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LOCAL Announcement :: Elections & Legislation : Miscellaneous

Feb 3 Thur 7pm: "Democracy" & Its Discontents: A Look at Henry Adams' Political Novel

Open University of the Left presents:
"Democracy" and Its Discontents: A Look at Henry Adams' Political Novel.
February 3, Thursday, 7:00 PM
Acme Art Works, 1741 N. Western Ave., Chicago
Henry Adams.gif
The Open University of the Left presents:
"Democracy" and Its Discontents: A Look at Henry Adams' Political Novel

WRITER/CRITIC HUGH IGLARSH leads a session on Henry Adams' 1879 novel, DEMOCRACY, an examination of the inner workings of the political process in Gilded Age America. After a century and a quarter, this tragicomic novel of ideas retains its bite. The heroine, the young widow Mrs. Madeleine Lee, is the alter ego of Henry Adams himself – a detached and intelligent aristocrat bent on understanding the forces shaping the modern age, yet fearful of becoming entangled in the corruption and materialism just under the surface of elite Washington society. Mrs. Lee is courted by the powerful Senator Silas Ratcliffe, a kingmaker and likely future president. Ratcliffe is one of the memorable characters in American fiction, a shrewd, egotistic, yet compelling amoralist who embodies the age of Grant and Jay Gould.

Witty, penetrating and profound, DEMOCRACY is a great read and a valuable reminder that electoral shenanigans and corporate payola have deep roots in American soil. In Adams' view, political corruption is not an aberration; it is the fist within the glove of our democratic institutions. Then as now, politicos and public intellectuals need and use each other.
DEMOCRACY is about the seductions of power within a system that has lost its sense of shame and confuses personal ambition with public good.

FROM THE NOVEL:
"With a sigh of despair Madeleine went on: ‘Who, then, is right? How can we all be right? Half of our wise men declare that the world is going straight to perdition; the other half that it is fast becoming perfect. Both cannot be right. There is only one thing in life,' she went on, laughing, ‘that I must and will have before I die. I must know whether America is right or wrong. Just now this question is a very practical one, for I really want to know whether to believe in Mr. Ratcliffe. If I throw him overboard, everything must go, for he is only a specimen.'"

WHEN & WHERE:
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 7:00 PM at ACME ART WORKS, 1741 N. WESTERN AVE.
(at St. Paul Street), Chicago, two blocks south of the Western stop on the CTA Blue Line.

WHO:
HUGH IGLARSH has led previous OUL sessions on Melville, Conrad and the U.S. Constitution. He politely suggests that event attendees make an effort to read the novel, which is short, painless and available at libraries and used bookstores. If this is impossible, please come anyway and enjoy the discussion.

HOW MUCH:
$5 donation if you have it; no one turned away.

FOR MORE INFO:
E-mail OULChicago (at) yahoo.com or call 773-384-5797 if you have a question or would like to lead an OUL session.

ABOUT THE OUL:
The Open University of the Left (OUL) is an independent forum founded in 1987 to organize presentations and discussion groups about politics, literature, philosophy, history and social theory. Events are open to all regardless of political orientation.
 
 

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