This is one of those strange situations where I know that by any proper measure a book was not good, but I kind of enjoyed reading it because of that.
I won't argue that the basic outlines of the mythology and history were not correct--I'm not informed enough to argue either way, honestly, and to this extreme layman's eyes, things seemed correct. Some curious stories were repeated and a few interesting interpretations were set forth on various subjects, but they were always treated as such. There was no suggestion that they ought to be taken seriously, it was just being noted that this or that odd theory had been advanced but was not accepted.
This is an extremely simplified explanation of the history and mythology of Egypt. I would not even go so far as to consider it an outline in terms of Egyptian history; the focus is on a few very specific times and individuals, and as far as that goes it does well enough with them.
The language is kind of where things fall apart, but also where I got a lot of my enjoyment. It is rather charmingly naïve throughout, peppered with the sort of excited bursts of storytelling you might get from someone who has just heard something that excited them and is desperately trying to share it with a friend. The tone throughout is oddly conversational, and the tangle of sentences simply adds to the whole impression. It's not a scholarly work by any means.
Admittedly, I rather enjoyed it for all that. It made me smile to read, honestly, though how much of that is because I remember excitedly stumbling through convoluted explanations of historical personages myself I can't tell. I may very well pick up another of these, but a little goes a long way and it will probably be some time.
Rating: 2/5
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