London, 1666: Oh The Miserable And Calamitous Spectacle!
"The conflagration was so universal, and the people so astonished, that from the beginning, I know not by what despondency or fate, but crying out and lamentation, running about like distracted creatures without at all attempting to save even their goods; such a strange consternation there was among them….Oh the miserable and calamitous spectacle!"
- From the diary of John Evelyn, recording impressions of the Great Fire of London .
posted by PrufrockTwo at
7.7.05
2 Comments:
"As the burning ships drifted past Beykoz,crowds of people carrying quilts and wearing raincoats thrown hastily over nightclothes were rushing up into the hills.The sea was alight with brillinat yellow flames.The ships were great heaps of molten iron , their masts,smokestacks,bridges lurching as they melted.The sky glowed with a reddish light that seemed to radiate from within. From time to time there was an explosion and great sheets of burning iron would float into the sea....This disaster could have been prevented,I would later think,if only I'd been counting ships."
from Orhan Pamuk's 'Istanbul'
By
Sonya, at 6:33 PM
That's quite an interesting parallel.
By
PrufrockTwo, at 6:31 PM
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