Harvard Classics Reading Club discussion

Is this group still active?
I just started Franklin's autobiography.
RM

Hello and happy new year!

How do you like the autobiography so far?

Happy New Year!
I really like it! Biography is my favorite genre. They make history come alive. The sentences are sometimes rather long, which sometimes obfuscates the meaning, but the vocabulary is great. The emphasis on industry and frugality is refreshing and inspiring. He always sought out other readers wherever he went. That's what I'm doing here on goodreads. I would love to hear what you think of the book!
Regards,
R

Happy New Year. I recently started reading the Harvard Classics, and I am interested in discussing some of the random thoughts arising as a result of that reading. I look forward to participating in discussions on the material.

Happy New Year! I just wrapped up Volume I. I have to say, Autobiography was by far the best out of these three. Best here for me means accessible, digestible, and I guess somehow "relevant" in today's world. I'm still working through what that last quality actually means given the aim of Eliot's project in the early 20th century.

There is a line in Scudder's Introduction for Woolman that resonated with me as I slogged through his Journal: "To casual or jaded readers who crave the word-embroidery, the heightened note, of the romanticist in style, the result may seem colourless." I guess I AM that casual and jaded reader since I found Woolman to be colorless. I'm not sure where the substance was in his Journal that Scudder touts; it's a great travel log and if you're into displays of written piety, his introductory lines are captivating. Otherwise, I struggled to deeply read his observations. His Chapter IX travels to PA (if I recall the chapter number correctly) and encounters with settlers and indigenous peoples were maybe the climax for the work as a whole.

I'm not sure what I have against Penn, but I felt like he tried really hard to get his enchiridion together. I think there's a lot of lenses one could read his work through, and that might be a worthwhile project for later. But within the context of the other two works in this volume, Penn echoes the collective (Quaker) sentiment of 18th-century thinking. Or I guess he's known for predominantly contributing to what we now view as "Quaker." I enjoyed certain truths that he posited, and I guess that subjectively finding some interests in his work was Eliot's overall goal, no? I do think there's an inevitable rabbit hole one can fall into by reading his work through any critical lens.

I tried to avoid this critical approach for all three authors and just took what they said at face value. I'm looking forward to Volume II! (I'm just reading straight through...)

I initially found Woolman tedious as well. However, after sitting with it for a bit, my perspective changed. In the event it helps spur discussion, I offer some of the thoughts that his journal brought to my mind.

1) I understand that Quakers refer to one another as “Friends”. In the beginning of the Journal, the use of that term really irked me. However, by the end I came to appreciate its power for encouraging meaningful dialog. Mr. Woolman’s belief was very strong, and he never wavered from identifying those he encountered as “Friend”—even when those Friends disagreed with his strongly held beliefs. Identifying someone as “Friend” before engaging in a discussion of differing points of view is an interesting technique for recognizing that the person’s perspective is only one element of a person. Use of the term “Friend” seemed to help Mr. Woolman de-personalize any of the communications, and keep open space for discussion. Some type of a technique like this might actually be helpful to me when in conflict.

2) Initially, I found myself wanting to know more details about his slavery discussions with those Friends who had acquired slaves. The Journal provides no details, and I wondered why such important points were missing. On reflection, though, the lack of details makes its own point. In dealing with his Friends, Mr. Woolman is not focused on “winning” an argument. He instead is the voice of virtue. With his simple act of openly discussing the issue with his Friends, Mr. Woolman forces his Friend to question his/her own vision of themselves as virtuous. In this way, the Friend is forced to deal with the issue within their own hearts and minds long after Mr. Woolman takes his leave. This tactic can be quite valuable when dealing with people, and the Journal serves as a reminder to me when I disagree with the action of others. After his death, the Quakers became active abolitionists (per Wikipedia), and it seems his actions contributed to keeping others thinking about the issues and kept the discussion going long after his death.

3) In order to do what he did, Mr. Woolman resigned himself to a life of humble means. He dedicated his life to his principles, not because he was paid to do so, but because he was a man of deeply held belief. His dedication to a humble life, I presume, gave him credibility. I can imagine that many of his Friends did not want to participate in discussion with him on topics such as slavery. When he asked to visit his Friends, it seems his lack of interest in receiving compensation would have made his visit difficult to refuse. I wonder, in American society do we leave sufficient room for people like him? Many profit seeking entities make money by eroding virtuous strongholds. Processed foods allow people to eat more—people buy more—gluttony. Legalization of drugs erodes the stigma of their use—a stigma that arises from the virtue of temperance, etc. Food manufacturers, drug makers all profit from the erosion of virtue. If people are not encouraged to strive for improvement in the virtues most applicable to their lives will there one day be no more areas of virtue to erode? Will there be no people who value integrity? Is that a world in which I would be able to survive?

4) Mr. Woolman’s concern about the dyeing process hit me with some surprise. Mainly because the problems with clothing are relevant today. in recent weeks the news has run stories about the damage fast and cheap clothing manufacturers are having on the environment. This still has me thinking.

5) My heart breaks a bit for Mr. Woolman. I respect his dedication to these views, but I wonder if he would have benefitted from some relief from the heavy burden he set upon himself.

I would never have read anything about John Woolman if not for deciding to read the Harvard Classics. I wouldn’t have thought so on my initial read, but his Journal has occupied many of my thoughts since reading it. The more I ponder his Journal, the more I come to like it.