The Swerve
How the World Became Modern

"When we say...that pleasure is the end and aim of life, we do not mean the pleasures of the prodigal or the pleasures of sensuality, as we are understood to do by some through ignorance, prejudice, or willful misrepresentation. By pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in t......more

The Anti-Climactic Swerve Greenblatt is a good story-teller and delivers good entertainment value here, but not much informative or educational value, except as an enticing short introductory to Lucretius, Bruno and Montaigne. As Greenblatt acknowledges, there is no single explanation for the emer......more

Two thousand years ago a Roman named Lucretius wrote a poem that described a universe guided by physical laws rather than the whims of mystical deities and also advised that people should pursue happiness rather than spend their lives trying to appease gods who don’t exist . As I write this in 2012......more

O carte despre o răsturnare istorică (oare de ce preferăm cărțile de acest gen?), scrisă cu un simț narativ deosebit, dar prea puțin convingătoare. De cele mai multe ori prefer o astfel de carte tocmai pentru ipoteza îndrăzneață pe care istoricul încearcă s-o justifice, deși pînă și el știe că încer......more