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The Awkward Age, by Henry James. Part VII. Feb 10, 2025

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Nanda Brookenham is coming of age, and thus 'coming out' in London society - which leads to complications in her family's social set in London's fin de siècle life.

James presents the novel almost entirely in dialogue, an experiment that adds to the immediacy of the scenes but also creates serious ambiguities about characters and their motives. (Adapted from Wikipedia.)

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The Awkward Age, by Henry James. Part VI. Feb 10, 2025

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Nanda Brookenham is coming of age, and thus 'coming out' in London society - which leads to complications in her family's social set in London's fin de siècle life.

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The Awkward Age, by Henry James. Part V. Feb 10, 2025

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Nanda Brookenham is coming of age, and thus 'coming out' in London society - which leads to complications in her family's social set in London's fin de siècle life.

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The Awkward Age, by Henry James. Part IV. Feb 10, 2025

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Nanda Brookenham is coming of age, and thus 'coming out' in London society - which leads to complications in her family's social set in London's fin de siècle life.

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The Awkward Age, by Henry James. Part III. Feb 10, 2025

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Nanda Brookenham is coming of age, and thus 'coming out' in London society - which leads to complications in her family's social set in London's fin de siècle life.

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The Awkward Age, by Henry James. Part II. Feb 10, 2025

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Nanda Brookenham is coming of age, and thus 'coming out' in London society - which leads to complications in her family's social set in London's fin de siècle life.

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The Awkward Age, by Henry James. Part I. Feb 10, 2025

Show notes

Nanda Brookenham is coming of age, and thus 'coming out' in London society - which leads to complications in her family's social set in London's fin de siècle life.

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Perpetual Peace: A Philosophic Essay, by Immanuel Kant. Part II. Feb 06, 2025

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This essay, written in 1795, puts forth a plan for a lasting peace between nations and peoples. Kant puts forth necessary means to any peace, and argues that nations can be brought into federation with one another without loss of sovereignty. In one translation, telling of the historical impact of this essay, this federation is called a “league of nations.”

The supplements and appendices are of considerable interest on their own. The supplements contain an argument regarding the use which nature makes of war, and the way in which nature, in the end, impels us towards peace. The appendices return to the question of whether his theory is mere theory, or whether it bears translation into practice. In this, he distinguishes between the moral politician and the political moralist, pointing out ways in which practical considerations conceal and excuse behavior that leads us towards discord and war.

This essay continues to be relevant, and of great importance today, much to our shame. We hope still to find the perpetual peace which Kant argued as a obligatory goal, and we still have need of fear that we will, as Kant warned, “find Perpetual Peace only in the wide grave which is to cover all the abomination of the deeds of violence and their authors.”

Translated by W. Hastie.

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Perpetual Peace: A Philosophic Essay, by Immanuel Kant. Part I. Feb 06, 2025

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Translated by W. Hastie.

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Master and Man, by Leo Tolstoy. Part II. Feb 06, 2025

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A land owner, Vasili Andreevich, takes along one of his peasants, Nikita, for a short journey to another town. He wishes to get to the town quickly 'for business'. They find themselves in the middle of a blizzard, but the master in his avarice wishes to press on. They eventually get lost off the road and they try to camp.

The master's peasant soon finds himself about to die from hypothermia. The master leaves him on the horse to stubbornly try to find the road. When he returns, he attains a spiritual/moral revelation, and Tolstoy once again repeats one of his famous themes: that the only true happiness in life is found by living for others. (From Wikipedia.)

Translated by Aylmer Maude and Louise Maude.

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