Bionic Teutonic

I just finished a book I really enjoyed and thought I would share. Not sure everbody would like it as much as I did, but it combines two of my favorite things: travel and history. It’s written by a Polish journalist with the awesome name of Ryszard Kapuscinski. The book is called Travels with Herodotus. When he was just starting out, he was given a copy of Herodotus’ The Histories, which I now feel compelled to read. Half of the book is his musings on his own travels and attempts to get to the essence of the places he is assigned to and the events which he is reporting on, and half is recounting and mulling over The Histories. Herodotus was born in Halicarnasus, (in modern day Turkey) 2,500 years ago, and set out to capture the combined knowledge of the world. So in a sense he was one of the first known reporters. He gathers stories from the people he meets and tries to piece together knowledge about various events and places. Ryszard carries the book with him wherever he goes and Herodotus is his constant companion. The language used in the book is beautiful and it is full of unanswered questions, posed and then left for the reader to ponder, which I love in a book.