Greater Journey, The by David McCullough ~July Book Club Online

[bellamarie]

The Book Club Online is  the oldest  book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone.  We offer cordial discussions of one book a month,  24/7 and  enjoy the company of readers from all over the world.  Everyone is welcome.

July Book Club Online

The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
by David McCullough

"Magnifique! I should have known--McCullough is one of my favorite history writers, and he's writing about nineteenth-century Paris, one of my favorite places to read/think/dream about.  When I was young I always wanted to go to Paris--but not Francois Mitterand's Paris. No, I wanted Degas' Paris, Balzac's Paris, Toulouse-Lautrec's Paris. Well, this was an extended visit to that same Paris but through fresh eyes."  Goodreads review "In The Greater Journey, David McCullough tells the enthralling, inspiring—and until now, untold—story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, and others who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, hungry to learn and to excel in their work. What they achieved would profoundly alter American history." Amazon review                                    Discussion Schedule: Week 1 - July 14 - 20 ~ Part I/ Chapters 1 & 2 Week 2 - July 21 - 27 ~ Part I/ Chapters 3 & 4   Week 3 - July 28 - Aug. 3 ~ Part II/ Chapters 5 & 6 Week 4 - Aug. 4 - 10 ~ Part II/ Chapters 7 & 8 Week 5 - Aug. 11 - 17 ~ Part III/ Chapters 9, 10, 11 Week 6-  Aug. 18 - 24 ~ Part III/ Chapters 12,13,14

Relevant Links

David McCullough-Brian Lamb  Intervew (Books TV)  ; David McCullough-Charlie Rose;  Biography - David McCullough; Morse's Interactive Gallery of the Louvre

Some Topics for Discussion
August 4 - 10

Part II ~  Chapter 7 ~ A City Transformed

1. How important were the name and parentage of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte?  Could he have done what he did with his ability alone?

2. There were several purposes to constructing the new, wide, straight avenues.  What were they?

3. Have you read Uncle Tom’s Cabin?  Has it survived the test of time?

4. Harriet Beecher Stowe thought that New England starved one of beauty.  Do you agree?  What can we learn of Stowe’s character from her reaction to art?

5. Do you think the European experience shows in Hawthorne's writing?  That of Henry James?

6. What makes a political climate that allows a senator to beat a colleague to a senseless bloody pulp without interference from bystanders?

Part II ~ Chapter 8.   Bound to Succeed

1.  Are you familiar with any of Saint-Gaudens' statues?  how do you like them.

2.  The Exposition Universelle was incredibly lavish, costing huge sums of money.  Would Louis-Philippe have done better to spend the money improving conditions for the poor, or did the influx of foreign spending produce enough benefit to be worth it?

3.  Why was the Suez Canal so important?

4.  Why did the French declare war against Germany when they were so ill-prepared and outnumbered?

5.  Most, but not all, of the Americans fled Paris.  If you had been there for a serious purpose, would you have stayed?  

Discussion Leaders:   JoanP,  PatH  Barb,  JoanK,   Marcie

Jonathan,  

Bellamarie, you have put it off too long. It's no longer fun, going for long walks in Paris. All the mysterious, romantic, crooked little streets are gone. Now it's just those mile long boulevards that go on forever. As a contemporary account had it, on page 209:

Oh dear Jonathan, I am sorry to hear the best is gone.  Knowing me through the books we have shared with the group, I am a sucker for the mysterious, romantic, crooked littles streets.  We visited New Buffalo Michigan a few years back and they had a gorgeous little restaurant that had a setting of Paris.  Oh how my hubby and I loved sitting outside admiring the decor and feel of Paris.  Maybe we will return there since it's only a 3 hr drive.

Seems I have lost track of time, and interest in this book.  As much as I was hoping it to be less complicated, and less political, with more of a real storyline rather than a tour guide/encyclopedia and bio of people, I found myself just satisfied reading all your posts.  I may pick it up from time to time and finish it, but at this point, I must bid it adieu.  I will continue to check in and read your posts because you all never cease to amaze me with your knowledge.

BarbSt.Aubrey, I hope your finger heals quickly.  Roof rats???  Wow!  I grew up in the country with acres and acres of land, and yes, rats and mice seemed to always find their way into our tiny little homestead, my Daddy built for us before he was killed in a train accident.  I was watching the Kardashians last night and Kortney and Scott bought a beautiful mansion in California, and guess who their first guests were....drum roll please......RATS!!!!!   She was devastated!  

Okay will check back when I can.  The children in my town go back to school August 19th and I have two day care children leaving me for Kindergarten, so I will be finding myself less busy, and more time hopefully for reading during nap times.  It will be my lightest load for many years and I am looking forward to it.  Retirement is looking better and better each day.  

Ciao for now~

[nlhome]

I had slowed on reading this book, couldn't keep up with the chapters. However, last night I was watching Antiques Roadshow, one of the "Vintage" broadcasts, Hartford in 1998 with a 2013 look at the values. One item was a daguerreotype portrait, and the expert's discussion included references to Samuel Morse, who came back to the US and  used the daguerreotype for portraits. So now I have to get reading again, to find out more. One more renew left, so I'd best get busy.

[Jonathan]

Bellamarie, Don't put it off any longer. Paris is still beautiful and lots of fun. Replacing the crooked, narrow streets with wide boulevards made it much more difficult to errect barricades and much easier to get at the unruly disturbers of he peace. Paris mobs could be so unruly.

More and more I see the book as McCullough's 'Gallery' of distinguished Americans who went journeying. It's strangely moving.

[bellamarie]

Jonathan,  I think our church will be planning a group trip to Paris in the next year or so.  Perfect timing for our 45th Wedding Anniversary! 

One of my reasons for falling behind in reading the book, is my six year old grandson has monopolized my ipad this summer.  As soon as he walks in my door for daycare it's the first thing he asks for.  Then his 3 year old sister has to have her turn.  By the time they are gone I am exhausted and have no interest in reading because I fall asleep.  The popular game of Minecraft is all the kids want to play, they don't even want to swim.  I take all ipads, ipods and iphones away, and say it's time to go outside and play now.  Ughhh....I am enjoying reading your posts.

[JoanP]

I know what you mean about grand kids...and their love for our technology "toys",  Bella - especially the magical iPad.   We've got 4 in the house this week, ages 6-12 - which cuts my computer time considerably - as you might imagine.  It's 6:15 - no one is up yet!  I have about 15 minutes before the early rising 11 year old should be down and we start the busy day.

We have a tour of the US Capitol booked for this morning, then across the street to the Supreme Court...for a short visit and a snack stop in their excellent cafeteria...
Followed by the Metro ride home (a big hit with the younger ones) ...

I'm going to try to squeeze in an early dinner when we get home because of the afternoon/evening schedule....which includes ice skating at the Capitals ice rink - an hour on the ice...and the kids didn't bring anything for warmth...long sleeves, long pants, caps, mittens...
Next sandwiches, before "Boys" head back to town for a baseball game and the "Girls" , (about- to-turn 13 granddaughter and Meanma) go on a birthday shopping trip.
Oh, and I just heard rain is predicted for this evening...just to add to the merriment!

Sorry, but just felt the need to let you know I hadn't abandoned ship!
Sally - as Pat says, we do hope you stay with the conversation here - even without book in hand.  There is so much here and we'll miss your input.

Here comes early riser!

[JoanP]

I learned something about those daguerrotypes, nlhome ....do you have any?  I would have liked to have seen that Antique Road show.  Am serious about making copies of my own family tintypes  -which I have decided mine are.  Here's what I learned about the development of the first photos...
 - Daguerrotypes 1840-1855
 - Ambrotypes 1855-1865
 - Tintypes - 1855-turn of century
I also learned that I can scan them with my scanner - as long as I leave the lid up.  Still haven't had a chance to try it.

[JoanP]

Path  funny that you ask about Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.  I've been thinking about that myself.  You know, I can't remember when I actually read it...IF I did.  The names of her characters are so familiar...Little Eva.. But maybe I just heard so much ABOUT it.. I decided it is something I really want to read myself.   I also wonder if there are others who would like to read it together.  Should we nominate it for September's  Book Club Online?  I'd be up for it.

[bellamarie]

Oh JoanP., it's good to hear you can appreciate my situation with the grandkids and ipads.  I love the time I get to spend during the summer months while they are off and need to come to my house for daycare, so sharing my devices is easy, to keep them coming.  Love how you have all those activities planned.  I wish I did not have to be tied down to my in home daycare during the summer so I could do so much more activities with my five, ages 3 - 12 yrs. old.

I have never read Uncle Tom's Cabin, and would be very excited to make it Sept.'s book, if that is what the club decides.  Yet another "first" for me!  Well, no grandkids today, they are with the other grandparents, so I may attempt to read a few pages of our book.  Wish me luck!

Ciao for now~

[Jonathan]

WOW! Getting some ice time for the grandkids on the Capitals' rink! LOL But, JoanP, who comes to DC in August packing long sleeves, long pants, mittens and caps? Wish I could join you.

As for going to Paris, Bella, look what Harriet Beecher Stowe has to say about it, on page 218: '...coming into Paris one feels a rustling and a waking within, as if the soul were crying to unfold her wings.' And this must have been a shock. After all she came to Paris looking for 'some peace and privacy, to be released from care, to feel unknown and unknowing. And soon exclaimed 'At last I have come into a dreamland.'

Of all McCullough's travellers I'm enjoying Stowe the most. And obviously the author enjoyed putting her into his book. He included HBS in an earlier book of his. Brave Companions: Portraits in History, in which she gets about 20 pages. There he quotes her as saying "God wrote it" about Uncle Tom's Cabin. A fantastic book. That was certainly a shot that was heard around the world. Sales took off like a rocket. I remember being thrilled by it when I was about 12. By a strange coincidence I found J D Hedrick's bio of her yesterday, browsing at the booksellers. The whole Beecher clan was so darn clever. As McCullough writes in Brave Companions, '...brother Edward, who was growing ever more militant over the slavery issue. All the Beechers were growing ever more militant over one thing or another. For Isabella it was women's rights; for the brilliant Catherine, education; for Charles, freedom from theological authority." And of coure there was famous preacher, brother Henry Ward Beecher embarrassing the family with his love affair with his parishoner in Brooklyn.

[Jonathan]

'Seeing Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie ride by in their carriage on the boulevard des Italiens, she thought he looked stiff and homely, she beautiful but sad.' p214

I was struck by this impression made on HBS by the empress. It was in 1853. Eugenie lived on for another sixty years, so she gets the last word in a bio of  her husband who died in 1872. Napoleon III And His Carnival Empire. I haven't read it (yet) but it looks good. I always look to see how a book ends. I make that a beginning. And this one certainly does that. Two amazing paragraphs end the book:

'...what should be the (historical) verdict on Eugenie? An objective reading of the evidence suggests that for all her faults, she was never quite the vindictive, self-centered, priest-ridden reactionary of republican legend - and for all her virtues, she was never quite  the strong, loyal, long-suffering, and misunderstood heroine portrayed by revisionist historians.

'Rather, she was an unfulfilled, neurotic woman, of limited talents though fiery spirit, of great style, and commanding presence, who was unable to love and therefore desperate to dominate - a woman whose beauty and ambition won her great position but little happiness.'  

Harriet's impression was right.

[mabel1015j]

Pat Conroy has an interesting chapter in his book "My Reading Life" about his visit to and writing in Paris. He doesn't say when it was, but my guess is in the 70s because he wrote Lords of Discipline there and it was published in 1980.

[Ella Gibbons]

Look no further, just read UNCLE TOM'S CABIN:

http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Harriet_Beecher_Stowe/Uncle_Toms_Cabin/

Have a question.  Were native indians actually "red" - red skin is what I mean.  George Catlin's portrait of LITTLE WOLF shows definite red skin, but I always thought that was somewhat exaggerated in history.

[Ella Gibbons]

Shame on Hatty for not sensing the beauty of her own New England states. "With all New England's earnestness and practical efficiency, there is a long withering of the soul's more ethereal part-a crushing out of the beautiful-which is horrible."

She hd been senselessly, cruelly cheated in her childhood.  One wonders what her parents and her home had been like.

Methinks cruelty moves her as she stood a full hour in front of the  painting,  RAFT OF TH MEDUSA, which I think is absolutely horrible. (in the book)

We all have different opinions, obviously, of what we admire.

[BarbStAubrey]

Great explanation of the Raft of Medusa and how it parodies French life during the reformation under the King of France -

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/gericaults-raft-of-the-medusa1.html

[PatH]

So many good comments.

I don't think it was cruelty in the painting that moved HBS --it was suffering, which she felt very strongly about.

Barb, thanks for the link to that great explanation of the painting.  It was really the equivalent of a political cartoon, commenting on a current scandal.  And it's interesting to be reminded of the visual tradition on which it draws, and to see the preliminary studies, and how Gericault refined the composition to make his point.

[Jonathan]

'Were native indians actually "red" - red skin is what I mean.  George Catlin's portrait of LITTLE WOLF shows definite red skin'

I don't think so, Ella. I believe they were only somewhat less pale than Paleface himself. But they seem to have been wonderful makeup artists, who loved to apply lots of paint.

Thanks for the link to Uncle Tom's Cabin. Just try to imagine the Table of Contents. Doesn't it make for an extraordinary raft of character and mystery? I can see HBS spending an hour with The Raft of the Medusa, thinking, should I write the book? With a chapter for each one of those suffering beings.

From what I have read the Beecher family environment could not have been more stimulating. Very religious of course, but the curious, resourceful young Harriet, given the run of her father's study, still found a copy of The Arabian Nights under a mountain of collected sermons.

[PatH]

If you look at Little Wolf's face, most of it is painted vivid red, but the tip of his nose and the area around his mouth are a medium brown.  And in Girardet's painting of Iowas performing for Louis-Philippe, their skin is medium or light brown, with painted red patches.

[BarbStAubrey]

The Indians of the Great Plains religion is rituals and a belief in a spiritual connection with nature. Colors and symbols are body paint that each have a different meaning - Face and Body paint for certain tribes indicated achievements and success - Red Ochra is the easiest to find and is/was used often to just keep mosquitoes away.

Red Color Symbolizes war, blood, strength, energy, power and success in war paint but also symbolise happiness and beauty if used as face paint - Black is used when preparing for war or today a big achievement and then the black is painted again as the sign of victory after the event or back in history when warriors returned successfully to camp.

[Ella Gibbons]

Fun to read your comments about the "red skin" of the Indian.  You are probably correct, Barbara, in stating that they painted their skin for different reasons, I think I have read that.

Do tattoos today have meanings by any chance?   Personally, I don't like them on anyone, but I wonder if a person who has made the choice to have tattoos, one or many, is of a certain personality, or the tattoos are a symbol of something?

[Ella Gibbons]

THE SCANDAL - AND IN THE SENATE OF ALL PLACES!

 Senator Brooks of S. Carolina took his cane and beat Senator Sumner over the head 30 times until the cane broke!  Sumner lay on the floor of the Senate unconscious and covered with blood.

And Brooks received only a fine of $300 for what he had done. 

Sumner was attacked because of his famous CRIME AGAINST KANSAS speech:

http://www.sewanee.edu/faculty/willis/Civil_War/documents/Crime.html

[Ella Gibbons]

The emotional outbursts in the Congress in 1856 were a preview of the terrible Civil Wat which began 4 years later. 

And Senator Sumner never recovered fully from the attack.  However, the "cure" for his ailments were almost worse than the beating itself don't you think? Imagine being burned on your back without anesthesia and enduring five such treatments.

[bellamarie]

I finally got a chance to read some of the book today on my ipod.  All the grandkids brought their own ipods, so I only had to give up my ipad and iphone today.  I really enjoyed the HBS chapter.  Looking at all the photos was interesting, and seeing the rebuilding of Paris which became boulevards rather than cobblestone paths showed the new modern Paris.  It amazed me how even though there were shipwrecks and a lost ship, it did not deter Americans from still flooding to Paris.  

Paris is all a lit and glitter, yet poverty is inevitable.  It does seem a bit sad to know how many were poverty stricken, yet Paris is so wealthy in their buildings, cafes, diners etc.
The cost of it all, exceeding even the most extravagant expenditures of times past, was to be met with some government funds and a great deal of borrowed money.  By 1869 some 2.5 billion francs would be spent, forty times the cost of Louis-Philippe's improvements. 

With that much money it would seem it would have been the humane thing to do in using some of those billions to help their poor.   And yes, seems only the wealthy, or well off Americans were privileged to visit Paris. So while we have some American political activists in Paris, they did not deny themselves of the finest cuisine, and holidays aboard.  Gives me a different view of these Americans and Parisians.

Ella, the beating Preston S. Brooks gave to Sumner with his cane was despicable, and yet he only was fined $300 and was considered a hero in the South, and was presented with gift of gold- headed canes.  Imagine what would happen today if that were to take place. 

When I saw the picture of Leon Gambetta, and the two Americans, Charles May and William Reynolds making their dramatic escape by balloon,  when Paris was under siege, it reminded me of Dorothy, and the Wizard of Oz taking off in the hot air balloon.  At that point they were probably thinking...."There's no place like home."  

Ciao for now~

[salan]

It's been a LONG time since I read Uncle Tom's Cabin.  I would like to read it in Sept.
Sally

[PatH]

We should probably move on to Chapter 8.  It starts with an incredible display of wealth and finery, and transforms into the beginning of a horrible disaster.  I put up some questions in case anyone wants them.

[JoanK]

Thanks for that discussion of "the Raft of the Medusa", BARB. It was very interesting.

That same painting was used in a TV art class I watched to illustrate the use of diagonals to create drama.

[PatH]

It's a really clever diagonal, as Barb's site pointed out.  The visual diagonal is also an emotional diagonal, a spectrum ranging from the grief and despair of the father with his dead son in the lower left to the hopefulness of the man in the upper right, signaling the ship that will save them.

[PatH]

Some of the characters particularly seem to catch McCullough's imagination.  Last chapter, it was Harriet Beecher Stowe; this one, it's Augustus Saint-Gaudens.  He's certainly worth admiring--from a poor family, very hard-working from an early age.  He picked an unusual career, and found a path which would lead to it, working in a very focussed and persistent way for years until he got there.  Have you seen any of his statues?

[mabel1015j]

Here are some PBS videos of St-Gaudens work. The link is to the Shaw Memorial. The first half tells the story of Shaw and the 54th, the second half talks about the making of the memorial. On the right side of the screen there are links to other segments on Diana, the Huntress, and the designing of the coins.

If Whistler's White Girl was"too suggestive by far, in that the young woman's hair was undone and she stood on a wolf's skin" what a controversy Diana must have been. Good thing she was on top of Madison Sq Garden, not too seeable!  

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8t8K7Aisx8U

Other info and works by St-Gaudens. The first piece i had ever heard of was the Adams Memorial in D. C. Click on the pictures for a larger view.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_Saint-Gaudens


The French behavior getting into the Franco-Prussian War is eerily close to our going into Iraq. "The French minister of war assured the people that any conflict w/ Prussia would be 'a mere stroll, walking stick in hand.'" Ala, "we will be greeted as victors."

[JoanK]

"The French behavior getting into the Franco-Prussian War is eerily close to our going into Iraq. "The French minister of war assured the people that any conflict w/ Prussia would be 'a mere stroll, walking stick in hand.'" Ala, "we will be greeted as victors."

Unfortunately, it's eerily similar to going into any war. In the Civil War, both sides were convinced that it would only last a few weeks.

[JoanP]

Have you noticed that the Americans in Paris all seem to be abolitionists?  Maybe it's because McCullough concentrates on New Englanders. You can just  hear the Civil War drums  in the background...  In Paris, those supporting the North fight with those from the South - though McCullough doesn't tell too much about individual Southerners, does he?  Have I forgotten someone?  Terrible memory.

I loved the way Harriet Beecher Stowe goes through the Louvre on her first visit to Paris, a young woman who had read a lot, but had never visited a museum... dismissing most of the famous masterpieces as she compares them to her favorite authors...Hawthorne, Shakespeare, Dickens...  Thanks for the information on Gericault's  "Raft of the Medusa"... Harriet thought this one painting was worth the whole trip to Paris.
What attracted her to this particular painting?   That  one black man still standing - who  waves a shirt or a rag - hoping someone  spots the raft and saves the living.  What an allegory!  Is she comparing this painting to her own Uncle Tom?

I'm so glad we have time for St-Gaudens - what an interesting character!   McCullough spends much time on this young man and his determination to become a sculptor!  Born in Dublin, son of a Frenchman (a red-headed Frenchman) and an Irish raven-haired mother.  The family emigrates to America and has a difficult time making a living.  I loved his father, trying to match his sons' skills with their interests.  Cutting cameos...led to Gus' future as a sculptor.

I took some photos of the Adams Memorial in Rock Creek Cemetery this morning...will bring them right back to add to those Jean has just brought in.

[JoanK]

JEAN: I just noticed your tag. "August 14, 1986 - Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper retires from active duty in the US Navy. A pioneering computer scientist and inventor of the computer language COBOL, she was the oldest officer still on active duty at the time of her retirement."

I met her back in my computer programming days. A formidable woman, succeeding in a man's world!

[JoanP]

So we packed up the grandchildren for home yesterday - much weeping and wanting to stay with us.  I wonder how long that will last.  It was touching.
This morning, I packed up map and camera and headed out with my chief navigator for Rock Creek cemetery in DC where the storied St-Gaudens piece . the Adams Memorial is located.  No I didn't call it "Grief" as so many do.

Henry Adams left explicit instructions on the work - what it should look like, what to call it.  
Saint-Gaudens's name for the bronze figure is The Mystery of the Hereafter and The Peace of God that Passeth Understanding, but the public commonly called it Grief—an appellation that Henry Adams apparently disliked. In a letter addressed to Homer Saint-Gaudens,(Augustus' son?)  on January 24, 1908, Adams instructed him:

"Do not allow the world to tag my figure with a name! Every magazine writer wants to label it as some American patent medicine for popular consumption—Grief, Despair, Pear's Soap, or Macy's Mens' Suits Made to Measure. Your father meant it to ask a question, not to give an answer; and the man who answers will be damned to eternity like the men who answered the Sphinx."

If you ever go to see this work...be forewarned that it is not easy to find.  It is right next to St Paul's Church in the cemetery - Section E.  But unless you know what you are looking for - you'll NEVER find it.  It is in it's own 15 square foot plot...completely surrounded by evergreens...with a little opening to enter the area.  I read that in a guide book.  There  was NO ONE in the old cemetery today when I found the opening, climbed some steps and there to my right - was she!

[JoanP]

I wish I could express the shocking sensation at seeing her sitting there silently in the empty section of the empty cemetery..  It was beyond the excitement of seeing something created so long ago by the man we are reading about now.  It was more  a shock coming face to face with one's own mortality and and the hereafter.

There were two more steps up so that you could  climb up and touch the arm, the finely sculpted face.  It was an unexpected experience.

             

The oddest thing - Henry Adams meant this to be a memorial to his wife, Clover - and yet, there was no inscription, no name, no dates - absolutely nothing to indicate whose grave site it was - or who was the artist, the sculptor...and yet the piece is so distinctive, there can be no doubt it is Saint-Gaudens'.

More on the memorial -
"Henry] Adams, who steadfastly refused to discuss his wife's death, commissioned Augustus Saint-Gaudens to create a memorial that would express the Buddhist idea of nirvana, a state of being beyond joy and sorrow. In Adams's circle of artists and writers, the old Christian certainties seemed inadequate after the violence of the Civil War, the industrialization of America, and Darwin's theories of evolution. Saint-Gaudens's ambiguous figure reflects the search for new insights into the mysteries of life and death. The shrouded being is neither male nor female, neither triumphant nor downcast. Its message is inscrutable."

[mabel1015j]

Thank you JoanP, those pictures are wonderful.

JoanK, how wonderful for you to have met the Admiral. I always had the impression she was very small in stature, is that so? So smart and so far ahead of her time. COBOL, another POSITIVE thing we can thank the military for inventing.

Jean

[PatH]

WOW!  Thank you, JoanP, for posting those splendid photos.  I can only barely imagine the impact of seeing it.  I agree, "Grief" isn't an appropriate word.  There is sadness, thoughtfulness, peace, but not grief as such.

It would have been worth all those years of carving cameos just to produce this, even if he had never done anything else.

[BarbStAubrey]

To me the statue reminds me of the weight of grief - after the initial grief - the only gesture that brings it from that dark place is the arm going up with the hand clutching the hood of the cape.

I am reminded of Stoicism -

The central demand of Stoicism is that we ought to live according to nature - that's the stick. The pay off for living according to nature is contentment, happiness, joy, tranquility, and serenity - that's the carrot.

It's a tasty carrot because these benefits are not postponed. We get to be happy now by living according to nature now.

The rules of engagement in Stoicism are not readily apparent to the casual eye. We are easily deceived. This deception is embedded in the popular conception that happiness and joy come to us from service to the self: we are happy when we service our need for pleasure and when we find ways to duck pain. ...most of modern culture revolves around minimizing pain and maximizing pleasure.

The Stoic knows these to be false paths - false because pleasure and pain are body focused experiences.

The Stoic knows that the locus of our existence resides not in the frail ephemeral body but in the mind and it is only in the mind that we can find a salutary route and meaningful existence.

Quote from Zeno the founder of Stoicism in 300 BC

The unreflective person thinks of himself as an independent unit in this world, complete in himself. His own private good is the criterion for every choice he has to make. But true wisdom begins when the individual reckons himself a fragment, a part of a perfect whole, the universe. He is under obligation to make the reason at the heart of things his own standard of behavior.

[Ella Gibbons]

JOANP - I truly wish I had never seen that sculpture, it is so very sad, I can see grief, despair, alsmost tears coursing the face.  That was a memorial to his wife?  Why the hidden face, the blinded eyes (seems so to me), nothing to indicate she was a good wife, a good woman.  I think it is a beautifully sad remembrance.

And the Shaw Memorial, also thrilling, terrible, awful, men going to war. I do not have enough words to describe how effective/affective (?) these statutes are.  Even if I could afford them, I would not want them in my garden to gaze at every day, would you?

The Lincoln statute, Gus did, I like very well, I'll take that one!

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_Saint-Gaudens#/image/File:Lincoln_The_Man.JPG

[Ella Gibbons]

Another book I have never read is Mark Twain's INNOCENTS ABROAD.  if so I think I would remember it.  "Paris "flashed upon us a splendid meteor," Twain wrote.  

Americans flocked to Paris in 1867 for the Great Exposition, some brought their art which was disappointing to the Parisians - "infantile arrogance" - "childish arrogance;" however, they liked the money the Americans spent.   Of course, of course.  Has the attitude changed much?

Hold on!  The French financed the Suez Canal?   I must read more about this.

[PatH]

I like the Lincoln statue too.  Saint-Gaudens saw Lincoln once, riding through the streets in a carriage, seeming, with his height, "entirely out of proportion" to the carriage, then saw again when he was lying in state in New York.  "He had waited hours in an 'interminable' line, and after seeing Lincoln's face, he went back to the end of the line to go through a second time."

[JoanK]

JOANP: you certainly have a way with a camera. Thank you for that journey closer and closer. Undoubtedly a great statue.

We may be going to meet henry Adams who commissioned it later in the book? At least his picture is in it. Meanwhile, we have a new unforgettable character waiting for us in this next section.