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Choose a page number: 1 Books RSS FeedsLok Sabha Debates (India. Parliament. Lok Sabha) - Lok Sabha Debates, by India Lok Sabha (partial serial archives)...Feed Source: 164.100.47.134 Manual of Parliamentary Procedures in the Government of India (India. Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs) - Manual of Parliamentary Procedures in the Government of India (in English and Hindi; 2004), by India Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. (HTML at mpa.nic.in)... Bressant (Hawthorne) - Bressant, by Julian Hawthorne (Gutenberg text)... Idolatry (Hawthorne) - Idolatry: A Romance (Boston: James R. Osgood and Co., 1874), by Julian Hawthorne (Gutenberg text)... The Reckoning (Chambers) - The Reckoning (New York: A. Wessels Co., 1907), by Robert W. Chambers (Gutenberg text, illustrated HTML, and page images)... Barbarians (Chambers) - Barbarians, by Robert W. Chambers, illust. by Arthur Ignatius Keller (Gutenberg multiple formats)... Handbook for Members of Rajya Sabha (India. Parliament. Rajya Sabha. Secretariat) - Handbook for Members of Rajya Sabha, by India Rajya Sabha Secretariat (HTML at Indian Parliament)... Rajya Sabha at Work (Narain) - Rajya Sabha at Work (2006), ed. by Yogendra Narain (PDF files at Indian Parliament)... Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (India. Parliament. Rajya Sabha) - Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (2005), by India Rajya Sabha (HTML at Indian Parliament)... The Bright Messenger (Blackwood) - The Bright Messenger (New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., c1922), by Algernon Blackwood (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Industrial Condition of Women and Girls in Honolulu (Blascoer) - The Industrial Condition of Women and Girls in Honolulu: A Social Study (1912), by Frances Blascoer (stable link)... The Professor's Sister (Hawthorne) - The Professor's Sister: A Romance (with author's handwritten commentary; Chicago et al.: Belford, Clarke and Co., c1888), by Julian Hawthorne (multiple formats at archive.org)... God, the Author of Nature and the Supernatural (Pohle) - God, the Author of Nature and the Supernatural (St. Louis et al.: B. Herder, 1912), by Joseph Pohle, trans. by Arthur Preuss (PDF at cimmay.us)... The Freeman - The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty (partial serial archives)... ABC for Book Collectors (Carter) - ABC for Book Collectors (8th edition, 2004), by John Carter and Nicolas Barker (PDF with commentary at ilab.org)... Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Uganda (Uganda) - Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Uganda (2006), by Uganda (PDF at Uganda Parliament)... Official Report of the Parliament of Uganda (Hansard) (Uganda. Parliament) - Official Report of the Parliament of Uganda (Hansard), by Uganda Parliament (partial serial archives)... The Fable of John Bull and Uncle Sam (O'Leary) - The Fable of John Bull and Uncle Sam (New York: American Truth Society, ca. 1916), by Jeremiah A. O'Leary, illust. by L. Helmholz Junker (page images at Villanova)... World-War - World-War (partial serial archives)... A Visit to the Spirit in Prison, and an Invitation to All People to Come to Christ the Light of the World (Blackborow) - A Visit to the Spirit in Prison, and an Invitation to All People to Come to Christ the Light of the World (based on the 1658 edition, with modern notes), by Sarah Blackborow, ed. by Ryan Cannon (HTML with commentary at Alma College)... National German-American Alliance (United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary) - National German-American Alliance: Hearings Before the Subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Sixty-Fifth Congress, Second Session, on S. 3529, A Bill to Repeal the Act Entitled "An Act to Incorporate the National German-American Alliance" (1918), by United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary (page images at Harvard)... The Jervaise Comedy (Beresford) - The Jervaise Comedy (New York: Macmillan, 1919), by J. D. Beresford (Gutenberg text)... The Red Room (Wells) - The Red Room, by H. G. Wells (Gutenberg text)... Blue-Bird Weather (Chambers) - Blue-Bird Weather (New York and London: D. Appleton and Co., 1912), by Robert W. Chambers, illust. by Charles Dana Gibson (Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML)... Iole (Chambers) - Iole (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1905), by Robert W. Chambers, illust. by Arthur C. Becker (Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML)... German American Annals - German American Annals (partial serial archives)... The Vital Issue - The Vital Issue (partial serial archives)... Mass Meeting of the Friends of Peace at Madison Square Garden, New York, June 24, 1915 - Mass Meeting of the Friends of Peace at Madison Square Garden, New York, June 24, 1915 (New York: R. P. Sachs, c1915) (page images at Harvard)... Official Debate of Rajya Sabha (India. Parliament. Rajya Sabha) - Official Debate of Rajya Sabha, by India Rajya Sabha (partial serial archives)... Dakota War Whoop (Bishop) - Dakota War Whoop: or, Indian Massacres and War in Minnesota (revised edition; St. Paul: The author, 1864), by Harriet E. Bishop (multiple formats at archive.org)... H. G. Wells (Beresford) - H. G. Wells (c1915), by J. D. Beresford (stable link)... The Ravings of a Renegade (Chamberlain) - The Ravings of a Renegade: Being the War Essays of Houston Stewart Chamberlain (London: Jarrold and Sons, ca. 1915), by Houston Stewart Chamberlain, trans. by Charles H. Clarke, contrib. by Lewis Melville (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Slayer of Souls (Chambers) - The Slayer of Souls (New York: George H. Doran Co., c1920), by Robert W. Chambers (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Wonder (Beresford) - The Wonder (New York: George H. Doran Co., c1917), by J. D. Beresford (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Wonderful Visit (Wells) - The Wonderful Visit (New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., c1895), by H. G. Wells (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Coal Question (Jevons) - The Coal Question: An Inquiry Concerning the Progress of the Nation, and the Probable Exhaustion of Our Coal-Mines (based on the second edition, 1866), by William Stanley Jevons (HTML with commentary at eoearth.org)... Journal of the Kiribati Parliment (Kiribati. Parliament) - Journal of the Kiribati Parliment (in Kiribati and English), by Kiribati Parliament (partial serial archives)... The All African Convention (Tabata) - The All African Convention: The Awakening of a People (first published 1950), by I. B. Tabata (HTML at sahistory.org.za)... Select Speeches (Vorster) - Select Speeches, by B. J. Vorster, ed. by O. Geyser (HTML at sahistory.org.za)... Digest of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Netherlands) - Digest of the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Constitutional Organization (ca. 1960), by Netherlands (PDF with rotated pages at archive.org)... Digest of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Netherlands) - Digest of the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Economy (third edition, 1963), by Netherlands (PDF with rotated pages at archive.org)... Digest of the Netherlands (Netherlands) - Digest of the Netherlands: History and Political Aspects (1958), by Netherlands (PDF with rotated pages at archive.org)... Digest of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Netherlands) - Digest of the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Education, Arts and Sciences (ca. 1961), by Netherlands (PDF with rotated pages at archive.org)... Digest of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Netherlands) - Digest of the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Social Aspects (ca. 1960), by Netherlands (PDF with rotated pages at archive.org)... The Gateway to Modern Arabic Poetry (Al-Assady) - The Gateway to Modern Arabic Poetry (English language version, 2007), ed. by Abdul-Settar Al-Assady, trans. by Munir Mezyed (PDF at archive.org)... Caesar Cascabel (Verne) - Caesar Cascabel (New York: Cassell, c1890), by Jules Verne, trans. by A. Estoclet, illust. by George Roux (multiple formats at archive.org)... Amitabha (Carus) - Amitabha: A Story of Buddhist Theology (Chicago: Open Court, 1906), by Paul Carus (illustrated HTML with commentary at sacred-texts.com)... The Making of Religion (Lang) - The Making of Religion (second edition, 1900), by Andrew Lang (Gutenberg text)... Corea, or Cho-Sen (Landor) - Corea, or Cho-Sen: The Land of the Morning Calm (London: W. Heinemann, 1895), by Arnold Henry Savage Landor (Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML)... Imaginary Conversations and Poems (Landor) - Imaginary Conversations and Poems: A Selection, by Walter Savage Landor (Gutenberg text and page images)... Across Coveted Lands (Landor) - Across Coveted Lands: or, A Journey From Flushing (Holland) to Calcutta, Overland (London: Macmillan and Co., 1902), by Arnold Henry Savage Landor (Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML)... In the Forbidden Land (Landor) - In the Forbidden Land: An Account of a Journey in Tibet, Capture by the Tibetan Authorities, Imprisonment, Torture, and Ultimate Release (new edition; London: W. Heinemann, 1899), by Arnold Henry Savage Landor (Gutenberg text, illustrated HTML, and page images)... Across Unknown South America (Landor) - Across Unknown South America (London et al.: Hodder and Stoughton, 1913), by Arnold Henry Savage Landor (Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML)... Three Expeditions in the Interior of Eastern Australia, With Descriptions of the Recently Explored Region of Australia Felix and of the Present Colony of New South Wales (Mitchell) - Three Expeditions in the Interior of Eastern Australia, With Descriptions of the Recently Explored Region of Australia Felix and of the Present Colony of New South Wales (London: T. and W. Boone, 1839), by T. L. Mitchell (HTML at SETIS)... Two Bits (Kelty) - Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2008), by Christopher M. Kelty (HTML and PDF with commentary at twobits.net)... A Selective Guide to the English Literature on the Netherlands West Indies, With a Supplement on British Guiana (Hiss) - A Selective Guide to the English Literature on the Netherlands West Indies, With a Supplement on British Guiana (New York: Netherlands Information Bureau, 1943), by Philip Hanson Hiss (PDF with rotated pages at archive.org)... Architecture in the Netherlands (Bromberg) - Architecture in the Netherlands (New York: Netherlands Information Bureau, 1944), by Paul Bromberg (PDF with rotated pages at archive.org)... Study in Holland (Koning) - Study in Holland: A Guide for Prospective Students (second edition; New York: Netherlands Information Bureau, 1961), by Hans Koning (PDF with rotated pages at archive.org)... Two Queens (Netherlands. Regeeringsvoorlichtingsdienst) - Two Queens: Wilhelmina, Juliana, 1898-1948 (New York: Netherlands Information Bureau, 1948), by Netherlands. Regeeringsvoorlichtingsdienst (PDF at archive.org)... The Making of Religion (Lang) - The Making of Religion (third edition; London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1909), by Andrew Lang (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Strangling of Persia (Shuster) - The Strangling of Persia: A Story of the European Diplomacy and Oriental Intrigue That Resulted in the Denationalization of Twelve Million Mohammedans (New York: The Century Co., 1912), by W. Morgan Shuster (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Way of the Spirit (Haggard) - The Way of the Spirit (London: Hutchinson and Co., 1906), by H. Rider Haggard (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Ecology of Money (Douthwaite) - The Ecology of Money (1999), by R. J. Douthwaite (HTML and PDF at feasta.org)... The Great Cookie Jar (Popp) - The Great Cookie Jar: Taking the Mysteries Out of the Money System (1978), by Edward E. Popp (HTML at inspiredconstitution.org)... Money (Popp) - Money: Bona Fide or Non-Bona Fide (1970), by Edward E. Popp (HTML at inspiredconstitution.org)... Only a Life (Baskin) - Only a Life: An Autobiographical Story (London: F. E. Longley, 1874), by Mary Baskin, contrib. by Arthur Mursell (page images at Google; US access only)... Angels and Ministers, and Other Victorian Plays (Housman) - Angels and Ministers, and Other Victorian Plays, by Laurence Housman (Gutenberg text)... Peace Theories and the Balkan War (Angell) - Peace Theories and the Balkan War (1912), by Norman Angell (Gutenberg text)... The Were-Wolf (Housman) - The Were-Wolf, by Clemence Housman, illust. by Laurence Housman (Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML)... King John of Jingalo (Housman) - King John of Jingalo: The Story of a Monarch in Difficulties (New York: Kenry Holt and Co., 1912), by Laurence Housman (Gutenberg text)... The Field of Clover (Housman) - The Field of Clover, by Laurence Housman, illust. by Clemence Housman (Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML)... Information on Guam Transmitted by the United States to the Secretary-General of the United Nations Pursuant to Article 73(e) of the Charter (United States. Navy Dept.) - Information on Guam Transmitted by the United States to the Secretary-General of the United Nations Pursuant to Article 73(e) of the Charter (1947), by United States Navy Dept. (PDF at archive.org)... Dutch Neighbors in the Americas (Netherlands. Regeeringsvoorlichtingsdienst) - Dutch Neighbors in the Americas (ca.1950), by Netherlands. Regeeringsvoorlichtingsdienst (PDF with a flipped page at archive.org)... Our Caribbean Gems (United States. Dept. of the Interior) - Our Caribbean Gems: The US Virgin Islands (1969), by United States. Dept. of the Interior (PDF with some rotated pages at archive.org)... Report on the Administration of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (United States. Navy Dept.) - Report on the Administration of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, by United States Navy Dept. and United States Dept. of the Interior (PDF with rotated pages at archive.org)... America and the New World-State (Angell) - America and the New World-State: A Plea for American Leadership in International Organization (New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1915), by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... Arms and Industry (Angell) - Arms and Industry: A Study of the Foundations of International Polity (New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1914), by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... Records of Early English Drama (Pilkinton) - Records of Early English Drama: Bristol (Toronto et al.: University of Toronto Press, c1997), ed. by Mark C. Pilkinton (multiple formats at archive.org)... The British Revolution and the American Democracy (Angell) - The British Revolution and the American Democracy: An Interpretation of British Labour Programmes (New York: B. W. Huebsch, 1919), by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Causes and Cure of Armaments and War (Alderson) - The Causes and Cure of Armaments and War (London: P. S. King and Co., 1914), by Albert William Alderson (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Dangers of Half-Preparedness (Angell) - The Dangers of Half-Preparedness: A Plea for a Declaration of American Policy (New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1916), by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Economics of War and Conquest (Jones) - The Economics of War and Conquest: An Examination of Mr. Norman Angell's Economic Doctrines (London: P. S. King and Son, 1915), by John Harry Jones (multiple formats at archive.org)... Europe's Optical Illusion (Angell) - Europe's Optical Illusion (London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Co., ca. 1909), by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Foundations of International Polity (Angell) - The Foundations of International Polity (London: W. Heinemann, c1914), by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Franco-German War Indemnity and its Economic Results (O'Farrell) - The Franco-German War Indemnity and its Economic Results (London: Harrison and Sons, 1913), by Horace Handley O'Farrell (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Fruits of Victory (Angell) - The Fruits of Victory: A Sequel to "The Great Illusion" (London et al.: W. Collins Sons and Co., c1921), by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Fruits of Victory (Angell) - The Fruits of Victory: A Sequel to "The Great Illusion" (New York: The Century Co., 1921), by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... Gods and Their Makers (Housman) - Gods and Their Makers (London and New York: John Lane, 1897), by Laurence Housman (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Greatest of Literary Problems, the Authorship of the Shakespeare Works (Baxter) - The Greatest of Literary Problems, the Authorship of the Shakespeare Works: An Exposition of All Points at Issue, From Their Inception to the Present Moment (second edition, 1917; this copy bound with Mirrielies' "John Wyclif's Freudian Complex" from 1930), by James Phinney Baxter, contrib. by Lucia B. Mirrielees (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Great Illusion (Angell) - The Great Illusion: A Study of the Relation of Military Power in Nations to Their Economic and Social Advantage (third revised and enlarged edition; New York and London: G. P. Putman's Sons, 1911), by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Great Illusion (Angell) - The Great Illusion: A Study of the Military Power to National Advantage (fourth revised and enlarged edition; New York and London: G. P. Putman's Sons, 1913), by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Labor Laws of Soviet Russia, With an Answer to a Criticism by Mr. William C. Redfield (Russian S.F.S.R.) - The Labor Laws of Soviet Russia, With an Answer to a Criticism by Mr. William C. Redfield (third edition, revised and enlarged; New York: Russian Soviet Government Gureau, 1920), by Russian S.F.S.R., contrib. by Sergei Kaplun (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Main Illusions of Pacifism (Coulton) - The Main Illusions of Pacifism: A Criticism of Mr. Norman Angell and of the Union of Democratic Control (Cambridge, UK: Bowes and Bowes, 1916), by G. G. Coulton (multiple formats at archive.org)... The New Industrial Day (Redfield) - The New Industrial Day (New York: The Century Co., 19113), by William Cox Redfield (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Political Conditions of Allied Success (Angell) - The Political Conditions of Allied Success: A Plea for the Protective Union of the Democracies (New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1918), by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Press and the Organisation of Society (Angell) - The Press and the Organisation of Society (London: Labour Pub. Co., 1922), by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Struggle for Bread (Germains) - The Struggle for Bread: A Reply to "The Great Illusion" and Enquiry Into Economic Tendencies (London and New York: John Lane; Toronto: Bell and Cockburn, 1913), by Victor Wallace Germains (multiple formats at archive.org)... To the American Student (Angell) - To the American Student: An Open Letter (New York: American Association for International Conciliation, 1914), by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... What is "National Honor"? The Challenge of the Reconstruction (Perla) - What is "National Honor"? The Challenge of the Reconstruction (New York: Macmillan, 1918), by Leo Perla, contrib. by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... The World's Highway (Angell) - The World's Highway: Some Notes on America's Relation to Sea Power and Non-Military Sanctions for the Law of Nations (New York: George H. Doran Co., c1915), by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... The Great Illusion (Angell) - The Great Illusion: A Study of the Military Power to National Advantage (London: W. Heinemann, 1912), by Norman Angell (multiple formats at archive.org)... CLIR Issues - CLIR Issues (full serial archives)... Ambit - Ambit (partial serial archives)... The Book of Poetry (Legge) - The Book of Poetry (English translations and introductions from the 1876 Trubner edition, as reprinted in Shanghai, 1931), trans. by James Legge (HTML at sacred-texts.com)... Just Two Clicks ˇ Jonathan Raban: The Virtual Life of Neil Entwistle - As Barack Obama never tires of saying, America is a country where 'ordinary people can do extraordinary things.' In January 2006, Neil Entwistle, a seemingly ordinary 27-year-old Englishman with an honours degree from the University of York, who had been living in the US for barely four months, shot dead his American wife, Rachel, and their baby daughter, Lillian, with a long-barrelled Colt .22 revolver borrowed from his father-in-law's gun collection. By the time the bodies were discovered in their house in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, huddled together beneath a rumpled duvet in the brand-new four-poster bed bought by the couple just ten days before, Entwistle was home in England, living with his parents in Worksop, as if what had happened in America was a violent dream from which he'd woken to reality in his old back bedroom at 27 Coleridge Road.... A Man or a Girl's Blouse? ˇ Jeremy Harding: Serbia after Karadzic - At the time of the parliamentary elections in Serbia earlier this summer, the possibility that Radovan Karadzic, once the leader of the Bosnian Serbs, might be handed over to stand trial at The Hague seemed remote. The acquittal of the former KLA leader Ramush Haradinaj in April had stunned opinion in Serbia and added to the sense that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was a Serb-grinding machine which spat out Bosnians, Kosovo Albanians and Croats intact. The idea of any more Serbs going on trial was not popular: even someone like Karadzic, born in Montenegro, long resident in Sarajevo and regarded by many as a ludicrous figure. His arrest late last month illustrates how rapidly things are changing in Serbia, and how keen the new pro-European leadership is to drive its policies forward. The process of EU accession has long been conditional on the delivery of the big three: Karadzic, Goran Hadzic, a Croatian Serb wanted for the massacre of Croats in Vukovar ... Past Its Peak ˇ Michael Klare on the Oil Crisis - Unlike the oil 'shocks' of the 1970s, the current energy crisis is almost certain to be long-lasting. None of the quick fixes proposed by pundits and politicians - drilling in protected wilderness and maritime areas, curbs on commodity speculators, pressure on members of Opec to increase output - is likely to have much impact. In 1973-74 and again in 1979-80, events in the Middle East led to a sharp reduction in the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf, causing a contraction in global supplies and a rise in energy prices, and thus sparking a global recession. But when equilibrium of a sort was restored to the region, the oil began to flow again and the crisis passed. Now, however, the imbalance between supply and demand is largely due to factors inherent in oil commerce itself - and so is less easily solved.... Madame Matisse's Hat ˇ T.J. Clark: On Matisse - Henri Matisse's portrait of his wife, Amélie Parayre, was first shown at the Salon d'Automne in 1905. The catalogue called it simply La Femme au chapeau. Journalists soon decided (or pretended) that Matisse's painting was scandalous, and the public turned up in droves to make fun of it. So far so predictable: the script was forty years old. But on 15 November something unusual happened. Two paragraphs of real and vehement criticism appeared in the Symbolist journal L'Hermitage, signed by the painter-critic Maurice Denis. Ever since, they have haunted our picture of 20th-century art: What one finds above all, particularly in Matisse, is artificiality; not literary artificiality, which follows from the search to give expression to ideas; nor decorative artificiality, as the makers of Turkish and Persian carpets conceived it; no, something more abstract still; painting beyond every contingency, painting in itself, the pure act of painting . . . What you are doing, Matisse, is dialectic: y... When the Floods Came ˇ James Meek on England's Water - Looking through the photographs I took in Tewkesbury in May, I found two pictures of Chuck Pavey and his floodwater hand. There's Pavey, a 66-year-old retired electrician in a Manchester United hooded top, a wispy white pageboy haircut and dark glasses, standing by a wall on the bank of the River Avon. He's holding his right hand horizontally in the air, about thirty centimetres above the top of the wall, which comes up to his waist. The olive-coloured Avon ripples away, three or four metres further below. In the background is an arched pedestrian bridge, a willow tree with its lower fronds stroking the water, and the massive red brick wall of a derelict flour mill. In the next picture, Pavey is standing next to the freshly whitewashed wall of the White Bear pub, looking more agitated, as if he's afraid I still haven't got the point. It's the same stance, except that this time the hand has risen above his head. It hovers about two metres above the level of the road; it comes three-quar... Upwards and Onwards ˇ Stefan Collini: On Raymond Williams - When Raymond Williams died suddenly, aged 66, in January 1988, estimations of him were sharply divided. There were those who regarded him as a deservedly influential literary and cultural critic, a major socialist theorist and an exemplary instance of the union of intellectual seriousness and political purpose. There were others who thought he had for too long enjoyed an inflated reputation, that he was a muddy thinker and verbose writer who had been swept to a form of cultural celebrity by the vogue for working-class sentimentalism in the 1960s and lefter-than-thou self-righteousness in the 1970s.... The Iron Rule ˇ Jacqueline Rose: Bernhard Schlink's Guilt - Towards the end of Bernhard Schlink's best-known novel, The Reader, the narrator is pondering his future after taking his state exam in law. He has just seen his former lover, Hanna Schmitz, convicted of war crimes: she had been a concentration camp guard, something he hadn't known when she seduced him as a 15-year-old boy. None of the roles he saw played out in court appeals to him: 'Prosecution seemed to me as grotesque a simplification as defence, and judging was the most grotesque oversimplification of all.' He has lost his belief in post-Enlightenment law as enacting a gradual but steady progress towards 'greater beauty and truth, rationality and humanity, despite terrible setbacks and retreats'. Now the law seems to him more like Odysseus' journey - a process that endlessly circles back to its original starting point only to set off again. In this reading, the Odyssey is a story of motion, at once successful and futile, driven and without aim: 'What else is the history of law?'... Diary ˇ Jenny Diski tries to stay awake - If you set aside the incomparable cruelty and stupidity of human beings, surely our most persistent and irrational activity is to sleep. Why would we ever allow ourselves to drop off if sleeping was entirely optional? Sleep is such a dangerous place to go to from consciousness: who in their right mind would give up awareness, deprive themselves of control of their senses, volunteer for paralysis, and risk all the terrible things (and worse) that could happen to a person when they're not looking? As chief scientist in charge of making the world a better place, once I'd found a way of making men give birth, or at least lactate, I'd devote myself to abolishing the need for sleep. Apart from the dangers of letting your guard down, there's the matter of time.... Letters - The letters page from London Review of Books Volume 30 issue 16... Table of contents - Table of contents from London Review of Books Volume 30 issue 16... Copyright © 2008, Top Websites. All Rights Reserved. |
