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aegagrus's reviews
72 reviews
The Havoc of Choice by Wanjiru Koinange
2.75
The Havoc of Choice is a novel about the violence which followed the Kenyan elections of 2007. Wanjiru Koinange stated that she wanted to tell her story through the eyes of a single family, along with their friends and employees.
There are two particular strengths to this novel. First, the characters are excellently crafted, especially the female characters. All are complete and interesting. Kavata, morally compromised and oblivious to the implications of her privilege. Anne, her independent-minded but fiercely loyal friend. Wanja, her politically-minded daughter. All are flawed, but still easy to root for. The male characters are sometimes harder to read coherent motivations in, especially the political grandee Hon. Muli and Kavata's ambitious husband Ngugi. They are interesting nonetheless. Koinange's dialogue is funny, moving, and does a good job of sticking to character. Second, the descriptions of the havoc itself are very artful, running a gamut of emotions and successfully capturing an increasing disorientation and dread before arriving at heartrending atrocity.
My earliest objection was doubt over the believability of the mechanics of political corruption. I am not, however, in a position to know how these meetings would have unfolded in Kenya ca. 2007, so this did not bother me overmuch. Much more important is the sense in which the book feels disconnected. The first half, about the difficulties political corruption imposes on the psyche and routine of family members and associates, is very interesting. The second half, chronicling the violence itself, is harrowing. The connections between these themes are never given room to grow. The epilogue is brief and rather perfunctory (somewhat unconvincing, to boot). The characters are not given enough time after the violence has died down to reflect on these two realms of their experience. When themed are conveyed, they are sometimes conveyed in an unrealistically on-the-nose way (as when Cheptoo chastises Kavata on the train) Finally, Amani's death sucks a lot of air out of the room, and is so far removed from the characters' previous qualms and tribulations that it hijacks any possibility for a more coherent book . This all being the case, the harrowing violence feels somewhat gratuitous, disconnected from the themes the book had previously been approaching.
The Havoc of Choice may still be well-worth reading, especially for fans of political fiction; some of the political scenes (especially those seen through Wanja's eyes) are fascinating and compelling. Overall, though, I found this book lacking for want of a more thoughtful consistency between its beginning and its climax.
There are two particular strengths to this novel. First, the characters are excellently crafted, especially the female characters. All are complete and interesting. Kavata, morally compromised and oblivious to the implications of her privilege. Anne, her independent-minded but fiercely loyal friend. Wanja, her politically-minded daughter. All are flawed, but still easy to root for. The male characters are sometimes harder to read coherent motivations in, especially the political grandee Hon. Muli and Kavata's ambitious husband Ngugi. They are interesting nonetheless. Koinange's dialogue is funny, moving, and does a good job of sticking to character. Second, the descriptions of the havoc itself are very artful, running a gamut of emotions and successfully capturing an increasing disorientation and dread before arriving at heartrending atrocity.
My earliest objection was doubt over the believability of the mechanics of political corruption. I am not, however, in a position to know how these meetings would have unfolded in Kenya ca. 2007, so this did not bother me overmuch. Much more important is the sense in which the book feels disconnected. The first half, about the difficulties political corruption imposes on the psyche and routine of family members and associates, is very interesting. The second half, chronicling the violence itself, is harrowing. The connections between these themes are never given room to grow. The epilogue is brief and rather perfunctory (somewhat unconvincing, to boot). The characters are not given enough time after the violence has died down to reflect on these two realms of their experience. When themed are conveyed, they are sometimes conveyed in an unrealistically on-the-nose way
The Havoc of Choice may still be well-worth reading, especially for fans of political fiction; some of the political scenes (especially those seen through Wanja's eyes) are fascinating and compelling. Overall, though, I found this book lacking for want of a more thoughtful consistency between its beginning and its climax.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Hate crime, Rape, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Colonisation, and Classism
Beyond A Boundary by C.L.R. James
4.75
Beyond a Boundary is an engrossing read. Its fluidity and warmth sometimes mask the sophistication of its arguments; one could read it quite often and absorb something distinct each time.
CLR James casts a perceptive eye over the milieu in which he was raised and the subsequent places through which his life took him. He describes the development of his national, racial, political, and ethical consciousness through his interaction with cricket and cricketers, building up from his own experiences a theory about how sport reflects and reifies prevailing values and concerns. Importantly, his theories treat cricket as distinct and special; he is not uncomfortable discussing the aesthetic nature or political function of sports in general, but he is at his most insightful when he draws upon an expert understanding of what makes cricket and cricketers unique. Although this seriousness with which James treats cricket sometimes yields technical passages, the recounting of detail never comes at the expense of the point being made.
There is a bittersweet ambivalence to the book’s closing, stemming from James’ uncertainty whether his reflections on the West Indian cricket that he knew, with all its cultural and political baggage, is relevant to the sport as it existed by the time he was writing. Today, James’ antiquarian quality is one of his most compelling. He was a unique man who came of age in a unique setting, loyal to the literary canon and chivalric values of English public schools, but equally loyal to the colonized, to the African diaspora, to popular culture. CLR James could not exist today. The intellectual sincerity and deep originality evident on every page of Beyond a Boundary are all the more valuable because of it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Violence
Reimagining Christianity and Sexual Diversity in Africa by Ezra Chitando, Adriaan Van Klinken
3.0
Reimagining Christianity and Sexual Diversity in Africa is a useful book primarily in that it provides a digest of first-hand accounts from progressive African theologians, churches, and storytellers, detailing how these actors think and speak about the status of LGBT individuals in African Christianity. This source material is presented matter-of-factly, with limited external commentary. The case studies which are recounted open useful avenues of reflection: the complex relationship between progressive Christianity in the global north & global south; embodiedness and spiritual warfare as elements of the Pentecostal worldview; the application of Imago Dei to diverse communities, rather than to individuals. In general, the section on theologians is the strongest and the section on grassroots church organizing is the weakest, largely reflecting the availability of source material.
Van Klinken and Chitando are honest about some of their book's limitations -- it focuses primarily on homosexuality rather than other LGBT identities, it primarily describes the work of progressive elements of mainline Protestantism in an environment marked most notably by militantly homophobic charismatic evangelicalism, it is very Anglophone-oriented. In the absence of certain types of source material to recount, I would have appreciated somewhat more authorial effort to draw throughlines or advance new interpretations.
Still, the authors provide a valuable service: a lucid and accessible overview of attitudes among progressive Christians as they are expressed on the continent, taking seriously the idea that Christianity is a site of (internal & external) contestation, rather than solely an oppressive edifice or solely a liberatory vehicle.
Van Klinken and Chitando are honest about some of their book's limitations -- it focuses primarily on homosexuality rather than other LGBT identities, it primarily describes the work of progressive elements of mainline Protestantism in an environment marked most notably by militantly homophobic charismatic evangelicalism, it is very Anglophone-oriented. In the absence of certain types of source material to recount, I would have appreciated somewhat more authorial effort to draw throughlines or advance new interpretations.
Still, the authors provide a valuable service: a lucid and accessible overview of attitudes among progressive Christians as they are expressed on the continent, taking seriously the idea that Christianity is a site of (internal & external) contestation, rather than solely an oppressive edifice or solely a liberatory vehicle.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
Minor: Physical abuse and Suicide
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
4.5
Piranesi is an exciting mystery which plays out in a uniquely imagined and uniquely rendered physical environment. The titular character is both interesting and likeable; his great curiosity and compassion animate his interactions and tie the different threads of his story together. With the exception of a single episode I found overly abrupt, his gradual development as a character is measured and well-paced. The story's resolution is also well-paced; Clarke avoids the tendency of suspenseful stories of this sort to become overly frenetic and lose some of their subtlety as they approach a finale.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, and Death
Dark Archives: A Librarian's Investigation Into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin by Megan Rosenbloom
3.75
Dark Archives begins with a seemingly niche focus -- books bound in human skin -- and successfully covers a lot of ground -- medicine, history, psychology, ethics, law, artistry, craft, archiving, collecting. The amount of work Rosenbloom put into Dark Archives is immediately evident. Her book reflects a wide array of fieldwork -- visits to tanneries and med schools, conversations with eminent collectors, novel scientific testing, intensive rummaging in museums and archives. It also reflects considerable thoughtfulness. Rosenbloom has clearly tried very hard to treat the stories she's telling seriously, treating the dead and the living alike with empathy and curiosity. Her most interesting reflections arise from that commitment; for instance, she wonders at length about the clinical gaze, about the status and responsibilities of physicians, about the relevance of gender, race, and class to our notions of doctors and doctoring. In a genuinely moving (if somewhat tangential) epilogue, Rosenbloom muses about her own death and her mother's own tragic interaction with the medical establishment.
The personal angle so central to Dark Archives certainly ties everything together fairly neatly, along with lending real credibility to Rosenbloom as an expert librarian and bibliophile. On the other hand, the highly conversational personal asides were often the points at which I was least satisfied with the book as a whole. A roughly chronological narrative about Megan Rosenbloom and her journey into and through the world of human-bound books and the lessons they hold could have been very successful. A more expansive and thematically-organized book could have been equally successful, taking full advantage of the rich interdisciplinary knowledge Rosenbloom is drawing upon. Instead, Rosenbloom has attempted something of a middle ground between these approaches. She is not wholly unsuccessful at striking this balance, but it does produce a book which is, from time to time, dissatisfying in its multifarious structure and direction. This objection is not to be overstated, however: wherever a reader's interest in the subject derives, Dark Archives has much to offer.
The personal angle so central to Dark Archives certainly ties everything together fairly neatly, along with lending real credibility to Rosenbloom as an expert librarian and bibliophile. On the other hand, the highly conversational personal asides were often the points at which I was least satisfied with the book as a whole. A roughly chronological narrative about Megan Rosenbloom and her journey into and through the world of human-bound books and the lessons they hold could have been very successful. A more expansive and thematically-organized book could have been equally successful, taking full advantage of the rich interdisciplinary knowledge Rosenbloom is drawing upon. Instead, Rosenbloom has attempted something of a middle ground between these approaches. She is not wholly unsuccessful at striking this balance, but it does produce a book which is, from time to time, dissatisfying in its multifarious structure and direction. This objection is not to be overstated, however: wherever a reader's interest in the subject derives, Dark Archives has much to offer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Medical content
Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Racism, and Classism
Minor: Sexual violence
Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History by Steven J. Zipperstein
3.75
Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History provides a lucid and valuable account of the anti-Jewish violence which occurred in that city in 1903, and of the event's subsequent impact in the public sphere. It is the latter which receives the bulk of this work's attention, and rightly so. Kishinev is somewhat overshadowed in a post-Holocaust world, but Zipperstein does an excellent job conveying just how influential Kishinev became, describing its effects on Jewish emigration patterns, the development of modern antisemitism (including the writing of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion), the canon of Hebrew poetry and notions about Jewish masculinity, the eventual triumph of Zionism, and even the emergence of the American NAACP. These narratives are enhanced by a studied attention to the fascinating personalities involved -- Pavel Krushevan, Hayim Bialik, and Emma Goldman among others.
Zipperstein does an adequate job setting up the context for these stories, a difficult task considering the complexity of late imperial Russia and Ashkenazi political/cultural life at the time. Still, this book is quite focused, mainly discussing Kishinev's aftermath in the decades immediately following 1903. A reader might reasonably wish that one or more of these stories were continued a little further -- although the name Kishinev certainly became less ubiquitous as time went on, the processes that had been set in motion kept churning, and it does feel like an opportunity is missed (in a final chapter or afterword, perhaps) to direct readers towards further investigations of later developments. A reader might also wish that more attention had been paid to setting up the context behind each of Zipperstein's essay-like chapters, but I am less inclined to endorse this criticism. Zipperstein is honest about what he intends to cover and what he does not, and it is not as though his work here is too dense or too technical to be useful without the more elaborated backstory which could be found in other books.
Overall, this is a well-written, well-researched, and timely piece of history. Those new to the study of early 20th century Jewry may benefit from pursuing some background reading first, while those already acquainted with the details of Kishinev itself may wish for more elaborate detail worked into the stories told here. Any reader, though, will find compelling, original, and thoughtful scholarship, told simply and with evident humanity.
Zipperstein does an adequate job setting up the context for these stories, a difficult task considering the complexity of late imperial Russia and Ashkenazi political/cultural life at the time. Still, this book is quite focused, mainly discussing Kishinev's aftermath in the decades immediately following 1903. A reader might reasonably wish that one or more of these stories were continued a little further -- although the name Kishinev certainly became less ubiquitous as time went on, the processes that had been set in motion kept churning, and it does feel like an opportunity is missed (in a final chapter or afterword, perhaps) to direct readers towards further investigations of later developments. A reader might also wish that more attention had been paid to setting up the context behind each of Zipperstein's essay-like chapters, but I am less inclined to endorse this criticism. Zipperstein is honest about what he intends to cover and what he does not, and it is not as though his work here is too dense or too technical to be useful without the more elaborated backstory which could be found in other books.
Overall, this is a well-written, well-researched, and timely piece of history. Those new to the study of early 20th century Jewry may benefit from pursuing some background reading first, while those already acquainted with the details of Kishinev itself may wish for more elaborate detail worked into the stories told here. Any reader, though, will find compelling, original, and thoughtful scholarship, told simply and with evident humanity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Rape, Antisemitism, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death and Blood
Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler
3.5
The most captivating aspect of Wild Seed is the remarkable way in which Butler has imagined Anyanwu and Doro. Each immortal struggles with their own exceptional power in fascinating ways, confronting their abilities' depths and limitations, the costs of exercising such abilities, and the ways in which their power sets them apart from their own identity and from the world around them. They make a good pair: there is a streak of idealism and humanity in the generally malevolent Doro, and there is a streak of bloodlust in the generally beneficent Anyanwu. As a character, each is quite unique, making for remarkable and unexpected developments in their relationship. Doro's movements through the book, in particular, are sinister and frightening, all the more so because he is not a monochromatic antagonist. Anyanwu's acts of resistance, in turn, are all the more compelling because she is never able to shake a degree of complicity. The story's morally ambiguous conclusion serves these tensions well.
Though gripping, Wild Seed also has hefty things to say about history and society. Butler's exploration of slavery through the extended analogy of Doro's breeding projects is always interesting and emotionally affecting. Her exploration of gender dynamics through the immortals' relationship (perverse, but still resonant with reality) is also generally of interest. Her gestures towards LGBT themes feel comparatively shallow and don't to me seem to add very much, despite the obvious potential in both main characters' gender-mobile personages. Themes relating to history and inevitability are occasionally curious ancillaries to more central themes, but are often inessential.
Wild Seed is well-written, striking a good balance between literary heft and engaging storytelling. At times, dialogue feels a little forced, and I was not entirely satisfied with the pacing in the third act. In general, though, this was a gripping read, and the sheer uniqueness of Doro and Anyanwu's relationship was of great value to me as a reader.
Though gripping, Wild Seed also has hefty things to say about history and society. Butler's exploration of slavery through the extended analogy of Doro's breeding projects is always interesting and emotionally affecting. Her exploration of gender dynamics through the immortals' relationship (perverse, but still resonant with reality) is also generally of interest. Her gestures towards LGBT themes feel comparatively shallow and don't to me seem to add very much, despite the obvious potential in both main characters' gender-mobile personages. Themes relating to history and inevitability are occasionally curious ancillaries to more central themes, but are often inessential.
Wild Seed is well-written, striking a good balance between literary heft and engaging storytelling. At times, dialogue feels a little forced, and I was not entirely satisfied with the pacing in the third act. In general, though, this was a gripping read, and the sheer uniqueness of Doro and Anyanwu's relationship was of great value to me as a reader.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery and Grief
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Trafficking, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action by Elinor Ostrom
3.5
Governing the Commons is a still-timely classic, starting from the premise that local models of self-government can provide a viable alternative to the centralized state and the free market as a vehicle for responsibly allocating and maintaining shared resource pools. Ostrom starts by laying theoretical groundwork, discussing model-based approaches to collective action problems and the limitations of previous scholarship. The main portion of her work consists of an analysis of a rich secondary literature about successful, failed, and still-nascent attempts at such governance. Along the way, she begins to propose theoretical conditions under which success is more or less likely, before concluding with broader theoretical implications.
Ostrom's writing is generally trim, focused, and accessible. Readers with a background in the relevant fields may find some of her theoretical exposition trivial (in part, it must be said, due to the lasting influence of her ideas). Readers without such a background may find some of her reflections opaque, particularly those reflections working from the lexicon of game theory. Either type of reader, though, will be able to grasp the general criteria Ostrom puts forward amid her often detailed work with case studies.
Some readers today might find the polemical portions of this book no longer necessary, or find the theory being advanced somewhat tentative, but in general this is a clear, relevant, and useful work on which to build.
Ostrom's writing is generally trim, focused, and accessible. Readers with a background in the relevant fields may find some of her theoretical exposition trivial (in part, it must be said, due to the lasting influence of her ideas). Readers without such a background may find some of her reflections opaque, particularly those reflections working from the lexicon of game theory. Either type of reader, though, will be able to grasp the general criteria Ostrom puts forward amid her often detailed work with case studies.
Some readers today might find the polemical portions of this book no longer necessary, or find the theory being advanced somewhat tentative, but in general this is a clear, relevant, and useful work on which to build.
The Beautyful Ones are Not Yet Born by Ayi Kwei Armah
5.0
I often struggle to connect with material considered satirical. While The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born is satirical, it is also distinctively earnest and introspective and subtle. Its primary mission feels almost psychoanalytic; simultaneously diagnosing, lampooning, and lamenting the lingering aftereffects of war and colonization on the human body and on the body politic. Corruption in post-colonial states is a common theme. The psychological treatment it receives here is an uncommon achievement.
Our unnamed protagonist is a fascinating creation. In some ways he is an extremely passive character. In some ways, he is extremely headstrong. Small and impulsive acts of resistance create delicious tension, set against the melancholy backdrop of a more general acquiescence. Importantly, Armah takes full advantage of both sides of his protagonist. The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born is an arresting satire because it is so two-faced; because it satirizes idealism as much as it satirizes defeatism.
Armah's prose, in and of itself, is extraordinary. His descriptions are often elliptical but also precise and intensely evocative. His writing is beautiful but also revolting, elegiac but also visceral and even carnal. I am generally not drawn to the literary grotesque, but the putrid, noirish atmosphere he creates is endlessly captivating.
It has been suggested that The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born does post-colonial Ghana a disservice, dwelling upon corruption and malfunction to the exclusion of a more complete picture. To me, Armah isn't attempting a complete picture. There is more than a little Kafka in the way Armah handles bureaucratic worlds, and like Kafka he is working from a palette bearing an only indirect relation to the world we know. Unlike Kafka, though, Armah is genuinely hopeful. His choice of title is deeply meaningful and not fully sarcastic. The hopeful undercurrent is essential; it is, in the final analysis, what distinguishes this book.
Our unnamed protagonist is a fascinating creation. In some ways he is an extremely passive character. In some ways, he is extremely headstrong. Small and impulsive acts of resistance create delicious tension, set against the melancholy backdrop of a more general acquiescence. Importantly, Armah takes full advantage of both sides of his protagonist. The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born is an arresting satire because it is so two-faced; because it satirizes idealism as much as it satirizes defeatism.
Armah's prose, in and of itself, is extraordinary. His descriptions are often elliptical but also precise and intensely evocative. His writing is beautiful but also revolting, elegiac but also visceral and even carnal. I am generally not drawn to the literary grotesque, but the putrid, noirish atmosphere he creates is endlessly captivating.
It has been suggested that The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born does post-colonial Ghana a disservice, dwelling upon corruption and malfunction to the exclusion of a more complete picture. To me, Armah isn't attempting a complete picture. There is more than a little Kafka in the way Armah handles bureaucratic worlds, and like Kafka he is working from a palette bearing an only indirect relation to the world we know. Unlike Kafka, though, Armah is genuinely hopeful. His choice of title is deeply meaningful and not fully sarcastic. The hopeful undercurrent is essential; it is, in the final analysis, what distinguishes this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Excrement
Moderate: Suicide
Religio Medici by Thomas Browne
4.0
Religio Medici is an accessible yet weighty delight of early modern literature. Its author, Sir Thomas Browne, was a prominent English physician and polymath who lived between 1605 and 1682. In Browne's time, physicians and scientists were commonly seen as impious in their undue fascination with the natural world. Writing a kind of spiritual autobiography, Browne puts this notion to bed by showing himself to be a deeply faithful and sincere Christian, if also a somewhat unorthodox mind.
In many ways, Browne was "ahead of his time". He expresses deep intellectual and spiritual humility, and a genuine respect for the religious customs of others, surpassing mere toleration and at moments anticipating later ideas such as "anonymous Christianity" (at one point, he even entertains the validity of knowledge first acquired through witchcraft, but later passed down between humans without inherent sinfulness). He writes with a real vulnerability; his humaneness and compassion are obvious. He explains how he encounters God in the majesty of the natural world -- in a manner more in keeping with traditional doctrine than Spinozan panentheism. His well-balanced spiritual system places great importance on mystery and necessary unknowns, while also valorizing reason, including the attempted application of reason to unsolvable questions as a necessary phase of spiritual development. This is a man who genuinely values Truth, and whose zeal for general (rather than private) edification lead him to deep study of the material world, without abandoning the mystical and the miraculous. Some of his more expressly theological musings are quite interesting, such as his take on the human being as a Microcosm of all creation (meaning that Annihilation is not an end but merely a contraction into the true essence of things; that death and rebirth form a continuous cycle; and that both parts of our amphibious nature (spirit and substance) are linked to those natures in all other humans).
The great value of Browne's work is twofold: that it answers a common prejudice of his own time, and that it anticipates common perspectives of ours. In both these respects, the modern reader may not get as much out of this book. The attitudes in response to which it was written are mostly historical ones, and the novelty of some of Browne's public stances will be less evident. More damagingly, some of Browne's attention is inevitably drawn up in matters which will not interest most modern readers, such as dalliances with the apologetics of bodily resurrection, or will disquiet modern readers, such as Browne's often uncharitable attitude towards the uneducated masses. Still, Religio Medici is fairly short and, even if nothing else is gained, a stunning display of prose style.
In many ways, Browne was "ahead of his time". He expresses deep intellectual and spiritual humility, and a genuine respect for the religious customs of others, surpassing mere toleration and at moments anticipating later ideas such as "anonymous Christianity" (at one point, he even entertains the validity of knowledge first acquired through witchcraft, but later passed down between humans without inherent sinfulness). He writes with a real vulnerability; his humaneness and compassion are obvious. He explains how he encounters God in the majesty of the natural world -- in a manner more in keeping with traditional doctrine than Spinozan panentheism. His well-balanced spiritual system places great importance on mystery and necessary unknowns, while also valorizing reason, including the attempted application of reason to unsolvable questions as a necessary phase of spiritual development. This is a man who genuinely values Truth, and whose zeal for general (rather than private) edification lead him to deep study of the material world, without abandoning the mystical and the miraculous. Some of his more expressly theological musings are quite interesting, such as his take on the human being as a Microcosm of all creation (meaning that Annihilation is not an end but merely a contraction into the true essence of things; that death and rebirth form a continuous cycle; and that both parts of our amphibious nature (spirit and substance) are linked to those natures in all other humans).
The great value of Browne's work is twofold: that it answers a common prejudice of his own time, and that it anticipates common perspectives of ours. In both these respects, the modern reader may not get as much out of this book. The attitudes in response to which it was written are mostly historical ones, and the novelty of some of Browne's public stances will be less evident. More damagingly, some of Browne's attention is inevitably drawn up in matters which will not interest most modern readers, such as dalliances with the apologetics of bodily resurrection, or will disquiet modern readers, such as Browne's often uncharitable attitude towards the uneducated masses. Still, Religio Medici is fairly short and, even if nothing else is gained, a stunning display of prose style.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death