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Whelp. I did it. 120 hours. (68 subjective, as I was listening at 1.75x speed.) Took just over a month. I've now read 54% of the (1952) Great Books completely, plus another 21% in part.
So, beyond very long, how was it? Very listenable, as the high playback speed indicates. Made pretty good listening all around. Well written and engaging. It covers a lot of material, obviously. The western empire had fallen before the 2/3 mark, but of course Constantinople kept it going for another thousand years after that. Gibbons does a nice job of providing wider context for everything that happens. There was a good ten hours of material on the rise of Islam, for instance. And while he is limited by his sources, he does try to look at more than just kings and big battles. It was definitely more interesting than Plutarch, for that reason.
Would I recommend it, as something other than a masochistic completionist stunt? Absolutely. But a touch of masochism would still help.
So, beyond very long, how was it? Very listenable, as the high playback speed indicates. Made pretty good listening all around. Well written and engaging. It covers a lot of material, obviously. The western empire had fallen before the 2/3 mark, but of course Constantinople kept it going for another thousand years after that. Gibbons does a nice job of providing wider context for everything that happens. There was a good ten hours of material on the rise of Islam, for instance. And while he is limited by his sources, he does try to look at more than just kings and big battles. It was definitely more interesting than Plutarch, for that reason.
Would I recommend it, as something other than a masochistic completionist stunt? Absolutely. But a touch of masochism would still help.