Grand unified books thread

[Malthus]

Reading The Landmark Herodotus, edited by R.B. Strassler, which is pretty good - I have to conciously avoid having scenes from 300 pass through my head while reading it, though. 

Oddly enough, one over the top scene from that movie - tossing the Persian heralds down the well - actually occurred; the Spartans were (allegedly, according to H.) put under a divine curse for this.

The "joke" made by the Spartans was as follows: the Persian symbols of submission were the offer of earth and water. The Spartans toss the Persian heralds down the well, saying "get your earth and water from there".

[Syt]

Oddly enough, one over the top scene from that movie - tossing the Persian heralds down the well - actually occurred; the Spartans were (allegedly, according to H.) put under a divine curse for this.

Herodotus also tells the story (IIRC) about "fighting in the shade" and the Persians attacking via hidden paths.

Not all about the movie is wrong.

[Savonarola]

Herodotus also tells the story (IIRC) about "fighting in the shade" and the Persians attacking via hidden paths.

Not all about the movie is wrong.

Only so far as Herodotus is right.   

[Malthus]

Oddly enough, one over the top scene from that movie - tossing the Persian heralds down the well - actually occurred; the Spartans were (allegedly, according to H.) put under a divine curse for this.

Herodotus also tells the story (IIRC) about "fighting in the shade" and the Persians attacking via hidden paths.

Not all about the movie is wrong.

Do they have that bit in the movie where the Persians react with scorn to the sight of the Spartans getting their hair done? 

[Malthus]

Herodotus also tells the story (IIRC) about "fighting in the shade" and the Persians attacking via hidden paths.

Not all about the movie is wrong.

Only so far as Herodotus is right.   

Herodotus' book sometimes sounds much like what one would get if one attempted to write a history of WW2 today by asking some random guys in a bar what happened. 

[Grallon]

Recently read the omnibus edition of "The Braided Path", by Chris Wooding.  You can find a review here: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/chris-wooding/braided-path.htm.

Interesting oriental setting which we don't often see in fantasy.  Although it takes a while to get past the jarring mismach of latin and japanese sounding names eventually (midway through the first book) it becomes really engaging.  The author does overindulge in gruesome descriptions... to the delight of some no doubt. 



G.

[Syt]

His gold digging ants story could have a kernel of truth, though, as I read just recently:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herodotus#Gold-digging_ants

One of the most recent developments in Herodotus scholarship was made by the French ethnologist Michel Peissel. On his journeys to India and Pakistan, Peissel claims to have discovered an animal species that may finally illuminate one of the most "bizarre" passages in Herodotus's Histories. In Book 3, passages 102 to 105, Herodotus reports that a species of fox-sized, furry "ants" lives in one of the far eastern, Indian provinces of the Persian Empire. This region, he reports, is a sandy desert, and the sand there contains a wealth of fine gold dust. These giant ants, according to Herodotus, would often unearth the gold dust when digging their mounds and tunnels, and the people living in this province would then collect the precious dust. Now, Peissel says that in an isolated region of Pakistan, in the Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir that is known as the Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA), on the Deosai Plateau there exists a species of marmot (a type of burrowing squirrel) that may solve the mystery of Herodotus' giant "ants". Much like the province that Herodotus describes, the ground of the Deosai Plateau is rich in gold dust. According to Peissel, he interviewed the Minaro tribal people who live in the Deosai Plateau, and they have confirmed that they have, for generations, been collecting the gold dust that the marmots bring to the surface when they are digging their underground burrows. The story seems to have been widespread in the ancient world, later authors like Pliny the Elder mentioning it in his gold mining section of the Naturalis Historia.

Even more tantalizing, in his book, "The Ants' Gold: The Discovery of the Greek El Dorado in the Himalayas", Peissel offers the theory that Herodotus may have become confused because the old Persian word for "marmot" was quite similar to that for "mountain ant". Because research suggests that Herodotus probably did not know any Persian (or any other language except his native Greek), he was forced to rely on a multitude of local translators when travelling in the vast polylingual Persian Empire. Therefore, he may have been the unwitting victim of a simple misunderstanding in translation. (It is also important to realize that Herodotus never claims to have himself seen these "ants/marmot" creatures—he may have been dutifully reporting what other travellers were telling him, no matter how bizarre or unlikely he personally may have found it to be. In an age when most of the world was still mysterious and unknown and before the modern science of biology, the existence of a "giant ant" may not have seemed so far-fetched.) The suggestion that he completely made up the tale may continue to be thrown into doubt as more research is conducted.[11][12]

However, it must be noted that this theory of the marmots fails to take into consideration Herodotus's own follow-up in passage 105 of Book 3, wherein the "ants/marmots" are said to chase and devour full-grown camels; nevertheless, this could also be explained as an example of a tall tale or legend told by the local tribes to frighten foreigners from seeking this relatively easy access to gold dust. On the other hand, the details of the "ants" seem somewhat similar to the description of the camel spider (Solifugae), which strictly speaking is not a spider and is even sometimes called a "wind scorpion". Camel spiders are said to chase camels (they can run up to 10mph), they have lots of hair bristles, and they could quite easily be mistaken for ants given their rather bizarre appearance. And as has been noted by some, on account of the fear factor of encountering one, there have been "many myths and exaggerations about their size".[13] Images of camel spiders[14][15] could give the impression that this could be mistaken for a giant ant, but certainly not the size of a fox.

[garbon]

Camel spiders look rather hideous.

[Malthus]

His gold digging ants story could have a kernel of truth, though, as I read just recently:

Yeah, I've read similar stuff for years (the version I heard was that actual ant mounds could be used in prospecting for surface gold).

There is no doubt that good old Herodotus was told many whoppers by his informants (i.e., "guys he met in a bar somewhere"). What is interesting is that some appear to have at least a kernel of truth - like the Phonecian circumnavagation of Africa.

He was surprisingly well informed about the strangest topics - for example, he got Sythian burial customs spot-on: that's been confirmed by archaeology (OTOH, he had no idea what smoking hemp was for - he thought hot-boxing a tent was a sort of steam-bath).

[Admiral Yi]

Finished The Kite Runner.  I think I prefer the movie to the book.  Protagonist sure does a lot of weeping in the book.

Now I'm deep into War and Peace.  At first it was a little hard to keep Boris and Nikolay seperate, but I think I've got it now.

[Malthus]

Camel spiders look rather hideous.

They taste better than they look.

[garbon]

They taste better than they look.

Unlike some people, I'm rather discerning when it comes to things I'll put in my mouth.

[Malthus]

They taste better than they look.

Unlike some people, I'm rather discerning when it comes to things I'll put in my mouth.

The less we discuss what you put in your mouth, the better. 

[garbon]

The less we discuss what you put in your mouth, the better. 

[Queequeg]

Just got for birthday:
The Great Arab Conquests by Hugh Kennedy.  120 pages into it.  Glad modern Jihadists aren't anything like the first Muslims.  They were crazy, terrifying, brilliant motherfuckers. 
A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility by Taner Akçam.  Looks interesting.
A Farewell to Alms: A Short Economic History of the World by Gregory Clark.  After seeing an interesting graph from it and reading a reccomendation of it on Crook's blog over at the Atlanitic.  Basically, rich Englishman liked to fuck and make babies, thus the Industrial Revolution happened. 

And, on Joan's reccomendation, THe Fall of the Roman Empire: A new History of Rome and the Barbarians by Peter Heather.  Absolutely massive book, huge font, wondering if I accidentally ordered the senior citizen edition.

Also got Season 1 of Breaking Bad, Season 2 of Mad Men and Walking with Monsters on DVD.