Since June, I haven’t finished a single book. I was beginning to wonder if I was losing the ability to finish reading books. As Wendy said, though, “You’ve had a few other things on your mind.”
So it was almost a shock today when I finished one of the 15 or so books I currently have in progress. I came home from work, took a kind of disturbed nap, and then I finished reading a book entitled The Basque History of the World by Mark Kurlansky. I’ve always been fascinated by Basque culture, language and history, although it’s an interest I haven’t actively pursued.
Partly I was surprised to have finished the book because I actually found it rather disappointing. It promises a wider scope than it offers – it’s not a Basque history of the world so much as a fairly conventional, anecdote-driven history of the Basque people. Nor does it in fact spend much energy on the Basque diaspora, which is interesting in and of itself – my main first-hand exposure to Basque culture was in Mexico, for example.
As a history, however, it’s fairly well-executed. I think the anecdotal structure facilitated my ability to finally work my way through it, and my already strong familiarity with Spanish History meant that I had a lot of context of my own to fill in the ellipses.
Maybe someday I’ll get to go and explore Basqueland.
[daily log: walking, 4.5 km]
