The Genesis of the Gang (1899)

theatlantic.com

8 pointsmontrealer2 comments

Whoa! This is interesting, but reading it is work.

> Apart from its religious aspect, seen from the angle of the community's interest wholly, the matter is of the gravest import.

And most of the sentences are like that. Is this really what the people of 1899 considered to be effective communication? Or is it more a kind of poetry-in-prose-form that one was supposed to skim in order to pick up some sort of vague gist?

I think the language is slightly archaic, but with patience we adapt quickly. Also, perhaps it was written with a more literate audience in mind than the average modern newspaper which targets a modest reading skill level (http://www.impact-information.com/impactinfo/literacy.htm).

Factoid I learned from article: in 1899 beer was already carried in "growlers", so named for the noise made when it's carbonation was disturbed (http://www.beeradvocate.com/articles/384/).

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