It doesn't take much to become cynical about Western civilization. Just read I, Claudius by Robert Graves. It is a trifle melodramatic and depressing, but richly detailed with a believable recreation of Roman times.

The only thing I can't take seriously or believe are the too convenient encounters between Claudius as a youth with Pollio and Livy -- both famous historians --who oblige Claudius to tell them which one of the two he prefers, and also refuse to answer his question about the truth of Roman history... This whole episode is one of the best in the book as Claudius tries to unravel the concealed truths of past times...

• "Come on, Livy," said Pollio. "Answer the young student. What really happened?"
  
  Livy said; "Another time. Let's keep to the matter in hand now, which is a general discussion of the proper way to write history. Claudius, my friend, you have ambitions that way. Which of us two old worthies will you choose as a model?"
  
  "You make it very difficult for the boy, you jealous fellows," put in Sulpicius. "What do you expect him to answer?"
  
  "The truth will offend neither of us," answered Pollio.
  
  I looked from one face to the other. At last I said, "I think I would choose Pollio. As I am sure that I can never hope to attain Livy's inspired literary elegance, I shall do my best to imitate Pollio's accuracy and diligence."

Later in the novel, poor Claudius tries to understand why his own grandmother may have poisoned her own husband and son...

Of course, the Romans make no sense and Robert Graves, the author, stretches the believability of a lot of things, including inventing letters written between Augustus and Livia that probably were never ever written, as he makes them too obvious and blunt and heavy-handed...

Reality Switch Technologies: Psychedelics as Tools for the Discovery and Exploration of New Worlds

Soon as I can get my stuff out of storage (including my library) I will read it again. Really heady stuff.

Old book I will let go , just Testing to see if this works.

just started:



During the Vietnam War the United States government waged a massive, secret air war in neighboring Laos. Two million tons of bombs were dropped on one million people. Fred Branfman, an educational advisor living in Laos at the time, interviewed over 1,000 Laotian survivors. Shocked by what he heard and saw, he urged them to record their experiences in essays, poems, and pictures. Voices from the Plain of Jars was the result of that effort. When first published in 1972, this book was instrumental in exposing the bombing. In this expanded edition, Branfman follows the story forward in time, describing the hardships that Laotians faced after the war when they returned to find their farm fields littered with cluster munitions--explosives that continue to maim and kill today.

ceoreg123 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 24, 2024 4:12 pm Reality Switch Technologies: Psychedelics as Tools for the Discovery and Exploration of New Worlds

I guess this band would qualify for the soundtrack

My books are still in storage in Saigon ... but these two are great reads. Both non-fiction. Never Fall Down is really hard to read because it is about a kid who survived the Khmer Rouge and went through the worst of the worst to make it out alive. Tear jerker.