A List--Rousseau--The Social Contract...........................................................28/53
B List--Henry James--The Bostonians...........................................................99/464
C List--Carlyle--The French Revolution........................................................31/727
This is an extreme dead white guy grouping. Sometimes it works out that way. Rousseau is not really that short, the only copy of this particular book I have happens to be the one in the "Great Books" set. As of now I can still read the small print in these books with enough light, but I suspect the days when I can do this are numbered.
I am falling asleep tonight. I was halfway through an especially pompous paragraph on Rousseau when I realized I was kidding myself if I thought I was going to be able to write about any of these books tonight.
The introduction to Henry James says that the first 150 pages of the Bostonians are outstanding, and the book declines after that. I am finding it to be good, and to actually have some detectable movement, to this point.
I am probably going to be reading the Carlyle over a period of many months, which is fine. I will get to the end of it eventually, if I want to, and I will absorb what I will absorb. I am already getting the sense that Carlyle holds the intelligent portion of the French population (which was naturally not any great part of it), who should have known better, responsible for not keeping the rabble in check and allowing the revolution to get out of control. It is impossible not to be frequently struck by the parallels to the current crises in the body politic of our own country.
I didn't take so many pictures in August. As the school year approaches, and the days of summer to do necessary upkeep and get organized for the fall start to run out, we sadly do not get to go on so many excursions, particularly after the middle of the month. Like a broken record, I tell myself that someday I will have more leisure time, etc, etc. I probably never will, but I can't face the truth. I need the belief to keep going, even though these things I think I want to do are either trivial or not realistic.
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