W00t! He finished the book!
Nov. 4th, 2002 09:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
camwynWent to Borders yesterday. Wasn't sure why. Didn't have anything specific in mind. Went to the cartoons & humor section. There it was, in bright shiny yellow:
Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Universe 3: From the Rise of the Arab World to the Renaissance.
Man, I've been waiting for this since college. He must've only finished it recently; one of the early chapters makes a reference to the giant Afghan Buddha statue at Bamiyan that was destroyed by the Taliban. I don't think I even had time for my brain to process the image before that book was off the shelf and in my hand. I've been reading it when I've had the chance and he's in his general excellent form; I'm about halfway through at this point, and we just saw El Cid flash through the pages. (Quick note on the Song of Roland: apparently the historical version of events has the knight in question getting cacked by some Basques, rather than much more poetic Moors.) I've been inspired to work on my Chinese history pages again by this, so there'll be an entry on the Warring States and the Classical Kickers of Ass by tomorrow night (I need to dig up the Sun Tzu story about the concubines and maybe one or two others on the Ass Kickers, but I've started the entry in earnest).
But this is cool. The more you read Gonick, then read other stuff to corroborate what he writes, the more you find that he really does know what he's talking about and the more you wind up learning. He's cool. Go buy the book. You won't regret it.
Today's pulp survival tip is #14. If someone in the party starts having visions or weird dreams of a previous time or a distant locale, start packing your bags. Make sure to include a good quality history or two and/or volumes of local lore.
Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Universe 3: From the Rise of the Arab World to the Renaissance.
Man, I've been waiting for this since college. He must've only finished it recently; one of the early chapters makes a reference to the giant Afghan Buddha statue at Bamiyan that was destroyed by the Taliban. I don't think I even had time for my brain to process the image before that book was off the shelf and in my hand. I've been reading it when I've had the chance and he's in his general excellent form; I'm about halfway through at this point, and we just saw El Cid flash through the pages. (Quick note on the Song of Roland: apparently the historical version of events has the knight in question getting cacked by some Basques, rather than much more poetic Moors.) I've been inspired to work on my Chinese history pages again by this, so there'll be an entry on the Warring States and the Classical Kickers of Ass by tomorrow night (I need to dig up the Sun Tzu story about the concubines and maybe one or two others on the Ass Kickers, but I've started the entry in earnest).
But this is cool. The more you read Gonick, then read other stuff to corroborate what he writes, the more you find that he really does know what he's talking about and the more you wind up learning. He's cool. Go buy the book. You won't regret it.
Today's pulp survival tip is #14. If someone in the party starts having visions or weird dreams of a previous time or a distant locale, start packing your bags. Make sure to include a good quality history or two and/or volumes of local lore.
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Roland
Date: 2002-11-04 11:56 am (UTC)There are a number of amusing similarities between Roland & Custer.
-M
Re: Roland
Date: 2002-11-04 12:41 pm (UTC)Thppt.
no subject
Date: 2002-11-08 09:00 am (UTC)