The Darkening Age. The Christian destruction of the classical world by Catherine Nixey

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

This book's got some interesting insights. There are things a kind of knew, but not really. A bit slow and repetitive at points, but overall, I am happy I read it. This is the story of how Christianity conquered Rome and destroyed most traces of their culture, philosophy, and religion. Main themes are: 

• The story of Roman persecution of the Christians has been exaggerated. 
• Early Christians were obsessed with demons and evil. 
• Early Christians, obsessed with martyrdom provoked Roman authorities into torturing and executing them. 
• There's evidence that many roman authorities tried to persuade wannabe martyrs as they did not want them to die. 
• Once Christians got into power, they became even more oppressive than the Romans. Their aim was total control over the population, Christian and non-christian: 
• *Roman/Pagan writings, sculptures, paintings, and temples were systematically destroyed. 
• *Christians were monitored and fed ideas about God observing them even in the privacy of their homes. 

The book relates some fascinating stories like the one about famous Greek mathematician Hypatia, who suffered a violent death, and Damascius, one of the last Greek philosophers who was exiled twice because of his beliefs. 

 Quote: "Centuries later, an Arab traveller would visit a town on the edge of Europe and reflect on what had happened in the Roman Empire. 'During the early days of the empire of thr Rum,' he wrote- meaning the Roman and Byzantine Empire- 'the Sciences were honoured and enjoyed universal respect. From an already solid and grandiose foundation, they were raised to greater heights every day, until the Christian religion made its appearance among the Rum; this was a fatal blow to the edifice of learning, it's traces disappeared and it's pathways were effaced.' There was one final loss too. This loss is even more rarely remembered than all the others, but in its way it is almost as important. The very memory that there was any opposition at all to Christianity faded. The idea that philosophers might have fought fiercely, with all they had against Christianity was - is - passed over. The idea that many were alarmed at the spread of this violently intolerant religion fades from view. The idea that many were not delighted but instead disgusted by the sight of burning and demolished temples was - is - brushed aside. The idea that intellectuals were appalled- and scared - by the sight of books burning in tyres, is forgotten. Christianity told the generations that followed that their victory over the old world was celebrated by all, and the generations that followed believed it."

Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️ 

Third book in the Culture series and so far my favourite of the three I have read (I've also read Consider Phlebas and Player of Games). 

The novel follows Cheradenine Zakalwe, a murky character, with a more than obscure past. He's the perfect soldier who can turn almost anything into a weapon. He does not belong in the Culture but works for them in the Special Circumstances (division?). The Culture have a policy of not interfering with other civilisations, but obviously, they do, in "Special Circumstances". 

The structure of the novel is nonlinear, with chapters recounting Zakalwe's latest mission in the present, intercalated with flashback chapters (chronologically in reverse) narrating the story of Zakalwe since childhood and previous missions. Initially, this structure felt confusing and made my reading harder. The story seemed to be all over the place, just like the protagonist’s mind... and then it clicked. 

This is a powerful story with layers and layers of meaning. From the protagonist’s complexity, his questionable morality, violence and vulnerability to the backdrop of the Culture, of which we get only fragments of its ideologies, society and technology. But those bits and pieces are enough to imagine the enormous scale of their power and knowledge. The ending is great, shocking and unexpected. 

Recommend.

Enuma Elish. The Babylonian Epic of Creation by Johannes Haubold, Sophu Helle, Enrique Jiménez & Selena Wisbom

🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡 

 I'm not very much into (old or modern) poetry, but this ancient Epic talks to me. I don't think I would have had such a good experience reading this if not for the excellent introduction (by Sophus Helle) and the excellent 13 essays by Assyriologists, Cuneiform scholars, ancient language experts and near and middle east historians. The Enuma Elish is beautiful. I imagine those ancient scholars and priests reciting the poem in front of big audiences during the famous akītu festival. The Epic is a layered narrative covering themes such as the creation of the universe, Babylonian theology and astronomy but the main theme as interpreted by experts is the justification and establishment of the supremacy of Marduk, god of Babylon. The essays cover topics such as historical and political backgrounds (Gösta Gabriel describes the poem as "not only a poetic masterpiece, but also a masterpiece of political thought"), language and linguistic analyses, ancient cuneiform sources and later works influenced or inspired by the Epic, one of which is the famous Genesis 1, from the bible. The author of this essay speculates that the Genesis 1 text might have been composed during the Babylonian exile where the Judean elite might have come across Babylonian literature. And to end a quote on the intertextuality of the Epic: "the poem draws on a wide range of different sources and weaves together motifs to create an entirely new tapestry. It's use of earlier material is skillful and not merely a matter of stitching together, but also of transforming it's sources. The threads are discernible, but they have created something very different from the original compositions." (Selena Wisnom) Recommend.

Lone Sloane. Salammbô by Philippe Druillet, based on the novel Salammbô by Gustave Flaubert

Both story and art are superb. There is not much SF in this comic book. Lone Sloane lands on a strange planet resembling the ancient Messopotamic/North African period. There are humans as well as other kinds of animals (or monsters). There, the hero takes the identity of Mathô, a warrior, who fights with an enormous army against the powers of Carthage. Mathô falls in love (or becomes obsessed) with a princess called Salammbô, and obviously loses his mind trying to find her. The story is an adaptation of Flaubert's famous work. I am not sure how faithful this Lone Sloane adventure is to the original work but I can say two things: 1) Mathô captures the personality of Lone Sloane and 2) the setting and the aesthetic are decadent and violent.

The Storytelling Animal. How stories make us human by Jonathan Gottschall.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️ 

Why do we create stories, and what function do they have in our lives? 

We make up stories of all kinds. We create stories when we are awake, when we sleep, and when we daydream. Stories are everywhere. Just think how we try to explain our past: as historians and archaeologists piece together clues to create stories, which include distortions and omissions. The author argues that history might be closer to myths than a recollection of the actual past. And what about ancient myths and legends. How and why were they created? Why did our ancestors sit around fire to tell each other stories? Think about the enormous body of fictional literature that we have and the millions of people who read and love them. 

In this book Gottschall introdues the concept of the storytelling mind and presents some literary, psychological and evolutionary perspectives to explain why we evolved to love stories, why and how the brain creates stories and how they affect us. 

My personal takeaway is that evolution designed our minds to enjoy stories because stories help us to put some order in our lives and in the views of the world in which we live. With stories,we can explain why things are the way they are. It doesn't matter if they are actually true or scientific facts. What's important in stories is that they give us meaning. Gottshall follows this line of reasoning in chapter 6 to discuss religion. He says: "Religion is the ultimate expression of story's dominion over our minds." 

Another interesting perspective is that stories help us get ready for life. Stories can affect us mentally as well as physically. In that sense, they help us practice skills for human social life. A good example is children's play. 

Recommend.

The Ark before Noah. Decoding the Story of the Flood by Irving Finkel

Excellent book! Finkel is a curator at the British museum, Assyriologist, and expert in cuneiform tablets. This book explains how Mesopotamian clay tables were discovered and interpreted, revealing ancient stories such as the famous Flood Story, previously thought to be an original story from the Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. 

It turns out that the Flood Story origins are in ancient Sumeria. Initially, it was transmitted orally until the establishment of cuneiform writing in the 2nd millennium BC, when multiple copies and versions were made. As centuries passed and other cultures appeared in the area, the tablets were translated and slightly adapted from Sumerian to Akkadian in both their Assyrian and Babylonian versions. The whole history is fascinating. 

Finkel also discusses the connections between the cuneiform stories and the Hebrew bible. So, the Flood and the Ark story has its equivalent in the Genesis. The Legend of Sargon (an Akkadian king) resembles very much the story of baby Moses. And the Great Ages of Man, a list of Mesopotamian kings has its equivalent in the bible. 

After a thorough and super interesting analysis, Finkle explains that these similarities can be explained by the absorption of Babylonian beliefs and culture by the Judeans during the Babylonian exile from 597 BC. As the Judeans needed to keep their identity intact, they decided they needed their own written history. For that, they adapted some of their own writings, keeping the parts that were convenient and mixed them with adapted sections of Babylonian stories. Finkel explains that the assimilation was likely as both judeans and babylonians spoke Aramaic, and that the mentioned cuneiform stories were part of the school curriculum as demonstrated in various clay tablets. 

To end a quote: "... it can be argued that the Babylonian exile, far from being the disaster it is usually judged, was ultimately the process that forged what became modern Judaism."

 

Last and first men by Olaf Stapledon. 😕😕😔 This book was torture. It was hard to read and painful. I suffered. The introduction gave me much hope though. The main themes sounded super interesting. Is there any SF reader who has not wondered or speculated about the future of human kind, not in a few hundred years but millions of years? 

Although a human from the future narrated the story, it felt more like a 20th-century machine. Think robot speech. This book has no characters or plot. Instead, it recounts a fictional historical account that includes biological and psychological changes in humans for millions of years. Some events are interesting, but I found most, especially in the first third of the book, utterly boring. I had to read the physical book accompanied by an audio book to be able to finish. I didn't enjoy the experience, but I liked the ending. It is a kind of philosophical reflection on our existence and purpose, I guess. 

 I won't say Last and First men was worth reading just for the last 2 pages, but I think of those pages as a reward for my sacrifice.