Fallen Leaves
Last Words on Life, Love, War & God
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Fallen Leaves
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Narrated by:
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Grover Gardner
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By:
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Will Durant
About this listen
The final and most personal work from Pulitzer Prize - winning author and historian Will Durant - discovered 32 years after his death - is a message of insight for everyone who has sought meaning in life or the council of a wise friend in navigating life's journey.
From 1968 to 1978, Will Durant made four public allusions to the existence of Fallen Leaves. One, in 1975, hinted at its contents: "a not very serious book that answers the questions of what I think about government, life, death, and God." And in 1975: "I propose... to answer all the important questions, simply, fairly, and imperfectly." Even into his 90s,he worked on the book daily, writing it out on legal notepads. Upon his death in 1981, no one, not even the Durant heirs, knew if he had completed it, or even if it still existed. Thirty-two years later, in a granddaughter's attic trunk, the manuscript was discovered.
Fallen Leaves is Will Durant's most personal book. It is precisely as he described: 22 short chapters on everything from youth and old age, religion and morals, to sex, war, politics, and art. The culmination of Durant's 60-plus years spent researching the philosophies, religions, arts, sciences, and civilizations from across the world, Fallen Leaves is the distilled wisdom of a gifted scholar with a renowned talent for rendering the insights of the past accessible. In its preface Durant mentions that over the course of his career, he received letters from "curious readers who have challenged me to speak my mind on the timelessquestions of human life and fate." With Fallen Leaves, he accepted their challenge. It contains strong opinions, elegant prose, and deep insights into the human condition as only Will Durant could provide, as well as his revealing conclusions about the perennial problems and greatest joys we face as a species.
©2014 John Little and the Estate of Will and Ariel Durant (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Fallen Leaves
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 29-06-21
Want to learn why history is important?
This book is as insightful now as when it was written. The perspective gained from a life of history and philosophy is enviable, Durant crackles with wisdom on every line.
As promised Durant puts his own opinions forward unapologetically for once, it’s a refreshing departure from his previous works. 10/10.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Krzysztof Otto
- 28-09-22
Time flies...
It's just too much unfounded conservatism and blatant sexism for a modern ear. And I think even in the '70s it was still too much.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 10-10-22
Naive even for it's day.
Durant was ultimately a bit of an utopian, though at least he seems to have understood that he was most likely being naive.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Joshua
- 04-04-22
Very out of touch
The narration is lovely. The 2 stars are for the quality of the work only.
His historical understanding is tenuous and his commentaries on things like gender, art, education are very outdated. He appears to be a Malthusian Darwinist which is proto-eugenical. There are some nice quotes littered about but the majority of what he says was out of touch for when it was written, and even more so now. The broadstrokes are the same but that's philosophy/ontology you can find basically anywhere else and without the corruption of centuries outdated rhetoric.
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1 person found this helpful