Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays on this Fourth of July. If you are here in the US, I hope you have fun plans for the holiday. We're having neighbors over for a pot luck, which I am really looking forward to. 

As always on Book Beginnings, please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

Amongst the novel objects that attracted my attention during my stay in the United States, nothing struck me more forcibly than the general equality of conditions. I readily discovered the prodigious influence which this primary fact exercises on the whole course of society, by giving a certain direction to public opinion, and a certain tenor to the laws; by imparting new maxims to the governing powers, and peculiar habits to the governed.

-- from Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville. 

Democracy in America seems like a good pick for Independence Day. De Tocqueville was a French political scientist and diplomat who travelled extensively in the United States in 1831. He wrote Democracy in America to record his observations of the government, culture, literature, and attitudes of the new country. 

I think Democracy in America is one of those classics that is appreciated for its existence more than it is actually read. My copy, pictured above, belonged to my husband when he was in law school in the 1970s. I can see from his margin notes that he, like I did in law school 15 years later, read "in" the book but didn't read the whole book. Fair enough. It's dense. 

Have you read Democracy in America? Or read in it? I still plan to read the whole thing, which is why I hang onto my husband's vintage copy. Although now that I take a closer look at the cover, I see this edition is "specially edited and abridged for the modern reader." I'm such a completist, I think I will have to find an unabridged version if I ever get around to reading it.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.

Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from Democracy in America:

When a nation modifies the elective qualification, it may easily be foreseen that sooner or later that qualification will be entirely abolished. There is no more invariable rule in the history of society: the further electoral rights are extended, the greater is the need of extending them; for after each concession the strength of the democracy increases, and its demands increase with its strength.

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59) came to America in 1831 to see what a great republic was like. What struck him most was the country's equality of conditions, its democracy. The book he wrote on his return to France, Democracy in America, is both the best ever written on democracy and the best ever written on America. It remains the most often quoted book about the United States, not only because it has something to interest and please everyone, but also because it has something to teach everyone.