Yes, I did fall for and marry, and leave, and was left, by more than one of the Robert plant types. I often reflect on that, I can’t really judge - seemed I couldn’t imagine coupling with someone who wasn’t uber masculine in that extremely androgynous and irresponsible way.
Since retiring from high romance with all its catastrophe I am lucky to be able to live alone, with gorgeous dog, in comfort. My daughter, sensibly married just thinks I’m a bit shallow on that front. And I get it. Oh dear. She does make me laugh. Mind you she married sensibly not being at all attracted to beautiful confident charismatic irresponsible men so she should probably thank me.
Just ordered ‘The Marriages Between Zones 3, 4 and 5’ I missed that one. But I remember ‘Summer Before the Dark’ deeply changing me; of my perception of my self, of my performative potential selves of which I was unaware. And it’s always a joy to read about Greer.
Great essay.
Thanks so much and your man seems like a keeper. Good company is a jewel to be treasured. I see that now. Never mind
Thank you Christine. I hope you enjoy the book. The Marriages is one of the strangest stangest books you’ll ever read, and I think you’ll relate to it - I’d love to know what you think. I found it unforgettable and haunting. Sadder than The Summer Before the Dark because it sort of completes the arc, where Kate Brown is left on the threshold, curious about what will come next. And you can enjoy it in the company of your lovely dog which is, as we both agree, hard to beat.
I just paid $300 for a ticket to see Robert Plant perform. Something of that spark is still there, see for yourself (on the Colbert show, 3 months ago):
That specific Pan-as-a-boy thing: ah, well, time has taken that of course. But I agree that he’s certainly got a powerful gravitas now, he reminds me of a kind of wild man of the mountains. Also, he always seemed so kind and warm - and this brings a certain depth to his mature persona as a musician that wasn’t so easy to see when he was young. It’s definitely still a very powerful masculinity.
You're right, he still has that spark. He's now a highly seasoned version of his younger self, which Susan so vividly describes from her female point of view. I saw him perform a while ago with Alison Krauss, and it turned out to be possibly the best gig i've ever witnessed. His musicality is of course consummate, and he surrounds himself with other great musicians. Alison Krauss complemented him perfectly; she appeared to understand she was "chosen", and again the author alludes to this, albeit perhaps in a different context. Nevertheless, what was most striking was how effortless his performance was. ( A lifetime of effort having been expended to reach that point, of course.)
Just one more point: i went to see The Song Remains The Same as a student in London in 1976. In fact, i went twice, the second time to try to better understand what i'd seen the first time. In the end, it boiled down to the phrase "a force of nature". I feel it's been rather absent from our world recently, but have little doubt it still exists in our human breasts. Susan refers to it as "enchantment". It didn't enchant me as such, but made me realise quite simply that it existed. It was, and it remains, necessary to our survival.
Steve, you make such an important point, and it's one Germaine made herself. I called it enchantment in the piece, but "the forces of nature" works just as well.
In Sex and Destiny (1984), Greer worried that our freedom, including women's freedom, had been manipulated in the interests of greed and corporate power in ways that denied nature - its beauty and its limits - rather than worked with it. Sexuality had become another consumer product: easily available, apparently consequence-free (because of easily available contraceptives) and, in the process, strangely emptied of meaning.
Greer was a passionate advocate of freedom, as we all know, but she also foresaw demographic collapse. As she put it, we were becoming "rich, sterile nations who... have no stake in the future."
Like so many of her later ideas (ahem) the book was savaged by critics. Yet I've never seen anyone else argue so compellingly that losing our appreciation of the ancient forces of eros in men and women might ultimately mean failing to reproduce ourselves. Whether she's right or wrong, I find that an extraordinary thought.
I don't feel the spark, sorry. The music is great, but his older voice just sounds wrong and it all feels off to me. Fuckability is a metric usually applied to women, but I definitely don't feel anything but a kind of sad nostalgia when old rockers take the mike. I'm not much younger and I could probably find them attractive in real life, but they don't have the sexual magnetism for the stage any more to me. I would rather watch a beautiful, virile, strutting Bad Bunny sing about all his novias, his mouth to the mike like a lover. Unlike Mick Jagger, I find age has many pleasures as long as you don't try to hang on to the past.
Did you see the interview with Mick Jagger that was just in the NYT? I watched the whole thing rather than read the transcript as I usually do. Because if the latter, you miss his gestures, facial expressions, bristling energy. I find him really attractive, even into his 80s, and I never found him attractive in the past. He's smart, witty, thoughtful, down-to-earth, charismatic in this interview (about an hour long):
Brilliant essay - brings back so many memories that are charged with feeling. Robert Plant was and perhaps still is a force of nature - I saw him once in the 90s walking down a street in a remote Colorado mountain town and he carried the forcefield even doing something so banal as that. You've given me a totally different perspective with which to view my own relationships, as well as a new book to read :) thank you
No, I haven't seen it yet, just heard about it. I'm sure he could be attractive, and there's more to music and performance than sex appeal anyway. There's just a certain youthful male virility and beauty that some music calls for to me. I mean, George Strait can still sing Amarillo by Morning, but you know he can't ride a bull any more. It's just not the same energy.
Thank you! And - oops. Thanks and corrected! Surprised really there is only one typo. By the time I've finished - I am a many drafts type of writer - I can't see the wood for the trees...
Thank you for the thought provoking! Doris Lessing isn't discussed enough IMHO, especially now when we could learn a lot from her experiences as an idealistic Communist confronted with Stalin's horrors. I loved her Golden Notebook but could never take to Sci Fi so thanks for the insights. Does anyone still read Marilyn French? She was prescient in many ways as well.
Yes, Doris is an essay in her self - I had to be very disciplined with myself not to lose myself in discussing her novel, to be honest. And I totally agree: feminist sci fi wasn’t really my thing until quite recently. Now I can see - now that popular feminism has lost its way in so many ways - just how brilliant this second-wave sci fi was, in terms of imagining progress or a different way to organise society. It was truly radical. Also: I love Marilyn French and think she’s unfairly neglected today: The Women’s Room is one of my favourite books. But My Summer with George made me sad. I don’t think it’s a very inspiring way of imagining women’s ageing; it has quite a bit in common with Lessing’s Love, Again, with the focus on what is lost, not yet on what is gained. Lessing’s book ends on a more hopeful note (just about). I find Ursula K Le Guin brilliant when I read her today.
Thank you, I will have to give the sci fi another chance! Hope you do write about Lessing. Her autobiographies and Golden Notebook and French's Women's Room are my favorites and huge influences.
A very good read. Thanks.
Yes, I did fall for and marry, and leave, and was left, by more than one of the Robert plant types. I often reflect on that, I can’t really judge - seemed I couldn’t imagine coupling with someone who wasn’t uber masculine in that extremely androgynous and irresponsible way.
Since retiring from high romance with all its catastrophe I am lucky to be able to live alone, with gorgeous dog, in comfort. My daughter, sensibly married just thinks I’m a bit shallow on that front. And I get it. Oh dear. She does make me laugh. Mind you she married sensibly not being at all attracted to beautiful confident charismatic irresponsible men so she should probably thank me.
Just ordered ‘The Marriages Between Zones 3, 4 and 5’ I missed that one. But I remember ‘Summer Before the Dark’ deeply changing me; of my perception of my self, of my performative potential selves of which I was unaware. And it’s always a joy to read about Greer.
Great essay.
Thanks so much and your man seems like a keeper. Good company is a jewel to be treasured. I see that now. Never mind
Thank you Christine. I hope you enjoy the book. The Marriages is one of the strangest stangest books you’ll ever read, and I think you’ll relate to it - I’d love to know what you think. I found it unforgettable and haunting. Sadder than The Summer Before the Dark because it sort of completes the arc, where Kate Brown is left on the threshold, curious about what will come next. And you can enjoy it in the company of your lovely dog which is, as we both agree, hard to beat.
Fantastic essay, thank you.
I just paid $300 for a ticket to see Robert Plant perform. Something of that spark is still there, see for yourself (on the Colbert show, 3 months ago):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca3VI4aGDjc
That specific Pan-as-a-boy thing: ah, well, time has taken that of course. But I agree that he’s certainly got a powerful gravitas now, he reminds me of a kind of wild man of the mountains. Also, he always seemed so kind and warm - and this brings a certain depth to his mature persona as a musician that wasn’t so easy to see when he was young. It’s definitely still a very powerful masculinity.
You're right, he still has that spark. He's now a highly seasoned version of his younger self, which Susan so vividly describes from her female point of view. I saw him perform a while ago with Alison Krauss, and it turned out to be possibly the best gig i've ever witnessed. His musicality is of course consummate, and he surrounds himself with other great musicians. Alison Krauss complemented him perfectly; she appeared to understand she was "chosen", and again the author alludes to this, albeit perhaps in a different context. Nevertheless, what was most striking was how effortless his performance was. ( A lifetime of effort having been expended to reach that point, of course.)
Just one more point: i went to see The Song Remains The Same as a student in London in 1976. In fact, i went twice, the second time to try to better understand what i'd seen the first time. In the end, it boiled down to the phrase "a force of nature". I feel it's been rather absent from our world recently, but have little doubt it still exists in our human breasts. Susan refers to it as "enchantment". It didn't enchant me as such, but made me realise quite simply that it existed. It was, and it remains, necessary to our survival.
Steve, you make such an important point, and it's one Germaine made herself. I called it enchantment in the piece, but "the forces of nature" works just as well.
In Sex and Destiny (1984), Greer worried that our freedom, including women's freedom, had been manipulated in the interests of greed and corporate power in ways that denied nature - its beauty and its limits - rather than worked with it. Sexuality had become another consumer product: easily available, apparently consequence-free (because of easily available contraceptives) and, in the process, strangely emptied of meaning.
Greer was a passionate advocate of freedom, as we all know, but she also foresaw demographic collapse. As she put it, we were becoming "rich, sterile nations who... have no stake in the future."
Like so many of her later ideas (ahem) the book was savaged by critics. Yet I've never seen anyone else argue so compellingly that losing our appreciation of the ancient forces of eros in men and women might ultimately mean failing to reproduce ourselves. Whether she's right or wrong, I find that an extraordinary thought.
Perhaps I'll write about it.
Please do write about it!
I don't feel the spark, sorry. The music is great, but his older voice just sounds wrong and it all feels off to me. Fuckability is a metric usually applied to women, but I definitely don't feel anything but a kind of sad nostalgia when old rockers take the mike. I'm not much younger and I could probably find them attractive in real life, but they don't have the sexual magnetism for the stage any more to me. I would rather watch a beautiful, virile, strutting Bad Bunny sing about all his novias, his mouth to the mike like a lover. Unlike Mick Jagger, I find age has many pleasures as long as you don't try to hang on to the past.
Did you see the interview with Mick Jagger that was just in the NYT? I watched the whole thing rather than read the transcript as I usually do. Because if the latter, you miss his gestures, facial expressions, bristling energy. I find him really attractive, even into his 80s, and I never found him attractive in the past. He's smart, witty, thoughtful, down-to-earth, charismatic in this interview (about an hour long):
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/magazine/mick-jagger-interview.html
No - I will watch! I always preferred Keith but his charisma really wasn’t built for deep old age….
"I knew to avoid the Robert Plant type" - one of the most memorable lines ever possibly.
I've never touched an electricity pylon in fairness to him.
🤣🤣🤣
Brilliant essay - brings back so many memories that are charged with feeling. Robert Plant was and perhaps still is a force of nature - I saw him once in the 90s walking down a street in a remote Colorado mountain town and he carried the forcefield even doing something so banal as that. You've given me a totally different perspective with which to view my own relationships, as well as a new book to read :) thank you
No, I haven't seen it yet, just heard about it. I'm sure he could be attractive, and there's more to music and performance than sex appeal anyway. There's just a certain youthful male virility and beauty that some music calls for to me. I mean, George Strait can still sing Amarillo by Morning, but you know he can't ride a bull any more. It's just not the same energy.
Wow. What a beautiful, poetic essay. Your musings about enchantment are especially powerful.
I hope you'll consider submitting this to the NYT's "Modern Love" column. This is exactly the kind of thing they're looking for.
https://www.nytimes.com/column/modern-love
Modern Love can be reached at modernlove@nytimes.com.
That’s such a lovely thing to say Lisa. Thanks for the encouragement x
Love this essay and the unexpected juxtapositions: thank you.
Typo: "Much etter to remember"
Thank you! And - oops. Thanks and corrected! Surprised really there is only one typo. By the time I've finished - I am a many drafts type of writer - I can't see the wood for the trees...
Thank you for the thought provoking! Doris Lessing isn't discussed enough IMHO, especially now when we could learn a lot from her experiences as an idealistic Communist confronted with Stalin's horrors. I loved her Golden Notebook but could never take to Sci Fi so thanks for the insights. Does anyone still read Marilyn French? She was prescient in many ways as well.
Yes, Doris is an essay in her self - I had to be very disciplined with myself not to lose myself in discussing her novel, to be honest. And I totally agree: feminist sci fi wasn’t really my thing until quite recently. Now I can see - now that popular feminism has lost its way in so many ways - just how brilliant this second-wave sci fi was, in terms of imagining progress or a different way to organise society. It was truly radical. Also: I love Marilyn French and think she’s unfairly neglected today: The Women’s Room is one of my favourite books. But My Summer with George made me sad. I don’t think it’s a very inspiring way of imagining women’s ageing; it has quite a bit in common with Lessing’s Love, Again, with the focus on what is lost, not yet on what is gained. Lessing’s book ends on a more hopeful note (just about). I find Ursula K Le Guin brilliant when I read her today.
Thank you, I will have to give the sci fi another chance! Hope you do write about Lessing. Her autobiographies and Golden Notebook and French's Women's Room are my favorites and huge influences.
I wonder if that enchantment is the result of pheromones as well as hormones? Not enough is said of this aspect of human sexuality.