the marvels of style

Readers of this blog who don’t care for Gibbon are in for a boring summer, because I’m unlikely to stop being fascinated. It is incredible that someone could churn out thousands of pages of such brilliantly elliptical and allusive prose while still telling a coherent story. I’d have a hard time writing one paragraph in that style (though that may be a fun parody project for some future posts… Gibbon writing about the Obama Administration). My only disappointment on the current reread is the boring Chapter VIII on Persia. He should have done much better with such a potentially interesting topic.

My citations of the Decline and Fall will become less noticeable, however, as soon as my own rate of original posts picks up again. This summer is unusually full, between trips to Croatia and England, two other articles due, and an as-yet unstarted book due as well, along with another book due in late December, various editing and administrative projects, and the like.

It’s hard to know where the limits of one’s energy are. Sometimes “inflationary universe” scenarios are possible where you can increase your energy tenfold in a certain sphere just by finding a few time-saving tricks, conserving your powers, or combining multiple tasks into one. Other times you find yourself saying “I was crazy to say yes to this.” There’s no a priori way to know which is which.

If you’re 23 years old and have lots of energy, enjoy it, because it won’t be there forever. But in compensation you’ll learn how to focus your energy better as the years go by.