/lit/ - Literature

>>13330496
>>13330558
No, he's actually right. The "Dark Ages" notion was invented by Petrarch to describe everything since the fall of Rome. Then later that smoothbrain Gibbon bought into a bunch of Anti-Catholic propaganda and made some shit up about some kind of nuclear meltdown of civilization in which all science and technology was lost and all of Europe backslid into primitive barbarism.

Except that's actually the exact opposite of what happened. Rome collapsed, but Western and Central Europe developed enormously during the "dark ages," much of it went from tribal barbarians to developed feudal societies, which is a huge step up from what it had been. The Greek Romans were doing just fine as well, in fact they did their best work during the dark ages, and they were perfectly Christian.

The whole concept is just retarded. The Dark Ages didn't happen.

>>8959477
Oh. In that case I have actually recommendations.

It isn't really a book ABOUT these things, but it sounds like one, and it's an incredible story about stupid people.

A Confederacy of Dunces. Maybe one of the saddest stories behind a book ever (the author offed himself because he thought he was a failure, his mother pushed for his book to be published for years before an editor actually read it and realized it was pure genius published it.)

It's a great read and it helped shape my childhood. My dad used to read me bedtime stories, but we never really stopped. Instead every night before bedtime he and I would sit by the fireplace and read together in silence, and if I saw something funny I'd show it to him, and vice versa. It was only when I left for college that we stopped, though I kept sending him letters (later emails) about what I was reading until he died.

I forget where I'm going with this. Oh, right. Read that fucking book, because that's where it all started for me. The love of literature.