A couple of years back I spent some time reading a series of interlocking biographies in American history. I began with the first generation of European settlers, reading a life of John Winthrop. The idea is to follow each biography with another of someone whose lifespan overlaps with the previous subject, but a younger man whose life story carries the reader further along the timeline, as it were. Each life intersects somehow with the one before and after, and in this way one may read through the history of a nation by reading lives.
Well, perhaps you've got to be kind of intense about reading, like me, to find this reading plan compelling. The way I see it, I'm going to be reading books for the rest of my life anyway, so I might as well have a plan.
Okay, so I'm ready to start again. But I'm feeling more ambitious this time. The last time I did this, I cycled through several centuries of American history. But let's broaden the canvas. Perhaps I'll start this time with someone from the first century . . . we'll call it the AD Reading Plan. Then read through 2000 years of intersecting lives. Is it even possible?
Hmmm, looks like I'd better get started. See you later!
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