First and Last Things
By: Richard Hoggart
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2017
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 234
ISBN-13: 9781351324328
Subjects: English teachers; Biography; Intellectuals; Aging; Professeurs d'anglais; Biographies; Intellectuels; Vieillissement
Description: "Part meditation, part commonplace book, First and Last Things is an attempt by a writer of great distinction and strong convictions to take stock of his beliefs and values. Here, Richard Hoggart considers the big questions without shortchanging readers with easy answers. He examines problems (as he sees them) of faith; the mysterious origins of conscience; the importance of family and friends; the value of literature; the nature of memory; and the need, in old age, to find some value in existence. To these issues, and many others, the author brings a lifetime of rich experience and a mind well stocked with the best that has been written by those who have gone before. What emerges above all in this work is Richard Hoggart's love of, almost obsession with, quotations from great authors, especially, of course, Shakespeare. He muses on the business of capitalism and democracy, noting a reluctant conclusion that democracy is the least worst form of government, and that capitalism is its inevitable partner, but one which democratic societies should treat with "a very long spoon." He argues that market and consumer driven societies are inevitably led to relativism, head-counting, and populism. The result is a book that is introspective without being self-absorbed, that is thought-provoking but never preaching, that is, profound without being portentous. First and Last Things is a work that the young should read, if only to discover how much there is still to understand, and one that the old will treasure."--Provided by publisher.
Table of contents: title: Chapter Prologue: Looking for the Grave; title: part PART ONE: The Grand Perhaps!; title: chapter 1 'The Heart has its Reasons': On Belief, Unbelief and Morals; title: chapter 2 On Love of Others and Self-Love; title: part PART TWO: Living in the Present; title: chapter 3 The Uneasy Alliance: On Capitalism and Democracy; title: chapter 4 On Classes and Masses: The Cleft Society; title: part PART THREE: On the Senses: An Earthy Interlude; title: chapter 5 'Be Happy, Precious Five'; title: part PART FOUR: Mainstays: 'Holdfast is the Only Dog'; title: chapter 6 On Neighbours and Family; title: chapter 7 On Words, Books, Reading and Readers; title: part PART FIVE: Accompanied Baggage; title: chapter 8 The Landscapes of Memory; title: chapter 9 The Sense of an Ending.