Buzz
Although the year is far from over, 'social distancing' is likely to become the defining phrase of 2020. This year will be remembered as the one impacted by COVID-19, a global pandemic that has affected 242,191 individuals and claimed 9,843 lives as of now.
The pandemic has led governments to cancel mass gatherings, close schools, suspend sports events, and more in an attempt to prevent the virus from spreading. Now, billions of people are learning to embrace life in quarantine.
If this resonates with you, don't be disheartened. Some of the world's greatest artists and innovators have made lasting contributions from the comfort of their quarantine spaces. This list is a gentle reminder to read more, rest more, and create more during your time in isolation.
10. Eugene Onegin
In Russia, Alexander Pushkin is held in the same esteem as William Shakespeare in Great Britain. Often referred to as the 'great bard' of Russian literature, one of Pushkin’s finest works is the 1832 verse novel Eugene Onegin.
The novel follows Eugene Onegin, a wealthy and indulged aristocrat living in Saint Petersburg. Growing weary of the endless balls and social events, Onegin opts to move to his late uncle's rural estate.
At the estate, he encounters the poet Vladimir Lensky. Onegin also meets the stunning Tatyana Larina, who becomes his lifelong obsession. In 1879, Eugene Onegin was adapted into an opera by the renowned Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Pushkin, much like his character Eugene Onegin, was known for his fashionable, dandy-like persona. He often resorted to writing while struggling with various illnesses, most commonly venereal diseases. In the fall of 1830, a devastating cholera outbreak in Moscow prompted Pushkin to retreat to his family’s estate in the countryside. It was there, while in isolation, that Pushkin completed Eugene Onegin and other timeless works.
9. Samuel Pepys’s Diary
Samuel Pepys (1633–1703) was a Member of Parliament and a civil administrator for the English Navy. He is primarily remembered for his pivotal role in modernizing the navy and its administration. Today, however, Pepys is most famous for the diary he kept from 1660 to 1669, a key primary source from the English Restoration period.
In 1665, London was struck by the bubonic plague. Unlike many others in the city, Pepys was not caught off guard, having witnessed a similar outbreak of the 'black death' in Amsterdam two years prior. In June of that year, he wrote, '[To] my great trouble, hear that the plague is come into the City.' He then added, 'God preserve us all.'
Thanks to Pepys’s diligent writings, historians and scientists have a clear picture of how the bubonic plague spread so rapidly and wreaked such havoc in London. In essence, it was the city's massive rat population, thriving in the unsanitary conditions, that helped to spread the disease.
8. Alexander The False Prophet
Lucian was one of the sharpest minds of the Roman Empire. Born in Samosata (modern-day southern Turkey), an Assyrian city in the empire, Lucian became a renowned playwright, satirist, and rhetorician. His works often ridiculed topics such as the differences between Greeks and Syrians, stoicism, and various cults. One of his notable works, Alexander the False Prophet, mocked magic and the Romans who turned to supernatural explanations for life's challenges.
The 'Alexander' in the title was a real person, Alexander of Abonoteichus. Like Lucian, Alexander hailed from Asia Minor. Not much is known about him, except that he claimed to be a powerful magician capable of healing the sick.
This claim gained traction among the Roman citizens and subjects, especially during the outbreak of a devastating plague in AD 165. Known as the Antonine Plague, it spread rapidly across the Roman Empire.
The plague, first identified by the brilliant Greek physician Galen, most likely originated in China and spread westward via the Silk Road. Today, it is believed to have been either measles or smallpox.
While many Romans isolated themselves or sought magical remedies, Lucian chose to write a satire about a fraudulent spiritual healer.
7. The Magic Mountain
Regarded as one of the greatest works of German literature, Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain was published in 1924. The novel follows Hans Castorp, a young merchant from Hamburg, who visits his cousin Joachim at a tuberculosis sanatorium located in the Swiss Alps.
Hans’s initially simple journey becomes increasingly complicated as his health deteriorates and he encounters various other patients. Almost all of them embody the societal decline in Europe following World War I.
Mann had personal experience with sanatoriums. His wife, Katia, battled tuberculosis and in 1912, she was treated at a sanatorium in Davos-Platz, Switzerland. Mann frequently visited her. In the years that followed, both of them became regulars at health spas worldwide. Mann used this personal experience as inspiration for the setting of The Magic Mountain.
6. Dashiell Hammett
American author Dashiell Hammett was born with a rebellious spirit. The son of a devout Catholic farming family in Maryland, Sam 'Dashiell' Hammett left school at 13 and found himself mingling with gamblers, prostitutes, and criminals in Baltimore and Philadelphia.
In an effort to turn his life around, Hammett joined the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in 1915. He worked as a private investigator until 1922. A few years later, Hammett began crafting detective fiction, undoubtedly drawing from his real-life experiences to create iconic private detectives like Sam Spade and the Continental Op.
Hammett may never have become a writer if he hadn’t contracted tuberculosis while serving in the US Army during World War I. The army reported that Hammett was 25 percent disabled due to the disease and granted him a medical discharge. He was also awarded a small pension as a Sergeant.
With the help of his pension and a part-time job as a copywriter, Hammett found the time to focus on writing, despite frequent interruptions from painful coughing fits.
5. Anton Chekhov
Similar to Pushkin, Russian author Anton Chekhov found the time to write during Russia’s frequent cholera outbreaks. Between 1892 and 1899, Chekhov wrote some of his most famous short stories, including 'Ward No. 6' and 'The Black Monk.'
During this period, Chekhov lived a somewhat isolated life at his Melikhovo estate. Here, he took part in organizing famine and cholera relief efforts for the local peasants while continuing his work as a practicing physician.
Unfortunately, due to his declining health, Chekhov had to abandon medicine in 1897. Like Hammett, he was afflicted with tuberculosis, which ultimately claimed his life in 1904.
Today, Chekhov is regarded as one of the greatest short story writers in the world. Many of his best works were inspired by his experiences as a doctor during the cholera outbreaks of the late 19th century.
4. Paradise Lost
The Englishman John Milton wore many hats throughout his life—a pamphleteer, philosopher, and a politician who served as the Secretary of Foreign Tongues (Latin Secretary) for the Commonwealth Council of State in England. Today, Milton is primarily known as a poet, especially for his epic work Paradise Lost, which tells the story of Satan's fall from grace and his war against God, Heaven, and humankind.
It’s well-known that Milton went blind while writing Paradise Lost. Between 1652 and 1667, he dictated his epic poem to his family, friends, and scribes. This process became even more challenging when Milton and his family moved to Chalfont St. Giles to escape the Great Plague of London in 1665–66, where he eventually completed Paradise Lost.
3. Isaac Newton
The English physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton is celebrated as the individual who discovered gravity and, consequently, laid down the foundational laws of physics. Without Newton’s groundbreaking contributions, the Age of Enlightenment may not have unfolded.
In 1665, Newton was an average student at Cambridge University. That same year, the Great Plague of London caused the university to close. With no classes to attend, Newton returned home to Cambridge and began a series of groundbreaking experiments.
While working in isolation, he made crucial observations about the laws of motion and gravity. When he returned to Cambridge University in 1667, he rapidly ascended from undergraduate to fellow, and eventually to professor in 1669.
2. William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare’s entire life was marked by recurring plague epidemics. In fact, the young Shakespeare was one of the few survivors of the plague that struck Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. Jonathan Bate, one of Shakespeare’s leading biographers, has argued that the plague was the most significant influence on both Shakespeare’s life and his work.
The plague is mentioned in several of Shakespeare’s major works, including Romeo and Juliet. Even more striking is that during the years 1605–1606, Shakespeare experienced a remarkable surge of creativity, producing King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra.
Today, scholars believe that Shakespeare’s prolific output during this period was due to the 1605–06 plague year in England. Instead of dwelling on his isolation, Shakespeare channeled his energy into writing.
1. The Decameron
The Decameron is perhaps the most significant literary work centered around a pandemic. Likely composed between 1348 and 1353, it tells the story of 10 young aristocrats who retreat to a countryside villa to escape the Black Death ravaging Florence. While at the estate, they entertain themselves by telling 100 stories over several days.
Though many of the stories are serious, some are lighthearted and filled with practical humor. Like Dante’s Divine Comedy, The Decameron is written in the Florentine vernacular, which later evolved into what is now considered standard Italian.
Giovanni Boccaccio, the author of The Decameron, lived through the harrowing plague years of the 14th century. Much like the characters in his book, Boccaccio escaped the plague in Florence by traveling to Naples and other parts of Italy. However, he did witness the devastating impact of the Florentine plague in 1348.
