Pick a Time, Any Time

[Whispersecret]

I know I'm probably approaching the limit for thread-starting...so sue me.

I often read a book or watch a movie and wonder what it would have been like to live in that period in history. Of course, I'm usually ignoring the nasty side of that time, (no running water, disease, repression of sexuality, prejudice, etc.) but humor me.

Pretend for a moment that you could travel back in time to any period in history, to any country, and to any lifestyle you wanted...what would you pick?

 

[teresafannin]

This is an easy one-Medieval England during the time of Eleanor of Aquitane. I think she is the most fascinating woman in history. I would want to be a lady at the royal court, just to see this woman in action.She was married to 2 kings & the mother of Richard the Lionheart. For her time, she was the most liberated woman in Europe. I also tend to ignore the unpleasant parts of history, would hate to be without running water for long, hot bubble baths & heaven knows, there were some gruesome diseases. I don't know that I would want to stay, but would love to visit.

 

[Nogard]

Someone that loves me, nothing more nothing less

 

[Endlessly]

Too simple. I'd be in the time of Thomas Hardy heroines.. Living in victorian England at the turn of the 20th century. (I -am- Eustacia Vye.) I mean.. Sure I'd die in some twisted and ironic way-- but man, would it be "well-written."

 

[Nogard]

No baths no personal cleanlines, wear clothes for weeks or months YUK!

 

[CreamyLady]

If I could have the drive and the nerve, I'd like to be the Empress Livia.

Otherwise, I'm all for modern times.

 

[Xander]

Simple. Medieval Japan as a Samurai or Kensai.
preferable Kensai (independant swordmaster)

 

[Flagg]

A Roman nobleman. Orgies and vomitariums - these guys knew how to party.

 

[Naked Hunny]

oh Endlessly I hated Return of the Native. When it came to Thomas Hardy I prefered Tess of the d'Urbervilles!! Of course i was forced to read Return of the Native in high school that usually does a book in from the start!!

Did you know that Catherine Zeta-Jones first American "movie" was the television version of Return of the Native!!

 

[Expertise]

Excellent thread.

I have often thought about starting one like it

The golden age of the Roman empire would be a hoot with the added bonus of personal hygiene.

As well Europe around the time of the crusades when chivalry was at its apogee. I have always felt a great affinity for that code of life (minus the religous aspects) to the point where sometimes I feel that I was born several hundred years too late. If I had my way I would somehow have a boxcar load of toiletries and personal hygiene products sent back with me both for me and "my lady fair".



[Edited by Expertise on 09-01-2000 at 07:22 AM]

 

[Endlessly]

Hunny, don't worry-- even though you've just committed blasphemy, I'll still speak to you.

I've read every book Hardy ever wrote, and I don't see how Tess compares-- I mean, it has some nice moments; the christening of Sorrow Durbeyfield was perhaps the best paragraph definition of Thomas Hardy's writing style. whereas Eustacia was passionate and Wildeve was a smirking sadist. I hold them to be one of the most incredible literary couples of all time, sort of an antithesis to Hektor and Andromeche.

One thing I noticed about Tess, however, is that the tone is far different than most of his books. He was getting older, and instead of reveling in his own sense of sadistic and twisted irony-- he was angry. Bitter at a social situation that could have caused the book. It was a poignant and inflammatory message back then, but unfortunately, he forgot the fun.

*wrinkles nose* Catherine Zeta-Douglas does NOT an Eustacia make. Sophie Marceau, maybe..

For anyone interested, allow me to plug the webpage where I'm putting the entirety of the text of Return of the Native online for your reading pleasure:
http://members.xoom.com/shadwater/

Thanks.

 

[Flagg]

I almost lost the will to live whilst attempting to read "Far from the Maddening Crowd".

I think authors like that should be banned from high school curriculums. Schools are supposed to be there to encourage children to read not dissuade them.

 

[MADDOG]

The 60's in London and the Early 70's in Washington DC. I think it would have been a great time to be alive, and they would have been great places to experience them. I really feel sometimes like, I should have been around then.

MADDOG

 

[KillerMuffin]

Hmmmmmm, any time.... good question.

I would have liked to have been Louis L'Amour. That man had one hell of a life. Except for the whole man thing.

Other than that, I could see myself as an Amazon, despite the fact that I don't look a thing like one, I would have like to have been one.

 

[Bonnie Wee Lassie]

I would love to live in Egypt during the time of the great kings. Some day I will get there!

 

[Naked Hunny]

Id have to say Ancient Roman Times you know it was like the 60s hell they had some of the great ammenities we have today like running water and such!!

 

[Sonora]

My thoughts exactly!

No baths no personal cleanlines, wear clothes for weeks or months YUK!

We were just talking about this at work the other day. I'd be happy with a time machine that can take me back in history for a day and then home in the evening. Very difficult for me to give up the luxury of running water. (Which is one reason I'm not a very good camper)

 

[Guest]

I'll have the western omelette in the Age of Enlightenment.

 

[Skibum]

I should have been a cowboy...

The American West from 1866 to 1890. And I'd want to take a large supply of asprin and antibiotics with me. I read all those Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey novels. I know it was not as romanticised and exciting as the books and Hollywood portrayed it, but it was the era that defined America for most of the rest of the world.

 

[Guest]

Hahaha

You know what, Mike? That was the Money.

 

[Fallen Angel]

French trapper early on in American history
I would have loved to been here sometime between the American Revelotion and the Civil War. Long before I reached 40 I would have probably have died of an infected scratch, the flu, an Indian arrow, or a thousand other little things. It still would have been worth it to see the herds of buffalo and trap beaver in the mountains out west. Look out over the oceans of grass and paddle a canoe back down the rivers till you came to one of the outposts along the Mississippi. Trade in your furs(if you lived through the journey) buy a lot of whiskey and a few supplies and head back to see if you could find that squaw you left behind before the winter snows set in.

 

[Earthmuffin]

Hurmmm assuming I didn't die from pneumonia or childbirth I'd probably love to be killed off in a battle over 5 feet of land (that might be mine, might be my neighbor's) in Ireland circa 1250. Armor, swords, *swoon*.

Oh, ah *ahem* running water is good...very good.

 

[Silverlily]

I would want to live during the time of Attila the Hun. Life on the move, to live and die by your own wits. I think I'd rather live it as a man, though. Women didn't get to do much outside of cook and have babies.

If I must stay true to my gender, I would choose late sixties America. I think I would be quite at home in the middle of a sit-in or a protest rally. My mom is a former hippy and almost named me Starlight Melody. I kind of wish she had.

 

[wolfie69]

time travel

As I approach my 46th birthday, I will be honest and hedonistic and choose San Francisco circa 1968-69. Free love was in bloom, the worst std was the clap and a few shots could cure it. Not to mention that the emerging music was absolutely incredible.

 

[wolfie69]

lol kitten eyes

Girl you are starting to scare me, first you describe me and now following me in time....lol