I read Paul Fussell's Class back in the mid-'80s. It was fun to read then, and the nuances he highlights were eye-opening to me. Though I'm not sure how much of it applies today. IIRC, he writes:
"Given enough time and money, any man can be made to feel ill at ease in anything but a Brooks Brothers suit."
Since very few men wear suits nowadays (to our great detriment), this is a very dated view. Still, I think the book is worth the time.
Undaunted Courage is excellent and if you travel around the west, you begin to see the true distances they covered. You can also go to Pompey's Pillar near Billings Montana and see where they carved their names into the stone. It's the only actual physical evidence of their journey. Worth the 30 minutes.
"Thank God for the Atom Bomb" and "Uniforms: Why We Are What We Wear – A Revelatory History from Brass Buttons to Blue Jeans and the Hidden Meanings of Attire" so far. "The Great War and Modern Memory" is in my reading queue. So many books, so little time.
I read Paul Fussell's Class back in the mid-'80s. It was fun to read then, and the nuances he highlights were eye-opening to me. Though I'm not sure how much of it applies today. IIRC, he writes:
"Given enough time and money, any man can be made to feel ill at ease in anything but a Brooks Brothers suit."
Since very few men wear suits nowadays (to our great detriment), this is a very dated view. Still, I think the book is worth the time.
Yeah some of it is dated and shows how much we’ve decayed. Still, much of it remains broadly relevant
Thanks for these, enjoy these
Undaunted Courage is excellent and if you travel around the west, you begin to see the true distances they covered. You can also go to Pompey's Pillar near Billings Montana and see where they carved their names into the stone. It's the only actual physical evidence of their journey. Worth the 30 minutes.
Oh I need to go see that
Yeah hiking around the West really adds context to what they accomplished. 30 days in the Bighorn Mountains was more than enough for me!
Paul Fussell was an American gem.
Have you read any of his other books? I haven’t yet, but done looked interesting
"Thank God for the Atom Bomb" and "Uniforms: Why We Are What We Wear – A Revelatory History from Brass Buttons to Blue Jeans and the Hidden Meanings of Attire" so far. "The Great War and Modern Memory" is in my reading queue. So many books, so little time.
Ha, I know the feeling
Disappointing to hear on Watts book on the Romans. Bought a copy a couple weeks back
Yeah I was quite disappointed by it. Some sections are fine, but overall it’s awful
You're reading a dense and probably pretty long history book every couple of days? Are you some kind of savant?
I just have a lot of time to read, and a lot of the longer history books are essentially 1/3 just references rather than writing
But it would be a lot more fun to be a savant