"The Utopia was there in all its forms; in its warlike form, which admitted the scaffold," Don’t usually think of Utopia as having a warlike form.
"there were fecund silences" So even the silent people can bear fruit, even if it doesn’t seem like anything amid the noise of the debates?
"Duboë, the ordering of the archives" This does sound pretty underwhelming in the face of all the other achievements rattled off.
"Art had its monomaniacs" Could be Hugo placing art on a register near to those of the social-progress crowd, contrasted with the war stuff? Not as clear how it directly benefits the people, but hey, it could be the extreme of "pretentious" contrasted with "practical" thoughts.
"gladiators and philosophers" Here’s an alternative to "athlete," I guess :P
"Revolutions have two slopes, ascent and descent" Back to the mountain imagery from the first section. Makes it feel like a comedown is inevitable, after the dizzying, rarefied extremes of the summit. Where does the slower-going social progress fit in?
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2014-05-23 03:45 pm (UTC)"there were fecund silences" So even the silent people can bear fruit, even if it doesn’t seem like anything amid the noise of the debates?
"Duboë, the ordering of the archives" This does sound pretty underwhelming in the face of all the other achievements rattled off.
"Art had its monomaniacs" Could be Hugo placing art on a register near to those of the social-progress crowd, contrasted with the war stuff? Not as clear how it directly benefits the people, but hey, it could be the extreme of "pretentious" contrasted with "practical" thoughts.
"gladiators and philosophers" Here’s an alternative to "athlete," I guess :P
"Revolutions have two slopes, ascent and descent" Back to the mountain imagery from the first section. Makes it feel like a comedown is inevitable, after the dizzying, rarefied extremes of the summit. Where does the slower-going social progress fit in?