' of the experience, will simply vanish, lost in the translation.

Consider, then, the audacious sonic monument that is The Beatles' 'White Album'. If 'epic' demands scale, it is unequivocally here, a colossal double album. Yet, its genius lies not in seamless unity, but in its deliberate embrace of glorious, beautiful rupture. It is an 'epic of parts' – a kaleidoscope of individual genius and burgeoning fragmentation. How can the raw, almost jarringly primitive 'Wild Honey Pie' or the whimsical, almost anachronistic charm of 'Honey Pie' coexist with the weighty introspection of 'Julia' or the raw power of 'Helter Skelter'? They do so precisely by defying conventional cohesion. They are the sonic echoes of life's own unexpected turns, the vivid, often inexplicable moments that appear, resonate, and then recede, much like the timeless, enigmatic presence of Tom Bombadil in 'The Lord of the Rings' – a deeply significant, yet functionally 'disjointed' part of a grand narrative that simply is.

This work, then, is an attempt to map that landscape, to trace the intricate, non-linear currents of 'epic' as they manifest in forms beyond traditional literature. It is an exploration that acknowledges its own inherent struggle with conventional form, aiming to illuminate the profound interconnectedness within apparent chaos, and the undeniable tangibility of these modern epics that echo the very rhythms of a life lived in its endless, surprising levels.