The Book of Isiah wasn't doing it for me so I decided to work on "Civilization" by Roger Osborne for awhile; This may be a mistake I have the feeling that this going to be one of those books that pisses me off.
Be that as it may I have decided to analyze each chapter as I go.
In the prologue Mr. Osborne asserts that the idea of civilization is a fiction dreamt up in the 18th century by intellectual elites seeking to explain the state of man. That there is in fact no intellectual tradition that defines the west as a culture and that our acceptance of the idea that there is is buying into a fraud.
As he discusses the subject of his book it becomes apparent (to me at least) that Mr. Osborne is not an admirer of western civilization, declaring that it breaks up communities and families in pursuit of cheaper goods. The only period about which he seems to have anything good to say is the counter-culture of the 60's for their rejection of materialism, and they get on his shit-list for selling out later in life.
This is only the prologue so my impression may change but so far I have the idea that Osborne would be much happier if we were all living in mud huts unable to read his book because writing hadn't been invented. Of course you should take all this with a grain of salt. I am not a historian and my opinion is worth exactly what you paid for it.
Roger Osborne
Civilization
History
Books
No comments:
Post a Comment