That was said by Prince William Henry, Duke of Glouster and Edinburgh to Mr Edward Gibbon who wrote " The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". A magnum opus in every sense of the word. Even I haven't waded thru that total employment of the King's English in it's entirety. The parts I have had occasion to read are actually quite good. The guy is readable. Prince William's remark was one of the great put-downs.
It made me think of "Bulfinch's Mythology". Now there was a tome and it's been a standard text for generations. Greek Mythology is spectacular as fantasy, science fiction, imaginative fiction. It's the basis for so much of Greek tragedy and general drama. Yeah, this guy managed to make it dry as dust and basically killed it. You try reading that shit. Even I couldn't do it and in those days I smoked dope.
I'm not big on memorizing dates except in a general way. It is good to have a sense of the order of events. If you have a sense of that you can better understand why this guy did or said this when he did. Sometimes when she did. That's a different discussion. So much of history is dismissed as memorizing dates. That's too bad. If I know the era I can look up the dates.
To me, history reads like a good novel. It's certainly not history's fault some of the writers suck. McHistory or the History Channel has kinda bridged that gap if the bridge builder lacked opposable thumbs. At least it's got people interested. Sometimes that leads to more detailed reading. I can't tell you the times I've been reading some historian or other and said to myself, " So that's why!" Things that make ya go hmmm. I like that.
So, there is a point. Honest! I can think of three real tomes that are very popular. For my generation it's "The Lord of the Rings". If you count "The Hobbit" and the "Silmarillion" that's gotta be 1,600 pages. In actuality, it's a rip off of Norse Mythology but in practice, it's a detailed history complete with dates and significant personages whom we all know. It is good and evil. It has pith and moment.
The other that comes immediately to mind is all the Harry Potter novels. More good and evil and pith and moment. Each one seemingly longer and more detailed than the other. Then we come to the current magnum opus: " A Song of Fire and Ice". About ten of you know that's the real title of the series of novels known as "Game of Thrones".
They're all histories. They have important personages and pivotal dates. We all can recite them. We all know the figures true motivations and impacts. What are we talking about, maybe 5,000 pages total?
If the average person had spent as much time reading the history of their own culture as they have reading this drek we would live in a far better society. It would be damned hard to sell a person thusly informed a bill of goods as we so often see today and sadly yesterday. Jesus! If you think you only have so much time to read, read something worthwhile. It's fascinating. Honest!
Here's some examples. Did you know that JFK was actually in the gallery at the British Parliament when they declared war on Germany in 1939? He was so good at managing history because he'd seen so much of it first hand. Did you know that Franklin Roosevelt not only had been Secretary of the Navy but made the choice, when struck with polio at 39 years of age to forego extensive rehabilitation to pursue his political career? The career that would make him not just the governor of New York but President? Did you know that's why it's called "The March of Dimes"? Did you know that's why FDR's face is on the dime? Did you know that Harry Truman was not just the last President to not have a college degree but was an artillery captain in France in WWI? Harry also said, "The only thing new under the sun is the history you haven't read yet."
If you had spent as much time reading the history of your own country as you wasted reading "Game of Thrones" you would know those things.
Winter is coming. You'll need something to read.
No comments:
Post a Comment