Why I Didn't Finish Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

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  • Опубліковано 23 гру 2024

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  • @mantroog
    @mantroog 3 місяці тому

    The 8 volume Folio Society edition has footnotes at the bottom, but the introduction says they are "only a selection from the great number he wrote."

    • @MustReadMore
      @MustReadMore  3 місяці тому

      Thanks for letting me know. I didn't know that about the Folio Society edition, but that adds a whole new problem into the mix. I thought for sure that the Folio Society edition would be complete.
      Now I'm wondering if my Brittanica edition has all the footnotes - and it strikes me that I could buy a second set and leave it open to the footnotes as I go along.

  • @ToReadersItMayConcern
    @ToReadersItMayConcern 4 місяці тому +3

    Oh no! That's the worst! I have the Everyman Library edition of Gibbon, and thankfully that includes the footnotes at the bottom. With Gibbon that is especially essential. I don't mind endnotes if the info is purely bibliographical, but when it includes extra information and analysis, the sort of stuff I'm guaranteed to peruse, then I absolutely want it on the bottom of the page. Stephen Kotkin's biography of Stalin is a prime example of this not being done: all of his notes are in endnotes, and he adds tons of useful info in those notes, so it's frustrating to have to constantly flip back and forth. I'm currently reading the Library of America Collected Stories of Donald Barthelme, and that has an even worse problem: it has strictly endnotes, but there is no number letting you know when an endnote applies; you just have to keep checking if you see a word or phrase that's confusing and hope there's an endnote for it. Nothing more useless and distracting than that.

    • @MustReadMore
      @MustReadMore  4 місяці тому +1

      Barthelme's hidden endnotes sound incredibly frustrating, although I suppose you could try writing down phrases from the endnotes and keep it near as you're reading, but that would also be a bit irritating to have to do, particularly if you were to accidentally read something in the endnotes that spoiled a part of the book you haven't gotten to yet.
      When it comes to footnotes in fiction, I read Infinite Jest several years ago and I loved Wallace's footnotes even though they were also all lumped together in the back of the book. I didn't mind because they were mostly spread out, so flipping back and forth didn't feel like a hassle. Also, I liked reading the footnotes in Danielewski's House of Leaves, and actually that's probably the book that started my love of footnotes in general, back when I was 14 or so. Footnotes in fiction can feel kind of like a treasure hunt if they're done well, exciting rather than irritating.
      I've looked at the Everyman's box set of Gibbon and also the Folio Society, but I haven't yet found them at a price I'm willing to pay. I have so many books already that I can't justify spending forty to a hundred dollars, but one day I know I'll find the right edition at a thrift store or on clearance. I really enjoyed reading Gibbon, I'd have never believed that a 250-year-old book could be so exciting and feel hardly in any way old fashioned, it's almost like Gibbon is right in the room with you.

    • @Amysdustybookshelf
      @Amysdustybookshelf 4 місяці тому

      @ToReadersItMayConcern how is the font in the Everyman set? I have considered purchasing that edition.

    • @ToReadersItMayConcern
      @ToReadersItMayConcern 4 місяці тому

      @@Amysdustybookshelf The font is still small relative to many books. I'm not sure if it's bigger than the other edition you have. Thankfully, there is footage of my Everyman Library edition, so you can try to compare for yourself: it starts at 16:47 of my Over Ten Books That Excite Me video. I hope that helps you!

    • @davidnovakreadspoetry
      @davidnovakreadspoetry Місяць тому +1

      I read _War and Peace_ in the Everyman’s and suppose their font size is uniform; it was a comfortable read and I found my Penguin _Decline and Fall_ tough going. Mostly I used ebook. But I wish I’d had the Everyman’s.

  • @Amysdustybookshelf
    @Amysdustybookshelf 4 місяці тому

    I dnf'd decline and fall a few years ago because the font in my edition was too small and it had endnotes instead of footnotes on each page. I have it in the back of my mind to get a better edition (likely something multi-volume) and try to read it again sometime soon. I completely agree with you on the footnotes.

    • @MustReadMore
      @MustReadMore  4 місяці тому +1

      What I'd love to find most of all is one of the old library editions in five or six volumes with the footnotes at the bottom of the page, and larger print. It would be so nice to have a more portable easier to read version of Gibbon. Unfortunately, the only times I've seen something like that in person, it's been quite expensive, or if it wasn't expensive, it was in bad shape or missing a book or two.
      Other than the physical issues I had with the Brittanica set, I found Gibbon's writing amazing. I'm sometimes tempted to go ahead and read the version I have; I think that if I limited myself to a chapter a week - I was reading a chapter or two a day when I got frustrated - that maybe the back and forth from narrative to endnotes wouldn't bother me as much.

    • @Amysdustybookshelf
      @Amysdustybookshelf 4 місяці тому

      @MustReadMore I may look into either the Everyman's Library or one of the Folio Society sets. It seems like something that could be enjoyed over the course of a year or so in the right edition. The Folio Sociey books from the 1980s can be had second hand for under $10 a volume, plus shipping. I may buy individually, book by book, and build a set as I have with some other authors. There are some very nice antiquarian sets out there, but they're too pricy for my taste!

    • @MustReadMore
      @MustReadMore  4 місяці тому

      @@Amysdustybookshelf That sounds like a good plan, and I'd probably do that myself, but I only buy books in person - I've learned that I buy too many books as it is to deal with the temptations of ordering books online. Once started, I'm not sure I could stop myself since I love used books, and the ones I like the most also tend to be among the least expensive.
      I think that if I had the choice between the Everyman's and the Folio Society editions, I'd probably go with the one which has a better page set up, I'm not sure which that would be since it's been a while since I've looked through either one. Personally, I think the Everyman's set with either the green and black spines, or the set with the black and white jackets (they may actually be the same set), are more aesthetically appealing.
      When I was reading Decline and Fall, I was reading either ten pages a day minimum or a chapter a day, sometimes more. It was a really nice way of reading the book, I didn't feel swamped or rushed, and I looked forward to it every day until my frustration with the endnotes finally boiled over.

  • @davidnovakreadspoetry
    @davidnovakreadspoetry Місяць тому

    You are cheating yourself if you quit reading for that reason. I prefer footnotes to endnotes, but I found the Penguin hard reading regardless. The ebook wasn’t quite as good because the eye couldn’t do a quick scan to see if it was worth going there.
    That said - while some of Gibbon’s footnotes are phenomenally amusing, I’d say that the vast majority of them can be skipped over. That may sound like heresy to Gibbon fanatics out there. But the book is worth reading.

    • @MustReadMore
      @MustReadMore  Місяць тому +1

      I'm one of those weird people who loves footnotes, I'd be perfectly happy if they were in every nonfiction book. The thing about reading Gibbon is that I know I'll likely only read The Decline and Fall once, so I'd prefer to read all of it when I do. Thanks for commenting!