I’ve been sick for 5 days now, and boy is it getting old. A couple days ago I thought I was on the mend, but it has come back with a vengeance–apropos of nothing–except by way of explanation of why I suddenly have the time to write a blog after so much time away. I’m at the office, but I’m avoiding work.
Thinking about the civil war lately, though I don’t know if a song will come out of it. (I tried to write a song about the civil war once, miserably) I’m reading a book called “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All”, which I recommend highly. The writing style reminds me a little of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The author is Allan Gurganus. There’s a lot to recommend the book, but what really appeals to me are the descriptions of battles, in all their gruesome detail, along with the attendant feelings and interpersonal dynamics. I’m no civil war buff. What I am is a pacifist, mostly, and the unglamorous descriptions of war reinforce my feelings about its futility. In other words, the destruction of humanity trumps any justification one can make for waging war. The problem is convincing politicians–and the regular people who allow them to be in power–of this fact. Books like the aforementioned might help the cause.