Fallen Leaves

Fallen Leaves: Final Thoughts on Life Love and God by Will Durant

This is yet another work *ad cor rerum*, to the heart of things. It is incisive in its pursuit of truth and the habits of a good life. Truly, these are the candid disclosures and speculations of an 90-something erudite with a legal pad. Durant was well traveled and well read. He had breathed in the worldview of the greatest recorded minds of civilization, to be exhaled into his breakout success, The Story of Philosophy—a wide ranging tour of the thinkers of the West.

This final work of his, published posthumously, takes a different approach from the other two I've read (the above-mentioned and The Lessons of History). The manuscript was found in a trunk in an attic thirty-two years after his death. It was published in 2014 to what I'd estimate to be a mixed reception.

Durant was writing according to conscience, not to the business case of a publisher. Here he takes a stance on issues and anchors himself to his opinions, with the self-aware asterisk of his own faults and failures. The essays are in true form through both brevity and length, subject variety, and the interwoven lines of thought.

"Let me begin with whatever subject I please, for all subjects are linked with one another." — Montaigne

Each chapter recapitulates neatly in its final paragraph, and the final two chapters (On Education and On the Insights of History) crescendo the work, where it finds its resolution. The arrangement is accessible and the book is short. His observations were occasionally disagreeable to me and dated. He is a product of his times, a fact he acknowledges willingly.

The image of him writing in cursive on a legal pad was etched in my mind's eye throughout this reading and it makes the beauty of his prose more impressive.

There were two excerpts I couldn't keep to myself. The first is a tour of the literary heritage in his recommendations for the education of the members of society. The second is his ultimate perspective on history and the past. These are both found in the final chapters, and rely on having made the journey to the end with him for an appreciative impact.

Finally, the book bears a badge of honor is on its side; it is stamped "discard". Ousted from the shelves of the public library, it made its way to me for a second life.