The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 11/29/2020
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 11/29/2020 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I've had this hardcover on my keeper shelves for years, and I think it's time it went traveling.
First - the book's very, very funny. Cuppy's dry remarks and digressionary footnotes make me suspect that Terry Pratchett may have borrowed some of his style. There's a surprising amount of factual history sprinkled among the amusements, too. Here's a brief sample from the chapter on Alexander the Great:
"Olympias, the mother of Alexander... kept so many sacred snakes in her bedroom that Philip [her husband] was afraid to go home after his drinking bouts." [A footnote to this says: "Having real snakes at home does an alcoholic no good. It just complicates matters."]
And, from the chapter on Hannibal:
"Taking elephants across the Alps is not as much fun as it sounds. The Alps are difficult enough when alone, and elephants are peculiarly fitted for not crossing them.... Believe it or not, all the elephants survived the journey, although about half of the soldiers perished. Historians state that Hannibal seemed insensible to fatigue throughout the ordeal." [Footnote: "He was sitting on an elephant."]
And: Columbus "believed you could reach the East by going west. That is true enough, if you don't overdo it. You can reach Long Island City by taking the ferry for Weehawken, but nobody does it on purpose." And Montezuma II "was Emperor of the Aztecs, and the Aztecs were Indians who lived in Tenochtitlan, or Mexico City. No, they were not the same as the Incas. They had their faults, but they were not Incas." [It's a pity there wasn't a chapter about the Incas, as it would probably have said "they had their faults, but they were not Aztecs".]
First - the book's very, very funny. Cuppy's dry remarks and digressionary footnotes make me suspect that Terry Pratchett may have borrowed some of his style. There's a surprising amount of factual history sprinkled among the amusements, too. Here's a brief sample from the chapter on Alexander the Great:
"Olympias, the mother of Alexander... kept so many sacred snakes in her bedroom that Philip [her husband] was afraid to go home after his drinking bouts." [A footnote to this says: "Having real snakes at home does an alcoholic no good. It just complicates matters."]
And, from the chapter on Hannibal:
"Taking elephants across the Alps is not as much fun as it sounds. The Alps are difficult enough when alone, and elephants are peculiarly fitted for not crossing them.... Believe it or not, all the elephants survived the journey, although about half of the soldiers perished. Historians state that Hannibal seemed insensible to fatigue throughout the ordeal." [Footnote: "He was sitting on an elephant."]
And: Columbus "believed you could reach the East by going west. That is true enough, if you don't overdo it. You can reach Long Island City by taking the ferry for Weehawken, but nobody does it on purpose." And Montezuma II "was Emperor of the Aztecs, and the Aztecs were Indians who lived in Tenochtitlan, or Mexico City. No, they were not the same as the Incas. They had their faults, but they were not Incas." [It's a pity there wasn't a chapter about the Incas, as it would probably have said "they had their faults, but they were not Aztecs".]
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at Little Free Library, Jamie Rd in Dunstable, Massachusetts USA on Tuesday, December 01, 2020
GoryDetails at Little Free Library, Jamie Rd in Dunstable, Massachusetts USA on Tuesday, December 01, 2020
Released 1 mo ago (12/1/2020 UTC) at Little Free Library, Jamie Rd in Dunstable, Massachusetts USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Guidelines for safely visiting and stocking Little Free Libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the LFL site here.I left this book in the Little Free Library; hope someone enjoys it!
[See other recent releases in MA here.]
*** Released for the 2020 D for December challenge. ***
*** Released for the 2020 What's in a Name challenge, for the embedded "Cal" and "Eve" in the title. ***
