It’s vacation time! That is to say, book time! As much as I like studying, I miss reading whatever I want, so I’m making up for it now. What’s on the bookshelf?

Travels with Herodotus Ryszard Kapuściński
I’m halfway through it now, having held it in my list of books to read for over two years…and it’s a delight. The author writes about his experiences as a journalist on the international beat in communist-era Poland. But that’s not what Travels with Herodotus is really about, as you might guess from the title. At first glance you might think it’s a travel narrative punctuated with apt musings on selection from Herodotus’ Histories at strategic moments…but it turns out to be the other way around, philosophical introspection, deeply meaningful and moving, on the ancient Greek traveler’s tales, with snippets of Kapuściński’s own travel narratives interspersed throughout. Kapuściński dwells on the character of Herodotus, making him real, while exploring the only thing he left behind for us, his historical writings. And in doing so he finds deeper, universal truths about the nature of humanity and history. I highly recommend this.