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A review by oldpondnewfrog
The Great Wave: Gilded Age Misfits, Japanese Eccentrics, and the Opening of Old Japan by Christopher E.G. Benfey
4.0
Very surprising, unusual structure—kind of artistic, and passionate in a youthful way.
Loved Manjiro. Loved Melville. Loved the professor who had himself lowered into a watery cave of venomous centipedes to look at old pottery, and said, "there is nothing more glorious than the graceful abandoning of one's position if it be false."
Totally fascinating how connected everyone was. Like Todd/Dickinson/Lowell; everyone in Boston; all the expats in Japan.
Loved Manjiro. Loved Melville. Loved the professor who had himself lowered into a watery cave of venomous centipedes to look at old pottery, and said, "there is nothing more glorious than the graceful abandoning of one's position if it be false."
Totally fascinating how connected everyone was. Like Todd/Dickinson/Lowell; everyone in Boston; all the expats in Japan.