NP but is anyone out there reading The English and their History or SPQR?

[Gary Webb]

I recently read Burr based on a recommendation I got from the fellow p-listers. Aaron Burr has garnered a reputation similar  to that of a Cataline of sorts, at least until Vidal gave him a voice. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Nov 23, 2015, at 11:41 AM, Monte Davis <montedavis49 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> It always feels odd to find yourself in one of those waves. A few months ago I had a chance to binge the second season (2006-2007) of HBO's 'Rome,' which I'd missed the first time around... which left a few questions in my mind, prompting me recently to pick up Tom Holland's 2003 'Rubicon' for a refresher on the period (admirably clear narrative, not much new insight)... which I finished the day I heard SPQR was coming out.
> 
> As I've mentioned here before, among the pleasures of Gore Vidal's "Narratives of Empire" novels are their occasional (but cumulative and deliberate) linkages of US and Roman history --  parallels not so much in the course of events or the major actors as in the pretty lies an empire cultivates to reassure itself it's still a sturdy, modest republic at heart. Vidal disparaged Pynchon, ostensibly on stylistic grounds but I suspect really because he wanted to be the only one rewriting the Aeneid for our times. 
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narratives_of_Empire
> 
>> On Mon, Nov 23, 2015 at 9:33 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>> not me...but this is interesting tome.....SPQR is REALLY selling for
>> the 'specialized' book it is.
>> Yes, Ms. Beard is among the best........but neither she nor her
>> publisher seemed to think there was
>> a wave to catch, yet she did......
>> 
>> On Sun, Nov 22, 2015 at 9:31 PM, gary webb <gwebb8686 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > The English and their History by Robert Toombs
>> >
>> > SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
>> >
>> > Both are excellent and well written about two former empires. I love Mary
>> > Beard's bit about "Quoseque tandem..." taken from Cicero's denunciation of
>> > the "conspirator" Catiline.
>> >
>> > Just started both...
>> -
>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
> 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20151123/b85f5b09/attachment.html>