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.

Remedios Varo: Science Fictions

Beautiful book showcasing Varo's art and her life, from Spain and France to Mexico. Varo was mainly a surrealist, interested in themes like alchemy, esoterism, science and psychology and influenced by George Gurdjieff, a Russian mystic and philosopher. 

Most of her important works picture strange characters travelling, playing music, working or just staring at you. Varo also included strange esoteric (and other kinds) symbols. The book helps the readers to identify and understand them. There are also explanations of the techniques the artist used. The art, I think, is exquisite and thought-provoking.

The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien by Georges Simenon. An Inspector Maigret novel.

It's a nice short novel. Loved Simenon's writing and the story. Slow paced but gripping. Inspector Maigret is a mystery. Not much is revealed about him in this book. I guess one would have to read one or two more books in the series to get a better idea. I grabbed this book from my public library as I read somewhere Simenon is a classic French noir. The Hanged Man was the only book they had. I'm glad I read it. I'll grab another Inspector Maigret story next time I get a chance.

From Above. An (Info)graphic Novel by Martin Panchaud

A light mystery story drawn in a super cool graphic format, fun and easy to read. It reminded me of Wassily Kandinsky's art, just a bit. There are some beautiful panels, a couple of fun twists and loved the end. 

Recommend.

Being Happy by Epicurus

About 3 weeks ago (6 posts ago), I finished a book titled Heaven and Hell. From it, I got plenty of inspiration for further reading. I have already read The Epic of Gilgamesh which I loved. Now, I found this tiny edition by Epicurus in my local library, which is also mentioned in Heaven and Hell. In that book, which delves into concepts of the afterlife, the author discusses Epicurus' view that the soul is a physical entity and that sensation occurs only while the soul is connected to the body; at death the soul ceases to exist. 

In Being Happy, I found some interesting quotes about the soul, pleasure, and death. I confess I struggled to get through the book. I'm not sure whether that was because of the translation or some other reason, but i think I prefer encountering these ideas as interpreted by more contemporary authors. Regardless, it was worth reading this book to get an idea of Epicurus' thoughts. 

"The irreligious man is not the person who destroys the gods of the masses but the person who imposes the ideas of the masses on the gods."

Roseanna by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo

It's a nice short crime novel. First published in 1965, it felt like a time machine, transporting me to a time when international telephone connections were not reliable, and detectives had to send letters and replies took days. Beck's character is not a Sherlock Holmes. He's got problems, but it's interesting to see how he studies the clues and the suspects. The murder, the investigation, and the whole story were gripping. I couldn't put the book down. 

This edition came with an introduction by Henning Mankell, who confeses his admiration for Sjowall and Wahloo. Mankell explains how the couple "broke with the hopelessly stereotyped character descriptions that were so prevalent. They showed people evolving right before the reader's eyes."