Rousseau

I didn't quite finish the Confessions, I got to about 100 pages from the end. I stand by my first impression, nutcase. But while Rousseau admiting to a fondness for getting spanked or exposing himself on the streets was an amusing nutcase, the nutcase suffering from a persecution mania became much less so. I just got bored of all the comments about what a wonderful sensitive soul he was and how mean and low everyone else was and all the plots. I gave up in disgust not believing a word of it. Turns out that, with some exceptions, history agrees with me.
[OT, The claim "that in no other place and at no other time have people ever squabbled so much" as in 18thC France is interesting since it was written by a man at the very centre of the Bloomsbury group, a society that must run at least a close second].
Anway, I am not a fan of conspiracy theories in general, I subscribe to Ockham's Razor in that respect. I am even less of one when it comes to personal relationships. I suppose R's ramblings just reminded me too much of some of the nutcases I have know.
Like TD, who managed to completely alienate her 4 closest friends and, yet somehow it wasn't her fault. Truthfully, once 3 of us couldn't stand her the other one was kinda lost by default. But that is often the case, when friends fall out, their other mutual friends are usually faced with having to chose between them. In TD's case, it was the ones not given to compulsive lying and holding bizarre grudges. In R's case I am not surprised it was the ones who didn't deliver self-righteous lectures about the sins of civilisation.