Mirrors

I know it's been a while... I got spoiled with a couple of short ones! This one was Mirrors: Stories of Everyone by Eduardo Galeano.

Now, apparently, Galeano is a genre all his own. I've never seen anything like him, and from what critics wrote, he's kind of turned the history writing world on its ear. Here's what he does: He take a historic fact (or a few) and writes his thoughts on it. I've chosen a few examples to illustrate the point.

"When The Liver Was The Home Of The Soul
In earlier times, long before cardiologists and balladeers, matters of the heart could easily have been called matters of the liver.
The liver lay at the heart of everything.
The Chinese believed the liver was where the soul slept and dreamt.
In Egypt, its custody was in the hands of Amset, son of the god Horus, and in Rome none less that Jupiter, the father of gods, cared for it.
The Etruscans read the future in the livers of the livers of the animals they sacrificed.
In Greek tradition, Prometheus stole fire from the gods for us mortals. Then Zeus, top dog on Mount Olympus, punished him by chaining him to a rock where everyday a vulture devoured his liver. Not his heart, his liver. Every day Prometheus's liver grew back and that was proof of his immortality. (p 37)"

or, another...

"Echo
In earlier times, the nymph Echo knew how to speak. And she spoke with such grace that her words seemed always new, never before spoken by any mouth.
But the goddess Hera, Zeus's legal spouse, cursed her during one of her frequent fits of jealousy. And Echo suffered the worst of all punishments: she was deprived of her own voice.
Ever since, unable to speak, she can only repeat.
Nowadays, that curse is looked on as a virtue. (p 39)"

I actually had a few more picked out, but that'll do. The entire book is EXACTLY like this- a few paragraphs and random thoughts about myths, history, people, etc. They're loosely grouped together- not by chapter or even section, but by a general flow and nothing more.

So here's where I stand. Galeano struck me as a guy that practically lives in a coffee shop, this book being the mental meanderings of a slightly drunk, slightly stoned sort-of genius. I sometimes a little bored, but something compelled me to keep reading. 90% of the book was interesting or funny or though provoking, and that's more than I can say of most books. I never sat and just read for hours; it simply isn't that kind of book. But I believe that if I bought it, when I was bored, this would be a great book to pick up and read a few pages of. And you know what? I talked about this book more than any other book so far on the list. Ask my poor husband- I wouldn't shut up about all the fun facts and random thoughts that Galeano presented. To a history nerd (are you surprised?), I thought this was simply delightful.

I don't have a definite answer on whether or not I recommend this book. Personally, I loved it, but I'm a huge dork. This is totally a coffee table book and conversation starter, but beyond that, I don't know how many people will love it. SO I challenge you- give it a shot. It's really, really, really interesting.
What do you think? Will you go for it?