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Nonfiction snobbery
Aug. 4th, 2008 07:50 amI became that reader. I quit reading a nonfiction book because it made a statement that was so inaccurate based on my previous research that it caused me to question what else the book got wrong.
"Dogs of God", the book I'd been reading about the Spanish Inquisition and the Spanish Reconquest, was really interesting. Till I hit the bit where it baldly announced that Portuguese and Venetian traders went looking for spices because a steady supply of spices was necessary to preserve their food.
Since I've read two books on spice trading and both agreed that it was the prestige, status, and religious/medical uses that made spices so appealing, the above bit made me go "hunh?" Plus - expensive voyage across/around an entire continent and 2 or 3 oceans to get stuff to preserve food that a tiny percentage of population can afford, when vinegar, salt, alcohol, and honey are all cheaper and available locally? Silly.
Of course, I may find myself going back to Dogs of God because it's the only monograph my public library has on the Spanish Reconquest, but I'll be trying MnLink (the state interlibrary loan system) first.
"Dogs of God", the book I'd been reading about the Spanish Inquisition and the Spanish Reconquest, was really interesting. Till I hit the bit where it baldly announced that Portuguese and Venetian traders went looking for spices because a steady supply of spices was necessary to preserve their food.
Since I've read two books on spice trading and both agreed that it was the prestige, status, and religious/medical uses that made spices so appealing, the above bit made me go "hunh?" Plus - expensive voyage across/around an entire continent and 2 or 3 oceans to get stuff to preserve food that a tiny percentage of population can afford, when vinegar, salt, alcohol, and honey are all cheaper and available locally? Silly.
Of course, I may find myself going back to Dogs of God because it's the only monograph my public library has on the Spanish Reconquest, but I'll be trying MnLink (the state interlibrary loan system) first.
