Sunday, December 18, 2011

Ever worry about how much time you spend on the internet?


Yeah. Me too.

I'm re-reading Kenneth Clark's book Civilisation, the companion thing to his brilliant and ever-new 1960s BBC TV series examining the growth of Western Civilisation through its art. Or, I should say, I was reading it. Because, of course, it didn't take me long to figure out that the series is on YouTube. So guess which book is now sitting by my bed gathering dust?

Sigh...

Oh well, there's always Vasari, who isn't on the net, as far as I can see (yes, I've looked). And when I start feeling better and get back to regular working hours, I'm going to start getting into Rome at least three or four days a week. Which means at least two hours a day of reading time. Which is how I got through the entire oeuvre of Jane Austen.

Amen.



~

3 comments:

Mark S. Abeln said...

Years back, perhaps back in the '80s, I saw a Soviet propaganda film, which showed people queued up in a library, showing their identification cards to be allowed entry.

Was I ever happy to be in the U.S. of A., where I was free! Showing IDs, just to go to a library? Absurd.

But just the other day, I visited a library, where there was a queue of people showing ID cards to gain entry. Alas.

Anonymous said...

But the Soviet library at least had books in it! American libraries barely do anymore! Those people were just too poor to check facebook at home, let em show id, I don't care. - Karen

Gary said...

Miss White, I give you...Vasari.

in English:

http://www.archive.org/details/

storiesoftheital007995mbp

(I split the URL to fit in the comment box.)


and the original Italian:

http://bepi1949.altervista.org/vasari/vasari00.htm

Buon Natale!