"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."
Gabriel Garcia Marquez: "One Hundred Years of Solitude"
Hello Bazza, Your Pepys quote exactly describes the situation in Taiwan. We somehow escaped the worst of the virus, but already people are giving up vigilance. They are actually starting to have outdoor events here that attract crowds of mostly younger people, and no one has the sense to stop them. --Jim
I saw the film "The Flu That Killed 50 Million People" some time ago, long before anybody had heard of coronavirus. I watched it again last night, with different eyes. The film finished with the line: what would happen if this 1919 epidemic broke out again in 100 years? Would we have learned anything from the catastrophic Spanish Flu Epidemic?
It is true that the virus is extremely virulent. I have it. My ex and my son both had it (moderate symptoms with a lot of congestion). My symptoms are mild. The flu is much worse. Yes, if you have lung problems, this could be a bad thing and even deadly, but the frenzy surrounding it is in my opinion, an overreaction.
Thank you for your responses everyone. There are a couple of things in my post that would have alerted a keen historian that it is a hoax (even though it has powerful verisimilitude!). Would anyone like to have a guess what they are?
Sherry, I wish you well but I really can't agree with your view on Corvid-19!
Alas, I must not be a keen historian. Even after reading your comment saying the quote is a hoax, I can't pinpoint the clues that should give it away. However, the quote is still darned applicable, isn't it? Perhaps during every medical scourge throughout history, the young people have believed themselves to be invincible. Take care, my friend. We're old enough to realize we AREN'T.
Here are the two giveaways from this quote: Firstly "HerMajesty's Men". Charles II would have been the monarch through most of the second half of the 17th century. Secondly "1664". The plague was in 1665 (and eradicated by the Great Fire of 1666). You'd have to have been a pretty keen historian to know that!
9 comments:
Hi Bazza - fascinating ... and how, how true ...
I went to a tiny exhibition at the Guildhall on the plague - which I still need to write up, or at least put some photos up ...
Amazing quote - take care in the circumstances around us ... all the best - Hilary
Hello Bazza, Your Pepys quote exactly describes the situation in Taiwan. We somehow escaped the worst of the virus, but already people are giving up vigilance. They are actually starting to have outdoor events here that attract crowds of mostly younger people, and no one has the sense to stop them.
--Jim
bazza
I saw the film "The Flu That Killed 50 Million People" some time ago, long before anybody had heard of coronavirus. I watched it again last night, with different eyes. The film finished with the line: what would happen if this 1919 epidemic broke out again in 100 years? Would we have learned anything from the catastrophic Spanish Flu Epidemic?
It is true that the virus is extremely virulent. I have it. My ex and my son both had it (moderate symptoms with a lot of congestion). My symptoms are mild. The flu is much worse. Yes, if you have lung problems, this could be a bad thing and even deadly, but the frenzy surrounding it is in my opinion, an overreaction.
I am reminded of that old saying, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Thank you for your responses everyone. There are a couple of things in my post that would have alerted a keen historian that it is a hoax (even though it has powerful verisimilitude!).
Would anyone like to have a guess what they are?
Sherry, I wish you well but I really can't agree with your view on Corvid-19!
Alas, I must not be a keen historian. Even after reading your comment saying the quote is a hoax, I can't pinpoint the clues that should give it away. However, the quote is still darned applicable, isn't it? Perhaps during every medical scourge throughout history, the young people have believed themselves to be invincible. Take care, my friend. We're old enough to realize we AREN'T.
Susan: Yes the quote, false or not is very apt. A real example of verisimilitude!
Here are the two giveaways from this quote:
Firstly "HerMajesty's Men". Charles II would have been the monarch through most of the second half of the 17th century.
Secondly "1664". The plague was in 1665 (and eradicated by the Great Fire of 1666).
You'd have to have been a pretty keen historian to know that!
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