Alison Rini’s Reviews > From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present > Status Update

Life is becoming more familiar (the cocktail was just invented) as we approach the 1940s. Amazing how “recent” this era feels, having started the book back in 1500.

Closing in - next up the 4th and final century, starting with The Great War. Just finished reading about revolutions in the arts (cubism, a-tonal music like Stravinsky), Freud and Nietzsche’s unconventional explanations, and a new fascination with primitivism. Things have been off the rails for quite a while, apparently!

Late 1800’s… things are starting to go off the rails. Specifically in music at this point - focus on deconstruction and “purity” rather than just making and appreciating beautiful music. We kind of know where this is heading…

Loving reading about the French Revolution and heading to Paris this week!
Le plus que les choses changent…
(Might be spelled correctly who knows; the more things change…)

Lots happening in Paris in 1788… wonder what comes next….

Quite a dense book, but getting so much easier to read as the years progress and I have more background knowledge. Now scientists like Lavoisier and Ben Franklin, artists like Bach, and writers like Voltaire and Rousseau are showing up and it is quite amazing to realize all of this was happening simultaneously.