Things I learned this week while reading

Things I Learned This Week

As I typed the title for this section, I realized it wasn’t a very strong one. Like my students, I’m reaching the end of the semester reserves of intellect, stamina, and red ink,– so I’m calling this spade a spade and dedicating this section to things I discovered during this week’s reading.

The Princes in the Tower – Allison Weir dedicates the opening of her text to verifying historical sources and the reasons for the dearth of fourteenth-century texts. I’ve discussed these reasons in front of a classroom every time I’ve taught Early British Literature, but this made me think about them a little more closely. Near-constant warfare does not lend itself to the creation of literary works and much that we know as “history” from this period is closer to literature – reported at several removes.

Russia against Napoleon – I’ve had this book for ages upon ages. A wonderful teacher friend bought it for me somewhere back in my Morgantown years, but it has new relevance as I read War and Peace. And, struggling as I am with that monster of a book, I must be learning something because, as I read about early battles here, I found myself nodding at points I had already encountered in War and Peace (mostly about the Austrian army, for some reason).

The Hunter and the Hunted – This is probably an obvious thing to scientifically-minded people, but I never considered that social hunting had evolved from solitary hunting. The point that drove it home for me was that it had evolved in some animals (lions, wolves) but not in bears. Can you imagine how terrifying the world would be if there was such a thing as a pack of bears? Of course, it probably would have its own, quirky name: an obliteration of bears, maybe, or a barrage of bears. If such a coalition were coming at you, you probably wouldn't have time to think about what it was called, of course... 

The Broken Ladder – Social and scientific experiments have repeatedly confirmed that being raised in a “harsh, poor, or chaotic” environment leads to earlier puberty, which may, in turn, lead one to have more children at a younger age. Our socioeconomic status can literally change our biology!

Lions in the balance – I’m against trophy hunting on principal but trophy hunting in lion communities can start a cascade of death. When a strong, male lion is killed for a trophy it is likely that a new male will take over his pride, killing the cubs. Lionesses may die trying to protect them. So, in killing a single lion, a trophy hunter may actually cause the death of several animals.

Death at SeaWorld and Into great silence – Humans are capable of cruelty I cannot comprehend. In both these books, the kidnapping of baby orcas is discussed and I’ve seen video footage where the juveniles cry for their moms and the moms wail back. Maybe I’m speaking out of some thwarted maternal instinct here (having endured two failed pregnancies) but how can anyone participate in that? Disgusting.

House Guests, House Pests – Another point that should have been obvious, but I never thought about how our possessions enter (or fail to enter) the archaeological record (well, except in museums; at the V&A I kept looking at these fabrics that were hundreds of years old and wondering: who saved that? How did it get here? Who decided it was important?). In discussing how we live alongside our pests, the author notes that thatch and wood dwellings rot away, making it difficult to note just when doors as we currently understand them developed. Curious. 

Stay tuned for next week's tidbits of knowledge!