"The colloquy of Monos and Una" is framed as a conversation between two lovers reunited after death. Una has only just joined her lover in Eden and her somber mind still lingers on the mortal world. She's most concerned with thoughts that occupied her in her last days on Earth, namely how Monos experienced his final hours.

The narrative he gives in responshttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5388799446e is a romantic essay on the opposition of reason and sentiment. He discusses the triumph of the understanding in the era of industrial revolution and how reason makes humanity its servant in its quest for progress and productivity. Gradually the landscapes are transformed into the filthy mess that makes it difficult to breath. He laments the time when thinkers like Plato or Pascal championed the importance of intuition, when people still fought against the all too human urge of abstracting away from the moment.

In his delirious hours of dying, Monos was given the chance to perceive the world purified from the influences of the intellect. His senses are heightened and his perception becomes perfectly sensual. It's especially her touch in the hour when most gave up on him that was felt ever more intensely. Monos narrative is lacking in detail, though. Little do we learn how perfect passivity can be eternal bliss. Yet, his cultural pessimism appears to express deep concern with the developments of his day and will strongly echo in the philosophy after the Second World War. The themes deeply resonate with me.