Mastodawn

Picked up “Silk” by Aarathi Pradad, and I’m already enjoying this description of such a niche skill
#books #moths #silk

Has you growth ever been so slight that your parents dressed you in bright colors so they wouldn’t lose you in a field? Also don’t miss that badass opening description
#books #moths #silk

Show thread

K Brob 5d ago

So I checked this out and it’s almost certainly not true, given a 200-year gap between Thomas and the rhyme’s appearance according to Wikipedia. There’s also an assertion that it refers to Mary, Queen of Scots because of course there is
#books #moths #silk

Show thread

K Brob 4d ago

This entire chapter is about England’s early attempts to bring silk production in-house as a matter of “national security and the people’s welfare,” according to King James, who had a chief secretary for silk. It sounds like he said this around the early 1600s? I’m glad he had his eye on what’s important because uh the British monarchy are about to have A Time, certainly they are not wildly out of touch
#books #moths #silk

Show thread

K Brob 4d ago

I understand that the author is trying to save time, but using ellipses here makes it seem as though she’s stuffing leaves into a caterpillar until it spontaneously erupts into its adult form like feeding five apples to a baby Yoshi
#books #moths #silk

Show thread

K Brob 3d ago

As an author, Prasad has generally been fairly dry and journalistic. One of the only flairs I’ve noticed is a tendency to first introduce a person by their date and manner of death, and only after start describing their life. Given how much of the book is about the scientific discovery of moths, it sort of feels like a joke of “pinning” them for observation? It’s a weird tic, either way
#books #moths #silk