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His eyewitness accounts of the Plague (1665) and the Great Fire (1666) in London are riveting. But it is the description of quotidian events that sheds light on how the people lived. Moving easily among different social classes, he recorded their moods and diversions. He attended public executions of regicides (complete with display of heads and organs to a cheering crowd), and noted when initial enthusiasm for the restoration of the monarchy gave way to disillusionment; when anger at the King's debauchery and neglect of state business bred nostalgia for the reign of Oliver Cromwell.
While critical of the King's and the Court's incessant "gambling and whoring", Pepys himself was no paragon of virtue. His dalliances with maidservants and accommodating ladies of his acquaintance caused bitter quarrels with his wife. He seems to have lusted after every pretty girl who crossed his path. Repeated vows to mend his ways generally came to naught. Some of the racier passages in his diary are written in fractured French or Latin.
Pepys was an avid theater-goer: he loved Macbeth and Henry IV, but thought Midsummer Night's Dream silly and inane. There was a lot of music in his life: he played the lute, the flageolet, and the violin, and missed no opportunity to join in singing, dancing, drinking and merry-making. He carefully noted, however, how much these diversions cost him. He also conscientiously recorded the bribes and kickbacks paid him by suppliers. Forever curious, he attended lectures and observed experiments, read voraciously and enjoyed a good discourse.
If he often appears vain and foolish, it is because he portrays himself as vain and foolish. His naive enjoyment of even the most mundane things ("this pleased me mightily" is an oft-repeated phrase) cannot fail to strike a sympathetic chord in the reader. He comments on fashion trends (powdered wigs, beauty spots, wearing of masks and male riding habit by court ladies, etc.). When he yielded to fashion and had a periwig made for himself, it was delivered full of nits. New servants had to be deloused and fitted with clean garments, but once domesticated, they were part of the household; they received music lessons and, in some cases, lessons in Latin and Greek. When they misbehaved, he beat them until his arm hurt.
The parallel career of his wife deserves some reflection: the "poor wretch" who, early in their marriage, used to wash his dirty clothes by hand, graduated to lace gowns, powdered wigs and a coach of her own; but discontent increased in proportion to luxury. "I have to find her something to do", mused Sam. Dancing and painting lessons, theater visits and parties filled the void. The couple had no children.
The Modern Library Edition is, of course, a greatly abridged version of the six-volume original. One may quibble with the selection or deplore the lack of notes; but the hefty original is available to all who want to know more.
If I have a criticism of the book, it is laid out geographically -- so you might be discussing Gilbert in 1876 at one minute and Arthur Sullivan in 1885 at another, because that is where the next building on the street leads you. The continuity suffers a little because of this.
But if you know a Gilbert and Sullivan fan who is making a pilgrimage to London, this is the perfect book for them.
to de-bunk Frazer's claims, must be seriously flawed. Frazer did not see himself as an 'iconoclast,' he merely wished to point out that archetypally - the Christian'mythos' of the 'god-man' being sacrificed upon a tree - was not a new event, symbolically, however unique the Christian 'mythos' may be to its followers - it had its antecedents. Taken in a Jungian sense, this need not be seen as a weakening of the Christian mythos, but may even strengthen it, insofar as it confirms the existence of archetypal patterns and determinants in consciousness - transcending dogmatic claims made in the name of any one determinant, just as they transcend rationalistic endeavours to reduce them to a 'nothing but.' Christianity grew out of - and was built upon classical antiquity. It is in many ways determined by it, as for instance, in celebrating the birth of Christ at the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year) symbolically, when light triumphs over darkness - in the life of nature. The true nativity of Jesus was located somewhere in January,and the Church Fathers used their wisdom, shifting it to coincide with the Saturnalia. 'Christmas' time is thoroughly pervaded with 'Pagan' symbolism, (viz. the Yule' celebrations etc.) and it is small minded and a denial of history to claim otherwise. Frazer faked nothing, which had not in a sense, already been 'faked' by the Church, because in their wisdom, the Church Fathers felt obliged to recognise the power of pre-Christian myths. Robert Graves explored the 'tree god' theme all over again with his 'King Jesus.'But anyway, why blow this single aspect of Frazer's work out of proportion. Frazer's discussion of the sacrifice of the 'tree-god' goes alongside countless other myths and myth-motifs.
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Kerr dismissed the Whitlam Government installed the conservative leader Fraser and called an election. The decision was controversial at the time as it was thought by some that the conservatives would give in and in dismissing Whitlam when he did Kerr handed the conservaties a massive electoral advantage.
More recently Kelly in his book 1975 has critized Kerr on other grounds. That is in his view the failure to comunicate with Whitlam was a serious error.
After teh events Whitlam put out a book attacking Kerr not only for his decision but attacking him as a person suggesting that he was a drunk and a social crawler. This is Kerr's response.
Unfortunately Kerr did not have the gift of the light quip or even the light anything. The book is written in leaden prose and in a tone that is hard to like. It probably now would only be of interest to historians or people who have a high boredom tolerance.
Following the writing of this book, Kerr who had a slight problem with alcohol and who gave a speech at the Melbourne Cup obviously very drunk went into exile moving to Europe.
The social damage done by this episode in Australia's history was repared by the success of the Hawke Labour government and by the parties electoral success in Queensland.
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The thing that bothered me the most, however, was that this is intended for survey classes and touches on each author and work only very briefly. This is not so much a problem with the poetry as with the novels and plays. I wasn't able to develop an interest for any of these works because there are only excerpts. The rest of the novel is, more often than not, summed up in less than three sentences. The excerpts are fine for pointing outthe stylistic details of the writing, but it doesn't allow the student to invest in the characters or the plot. In other French lit survey classes I've taken, the professor did require us to read a few complete novels or chose short stories and novellas, rather than excerpts from books. I found that to be more effective and did a better job of inspiring me to look up other works by those authors.
On a final note, it seems that some of the footnotes are inaccurate or reflect unpopular interpretations. Many times my professor instructed us to disregard Leggewie's comments. For instance, Leggewie claims Rene by Chateaubriand is autobiographical, when most critics think Cb intended it as fiction. Tread carefully.
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In his youth Murchison might well have been voted the least likely of his contemporaries to succeed in the life of the mind. At school he was a dreadful student and he turned to a military career. This helped to prepared him for his ultimate vocation because at military college he studied topographical appraisal and draughtsmanship, two of the vital skills for geological fieldwork. He served in the Spanish campaign against Napoleon but the end of hostilities in 1815 destroyed his hopes for military glory. Relegated to a backwater in Ireland he diverted himself with riding, hunting, drinking bouts and visits to London where he paraded as a dandy. He also attended lectures by Sir Humphrey Davy at the Royal Institute for Science.
This unlikely combination of activities won him the hand in marriage of a cultured lady, Charlotte Hugonin, only daughter of a wealthy general. She encouraged him to develop more refined interests in the course of a prolonged Continental tour. He undertook prodigious walking expeditions and showed a keen eye for country and a willingness to describe it in detail. Back in England he reverted to fox hunting on his country estate until the problem of debt and a partridge shooting expedition with Sir Humphrey Davy inspired him to turn to Science.
The couple moved to a rented house in London until the death of Charlotte's father some years later enabled them to occupy a mansion in Belgrave Square. This, at page 15 (circa 1842) is the last mention of wife, family, or social life in the book. The strangest feature of this biography is the complete absence of any sense of the subject as a flesh and blood man (or a person) living a life among people.
Fifteen years of intensive fieldwork mapping the Silurian sediments in Wales provided the foundation for his scientific reputation. After his early and important contribution, he did not appear to shift his opinion on any matter of theoretical interest. During that time he established close social and working relationships with all the major geologists in Europe. He also began his pursuit of power and influence in the scientific societies, initially the Geological Society where he became the Foreign Secretary in 1828. For many years he was on the council of the Royal Society, also he was a trustee of the British Museum and an active office bearer in practically any other society or club that could advance his interests. If the suitable organisation did not exists he created it. He was a founding member of the Athanaeum Club, the Royal Geographical Society and the British Association for the Advancement of Science. These societies played a major role in directing scientific work, at a time when government involvement did not go far beyond naval mapping and some surveying for strategic materials during times of war.
The book outlines his tireless efforts through committees, patronage, political connections and publicity to expand and co-ordinate worldwide efforts in exploration and data collection. No continent was untouched by his efforts, and those of his friends and disciples in the field. As a testament to his influence, Australia alone contains five Mount Murchisons and two Murchison Rivers, while New Zealand has four mountains and a glacier named after him.
His efforts called for amazing stamina and organising ability, also the time that was made available by minimal domestic responsibilities and a supportive wife. He was not a radical but his support for free trade and its corollary, peace, put him at odds with the government in some military adventures, notably the Crimean War. He also encouraged the full participation and recognition of women in the scientific societies, generously acknowledging the efforts of Jane Franklin in Tasmania and other female pioneers.