Book-Beaten

 

 

Well, this is a first.

 

And it’s kinda embarrassing.

 

A book has defeated me.

 

Sure, probably a half-dozen or so books I start each year don’t move me. So with a “Life’s too short to read a bad book,” I set it aside with all due reverence and respect. Some I realize I am not ready for, and place atop a pile to revisit at some point in the future. Others I realize I will never be ready for, and return them for pennies at the used book shops. And a tiny percentage gall me so bad I simply toss them in the trash (this has only happened twice, though).

 

But I’m kinda embarrassed to admit that, yes, Edward Gibbon’s History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire has beaten me. Not for reasons that you might think. I still enjoy the topic immensely. I’ve learned Gibbon’s foibles and prejudices, and I’m okay with them. I just can’t physically read the book.

 

Yes, you read that right.

 

Over the past week or so I’ve been going to bed with terrible headaches. Centered at the front of my brain. My eyes, specifically. From about eight p.m. on I can’t read at all, whether it’s my daily spiritual reading, whether its my side read, and especially if it’s Gibbon.

 

The version of The History of the Decline I am currently reading is from the Great Books of the Western World series. Now, I’ve read other books from this series without ill effect. But something with the tiny-sized print, the double-columns per page, the two-hundred sentence paragraphs, well, it all just perfect-stormed it’s way into making my eyes – and my brain – strain terribly.

 

So I must with great reluctance set it aside.

 

I am coming up to the end of Volume II in 48 pages. My par is 10 pages a night, so I’ll continue with it throughout this upcoming week. The work itself has six volumes, so I’ll have made it through two complete volumes in six weeks. Not bad. I did learn a few interesting things about Gibbon, the History of the Decline, and the Roman Empire itself I will blog about in a few days. 

 

I originally had the idea (actually, Tolkien came to me in a dream and commanded me to take up the work) of reading The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire for the four months my oldest daughter will be studying abroad in Italy. Well, the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. I’m getting heavy vibes that Little One would want me to switch over to modern, cutting-edge hard SF this spring, so, hey, that’s what I’m going to start. And with that will come more book reviews. Yay!

 

Happy reading to all, but don’t read so much you lose your eyesight!