"In the comfort of the library, he had read accounts of past violent acts, murder and slaughter. He had read descriptions of streets slippery with blood, soldiers soaked in red from head to foot, women and children eviscerated despite their piteous pleas. But somehow Chris had always assumed these stories were exaggerated, overstated. Within the university, it was the fashion to interpret documents ironically, to talk about the naïveté of narrative, the context of text, the privileging of power…. Such theoretical posturing turned history into a clever intellectual game. Chris was good at the game, but playing it, he had somehow lost track of a more straightforward reality—that the old texts recounted horrific stories and violent episodes that were all too often true. He had lost track of the fact that he was reading history."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Science fiction authors from the United StatesNovelists from the United StatesNon-fiction authors from the United StatesFilm producers from the United StatesTelevision producers
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Chapter 4, “Castelgard” - Section 29:10:00 (pp. 305-306)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"Media carries with it a credibility that is totally undeserved. You have all experienced this. [...] Briefly stated, …"
"I want to mention in passing that punditry has undergone a subtle change over the years. In the old days, commentator…"
"As I went down to my car, [Peter Randall] said, "If you don't want to get involved I'll understand" I looked back at …"
"Science is the most exciting and sustained enterprise of discovery in the history of our species. It is the great adv…"
"Let's be clear: all professions look bad in the movies. And there's a good reason for this. Movies don't portray care…"
"Carr was left with a ring, in the palm of his hand, a small gold circle, leading him nowhere."
"They passed a farmhouse, a simple shack surrounded by animals — a lazy burro, clucking chickens, a litter of pigs. Th…"
"Characterization lies at the heart of the impulse to polarize every issue — what we might call the Crossfire Syndrome…"
"This polarization of the issues has contributed greatly to our national paralysis, because it posits false choices wh…"
"Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming…"