Originally published @ 11:32 pm, Tue 1st Dec 2009
When Claudius tells Pollio that he is one of Rome's two greatest historians and names Livy as the other, Pollio presses Claudius to choose one as "two greatest is just shilly shally apart from being an abuse of the Roman tongue."
Ever the diplomat, Claudius responds by saying that it depends on what he is reading for.
He would read Livy for beauty of language.
He would read Pollio for interpretation of fact.
And he would read John O’Farrell’s “An Utterly Exasperated History of Modern Britain: or Sixty Years of Making the Same Stupid Mistakes as Always” if he just wanted to laugh out loud. It’s nice to be reminded of events and stories from our recent past, knowing that the stories may not be comprehensive collection, and are generally followed up with an anecdote and a punch-line. Good holiday reading. So might be Ben Elton’s “Meltdown”. However, this satire on the credit crisis and politics seems more convincing when talking about the nature of wealthy people’s parties and their problems with child minders. And - WARNING if you don't want to know how the story turns out, look away now - it turns out the main characters are saved when they start to write successful books. Hmmm.