Customer Reviews

How to Mellify A Corpse: And Other Human Stories of Ancient Science & Superstition

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Many a scholarly tome has been written about ancient science and ancient superstitions. But this book is clearly not one of them. The author has approached these topics by writing a variety of little three-or-four-page snippets - eighty seven of them in total - and divided them into six main sections, each representing a geographical area around the Mediterranean Sea. However, these areas significantly overlap. As a result, the reader often encounters the same individuals and locales from one section to another. The snippets can be read in any order; as a result of this, the book contains a fair amount of repetition in the sense that a given individual may be introduced as many times as he/she appears in the book - and some appear a great many times.

As an ancient history buff, it took me a while to get used to reading this book. The writing style is, well, unusual. Although the prose is friendly, lively, often quite humorous and entertaining, it is laced with "cool", "mod" or "hip" expressions and "with it" ways of saying things, e.g., ( p. 223) "Octavian became the Big Mozzarella of Rome...". There are also some historical inaccuracies, e.g., (p. 227) "Emperor Hadrian summitted [Mt. Etna] on February 5 of the year A.D. 62" when in fact Hadrian was born fourteen years later in A.D. 76. Consequently, this book appears to be aimed at the general reader who is not picky about historical precision but mainly wants to be entertained, a la chilling with some cool ancient dudes. Nevertheless, serious ancient history buffs may find at least some new and fascinating information within its covers. I did.

Vicki Leon's books are always entertaining, but I've often thought that they're also manuals for civilization. Her latest is loosely structured around the ways science and superstition have coexisted since earliest times. But mostly, I was astonished at how much B.C. and early A.D societies have in common with our own, and the high level of achievements these early society had in theoretical science (Theory of atoms!), architecture (Concrete we've only just now learned to recreate!) and government (Banking! Rail transport! Chemical weapons!). Makes you realize how dark the Dark Ages really were.

Leon's writing is funny, her research is up-to-the-minute, and her material is riveting. As a bonus, if we ever have to re-invent taxation, coinage, and sewage, or figure out which battle strategies work and which are doomed to fail, well...it's comforting to know that these books exist. Leon's books are equal parts laughter and learning. I can't recommend them enough.

Because I worked on the publicity for this book and managed Vicki's blog tour, this is more a "talk" than a review. While I have mentioned books I've worked on in Mailbox Monday before, I've never reviewed or otherwise promoted a book I worked on, although InkWell does have many fabulous historical authors as clients. That being said, I think this book is a totally delightful read and its subject matter is absolutely perfect for discussion on this blog. Now that the boring disclosure part is out of the way, let's get down to business...

In the cheekily titled How to Mellify A Corpse, Vicki León once again (her other credits include the wildly popular Uppity Women series and Working IX to V) takes readers on a journey through the whacky, bizarre, and downright odd practices employed by the early inhabitants of civilization, this time turning her historian's eye to the area of ancient science and superstition. The word "mellify" refers to the process of mellification, an early technique for mummifying a corpse using honey. To me, it sounds like something straight off a modern spa menu - how's that for a body wrap?! - but back before potent chemicals like formaldehyde existed, it was a very real method of embalming. Alexander the Great even specifically requested that his own corpse be preserved in this manner.

The book's chapters are divided geographically by civilization: Athens & Attica, Greece & the Greek Islands, Asia Minor & the Middle East, Rome & Environs, Italy & Sicily, and Egypt, Carthage, & North Africa, so the reader has the option to jump around or read straight through. Topics discussed are as varied as the history behind belief in the evil eye to the invention of the first aqueduct. León states in her introduction, "Meteorite worship; bean taboos; bizarre beliefs about women and their powers over hydrocarbons; it's all here." A trait I love about all of León's books is that she not only focuses on the most famous/infamous people from history, but also unveils the lives of interesting characters not typically mentioned in the history books. Come back tomorrow for a guest post by Vicki in which she highlights the life of Cleopatra and one of her lesser-known contemporaries, Queen Amanirenas of Meroe (a giveaway will also be included with this guest post).

How to Mellify A Corpse is no ordinary look at history; León brings a stylized humor and wit to her writing that makes Greco-Roman culture come alive in a way that is equal parts fascinating and fun. The pages are also illustrated with funny political cartoons and graphics with hilarious captions that compliment her writings perfectly and add that little extra je ne sais quoi. With the spirited panache that has become Leon's trademark, this uppity woman proves learning about ancient science and religion can be a jocular, rollicking adventure.

i'm not sure what i expected from the book - after reading it - but it does have a lot of information that was new to me, and i was once pretty well versed in this area, 4 yrs of college latin etc. there's a lot of "humor" and other cute stuff that is pretty annoying which makes me wonder for whom it was she thought she was writing. the other problem is there is a lot of skipping around so one has a hard time getting an historical perspective, whereas continuity and development of ideas seems to be one of the themes she is trying to develop. my idea of a 5 star rating is that a book presents valid or at least plausible information as well as one could, given that there are many ways one could do it. she gets 5 stars for the information part but i think she could probably do better in terms of continuity, as well as packaging or marketing. i.e., the title and subtitle don't, i think, reflect very well what's in there and the cute stuff really isn't likely to please the kind of person who is actually interested in this material. it really is more a good popularization of a history of ideas. so what i expected was a lot of oddities but instead i got sensible and apparently authoritative material. so i was surprised but not disappointed; others might not be so indulgent or forgiving.

A fun and funny, well-written non-fiction is a gem in any library. I borrowed this book twice from my public library; I recommended it to friends and family (many of whom bought copies for themselves and gifted the new copies book to others). I just had to own a copy of this book and am proud to have it in my personal library.

"How to Mellify a Corpse" is a compilation of histories oddities that relate to "ancient science and superstition". Breaking it down by location ancient locations that at one time dominated vast empires. What makes it such a breeze to read through is that the read is broken down into brief three to five small page quick reads. Not only are they short and painless most have depictions that are very amusing along with Leon's witty modern humor. She gives history a modern view point and breaks it all down to the leftovers from the war that were melted down to make what would become one of the seven wonders of the world: the Colossus of Rhodes. How she knew I wanted to know that I will never know but it is fascinating. Egypt was a amusing section that shocked me on quite a few things.

Some of my favorites were "How to Birth a Bouncing Boy" The ancient practices that were enacted to perform this one was a hoot from weird to just plain non-sense. My top, most unexpected favorite would have to be "The First Surround Sound" because I had no idea that the Greeks designed their theaters that half moon shape way for a reason. Acoustics were a hard thing to master back then and they did it with style and modern thinking with out a stitch of electricity. Taking genius to a whole new level when it came to sound. The raised seats really got me in the theater, I really did not know they had baffles in them to turn it into a surround sound theater. The Greeks were ahead of their time but then again even they more than likely knew that. This novel was sent to me by the publisher for review.

History, mythology, science, cosmetology, superstition...This book's got it all! This was my first time reading a book by Vicky Leon- and- I swear it won't be the last!
I had no idea what I would be getting from a book with a title as unusual as this one. I was almost afraid it might be too scientifically morbid, or maybe too technical...WOW- I couldn't have been more off!

This is a FANTASTIC book! How To Mellify a Corpse is definitely the most fascinating and (yes) exciting history read ever.
Just released today, this tiny 7" x 7", 300 page book is filled to the rim with stuff I had never even heard about. So at this point, I must give you some examples of shocking truths I was unaware of...For one, lead was the `in thing of the day- they used it for almost everything; from sweetener (gasp!) to fermenting agent, to cosmetics and dental work too (shocked!). Also, I finally got to learn the origin of the `evil eye' myth and who might be most susceptible. Last, but in no way least, the connection between honey, mollifying and Alexander The Great, finally clicked- unbelievable stuff!

There is so much material covered in this book that will keep you glued (pun;) and completely awestruck. A cross between senseless ideas that made so much sense; to the simplest of creations that breathe pure genius, How To Mellify a Corpse makes reading about ancient history fun and entertaining. Vicky Leon's history knowledge is impressive as well as immeasurable. Backed by an incredible amount of research and accuracy, How to Mellify a Corpse offers an ocean of historical information that's actually a blast to read!

I highly recommend this book and am bumping it way up my list of most favourite non-fiction reads.
I now look forward to reading another of Leon's top notch books: Uppity women of The Renaissance (I can't imagine what concoctions they were upto!)

Entertaining, Fascinating, Original and Educational as well ... I am so impressed with how good this book is!

"How to Mellify a Corpse" is a sort of hectic, random collection of oddities of superstition in the Classical world - many that I had never heard before, so it was intriguing. But a lot of downsides:

The collection is divided into sections, but most of the stories turn up in areas they don't fall into naturally, and there is a lot of repetition. The style annoyed me: there is nothing wrong with casual (quite appropriate for this material) but this was a little too breezy for me; and even a casual style can be done with good grammar and punctuation, but this was not.

Illustrations were not great: the maps are too crude to be helpful, and the picture on p. 199 is not a lamprey.

There are other errors. "Dis Pater" was the god Zeus, not Hades (hence "Jiuppiter"); 360 degrees is not 60 arc minutes; 1942 is MCMXLII not MCMIVII; and Hadrian did not summit Mount Etna before he was born. And the idea that a modern woman swallows four pounds of lead from her lipstick contaminants is simply silly. Where were the editors? Even superstition can be treated accurately.

Three stars is generous.